In A Nutshell

Feedback, the heart of Inspect and Adapt, works at many different levels and relates to many different domains in our work. As a team we seek frequent and regular feedback to validate our product development activity. We inspect and adapt our ways of working so that we can improve. But how do we improve ourselves, or help others to be even better than they are?

Personal feedback is the most fine-grained type of feedback that we can use. By its very definition, this type of feedback is individualistic and has the potential to be an intense, emotional experience. If done badly, personal feedback can create tension and conflict. If done well it can be a valuable and enriching experience for both the donor and the recipient of the feedback.

For this reason everyone who wishes to give or receive feedback should be trained in key techniques to avoid the potential costs and pitfalls. Everyone with anAgileMind must be prepared to give feedback to others. They must also be prepared to receive feedback and to act on it. A characteristic of a deeply agile mind is the willingness to solicit personal feedback from others and, consequently, to act to improve.

We have observed that teams where feedback is a part of the culture are often more trusting and more effective than other teams. We also observe that feedback is one of the most difficult parts of anAgileMind, to the extent that even many agile coaches avoid giving feedback to those they are coaching.

Types of Feedback

We identify two types of personal feedback - reinforcing and redirecting. Both emphasise opportunities to perform even better in the future. Reinforcing feedback is intended to capture good outcomes and to encourage the individual to repeat the behaviours that created these good outcomes. In other words, we seek to embed good behaviours more deeply.

Redirecting feedback focuses on negative outcomes. It encourages the individual to learn new behaviours that will avoid repeating the negative outcomes. In other words, we seek to replace less good behaviours with better behaviours.

A Six-Step Pattern

 

Prepare

Feedback is challenging and the costs of getting it wrong are high. When we are giving feedback we should always prepare with care.

Our feedback must always be intended to help the recipient improve their performance.

Statement of Positive Intent

The way that feedback is received will depend on the emotional state of the recipient – we should always ask if it is a good time to give feedback. We should avoid giving feedback if the recipient indicates that it is not a good time.

Specific Observation

Always provide feedback on specific events and examples from the very recent past. These must be events that you have experienced or that you have directly observed.

Never rely on third-party comments, “hearsay”, assumptions or generalisations.

Impact

Describe the impact that the behaviour or actions created. The impact should describe your experience or your observations of others’ experience. If you are using others’ experience you must validate your observations before providing feedback.

Time to Respond

Give the recipient time to think and respond. Listen to the person receiving the feedback so that you begin to understand more about the situation and why they acted as they did.

Focus on the Future

Plan for the next steps and seek commitment to action. Offer to help if this is appropriate. Embody the agile mindset by trusting the person to hold to the action plan.

 

Qualities of Good Feedback

The six-step pattern suggests the following qualities for good feedback: Solicited, Current, Specific, Objective, Descriptive, Validated, Collaborative.

We have observed that, if these are the qualities of good feedback, then we must question the effectiveness of traditional management appraisals and performance reviews. These are typically performed infrequently, covering events in the relatively distant past. The feedback is typically based on commentary from others in the organisation. The feedback is often very general in its nature making it difficult for the recipient to acknowledge its validity. The likelihood of effective actions arising from this type of feedback are very small.

Related Practices