Acting On Feedback
Acting On Feedback
If we claim to have anAgileMind we should actively seek out feedback from those around us. Feedback helps us to improve our performance by reinforcing our strengths and giving us the opportunity to overcome our weaknesses. Feedback is emotionally and physically costly to those who give it. We should respect the act of receiving feedback from others by taking care to act on it.
In A Nutshell
Feedback is the most valuable resource that we can use to help us perform better tomorrow than we are able to today. The desire to Inspect and Adapt is at the heart of anAgileMind. We actively solicit feedback from others with the intention of acting on the feedback we receive. Failing to act reveals a lack of respect for those giving us feedback and will destroy trust.
Giving feedback is both emotionally and physically costly to those who give it. The best outcomes are achieved when we collaborate on planning and acting to improve. As the recipient of the feedback we are helped to improve. As the donor of feedback we are involved in helping the improvement to happen. The collaborative nature of the response to feedback means that both donor and recipient of feedback have the opportunity to learn and improve.
Sometimes we are not in a position to receive feedback positively - we may be suffering from stress, or work we are engaged in might not be going well. We should always be honest about our ability to receive feedback. If we feel unable to receive feedback now, we should set a time when we believe we will be better placed to receive it.
Related Practices
Frequent, effective feedback is central to the agile mindset - it is at the heart of how we inspect and adapt in order to get better at what we do. Personal feedback is one of the most valuable ways of improving our agile performance. It is also one of the most challenging aspects of anAgileMind. It is challenging both for those who give the feedback and for those receiving it too.
Personal feedback is essential in self-managing teams. It is a hugely challenging idea both for those who give feedback and for those receiving it. Few organisations recognise the huge benefits that can arise from the trust-full use of feedback and provide the effective skills development to help meet the challenge. GRACE helps organisations to think about the capabilities they need to build and the skills that underpin these capabilities.