Redirective feedback

Long-time readers may recognize some of the content of this post from a while back, but whatev. I wanted to share it again.

Awesome Technician occasionally goes to professional development workshops offered by our HR department and she's patient enough to share the wisdom with me afterward. One such class was about giving and receiving feedback, both positive and negative redirective. These classes can have some real gems of insight, stuff that's common sense but hard to identify. This one was particularly good, as it offered some counter-intuitive, yet sensible advice. Here, I have tried to relay as much as I can remember to you, dear reader.

First of all, the class claims that, contrary to conventional wisdom, it is not good to start negative feedback with a positive statement. It can

• confuse the listener -- was she saying I did a good job or a bad job?
• water down the praise -- people are more likely to remember the negative things, so the positives get lost
• lead to mistrust -- any future praise is met with anticipation of a "but"

It's better just to give positive feedback when it is warranted. When you're on the receiving end of positive comments, it's best to just say "thank you" rather than things like, "it was no big deal" or "so-and-so really did most of that project". You want to graciously accept the praise, take credit for your work, and contribute to a positive atmosphere.

Another poor opener for negative feedback is something like "I know you've been busy, but..." Don't supply the listener's excuses for her! You want the conversation to be focused on how to change behaviors so work goes more smoothly. An excuse parade doesn't accomplish that, it restricts the discussion to shallow lip-service without getting to the core of the problem.

A feedback conversation can also be derailed by ranting or venting. Vent to your friends! Don't waste work time with inefficient ranting that just makes people feel bad. You want the conversation to be positive so you can make progress toward fixing your problem. It's emotional enough to give negative feedback (for both parties) without adding a lot of hot-headed nonsense to the mix. Plus, the heart of the problem and how to solve it may not be clear to the listener if it is buried in a litany of emotional complaints.

So what should you say when you need to convey dissatisfaction? It's important to keep it brief (under 60 sec, although the resulting conversation may be much longer) and to the point. You should boil the problem down to a simple, clear statement, say how it's affecting your work, and then open the conversation up for discussion of solutions. Try to use your most calm and neutral tone.

1. Start by stating the problem.
   
2. Then say how the person's behavior is part of the problem.
3. Next, say how the problem is affecting you, your colleagues, or your productivity.
4. End with a question to kick off the discussion.

For example, you might say something like, "Lately, we have been running out of certain reagents even though there is a system in place to prevent that. 1 It's really a problem when you use the last of the reagent without ordering more. 2 Several times I have had to abort an experiment because the critical reagent was gone even though I had checked the supply the day before. That's a poor use of my time and lab resources, since the other supplies I used to initiate the experiment went to waste. 3 What ways can we make the reagent organization and ordering process clearer and easier so that this doesn't happen again? 4"

Hopefully, this will encourage the person to own up to their poor lab citizenship and either get their A into G to quit using everyone else's shit or to say that there really is a wrinkle in the system that could be ironed out.