Feedback is something that is essential for your business, not only for growth and development, but to also ensure that you are providing the ideal solutions or services for your intended clients.
The term itself is used to describe information or criticism that you collect and analyse in regards to previous actions or processes. This may look different in various sectors or even in different businesses within those sectors, as everyone utilities different forms and ways to collect the information.
There are two different types of feedback that can occur in a business; ‘Customer Feedback’ which relates to the client or buyer providing a review of your product and services, and ‘Employee Performance Feedback’ which relates to any comments or observations from a manager as part of a performance review. Both of these areas involve expectations from the party providing the feedback and, if received in a positive way, can significantly improve the performance of either the business or the individual.
Almost everyone in business and those within our personal lives recognise the value of feedback, so why are most of them are not providing it?
What is going on?
Like most of our challenges, fear is often at the root and the word ‘feedback’ often creates a feeling of dread. Despite its clear importance, those who are charged with giving it often let this fear prevent them from doing so and those who are on the receiving end often let fear prevent them from using it to grow and develop. This feeling is felt in many businesses and by most employees.
So, how can we overcome our negative feelings?
Here are three tips to help you to see feedback as the amazing resource that it is, and how you can overcome the feeling of anxiety that is so often generated when you hear the word!
Think about if the fear of giving feedback is about yourself than rather than others
Are you scared to give an honest review? Many people experience emotions towards the idea of giving feedback. One way to overcome this, is to think about how you word and create it, being constructive is always better than focusing on the negatives as this gives an individual or business the opportunity to grow and develop from this information. Research and investigate ways on how it should be formulated and, if you are a business owner, look at creating a process to turn negative feedback into constructive criticism that you can learn from.
Look at how you can change your mindset towards feedback
When we associate abilities with a part of our identity, receiving constructive criticism can feel more like a personal attack. People with growth mindsets, on the other hand, are more likely to take risks and overcome obstacles by seeing failure as a signal to try harder, rather than time to give up. The good news is that we are not naturally divided into fixed and growth mindsets, so developing a growth mindset towards feedback is possible. (You can develop a thicker skin towards criticism, you just need to find a positive way to overcome this)
Overcoming fear of feedback through repetition
When you initially receive criticism it may seem daunting, but the more you are exposed to it and become used to receiving it, the initial fear will eventually be replaced with optimism. As you repeat this process you will begin to see the benefits of feedback instead of it being something you want to avoid! As a business owner you can look at how you can include regular reviews within your business to ensure that your employees are used to this type of information and have a positive channel to execute changes and development opportunities.
At Fresh Perspective we are always looking to expand upon our feedback processes, as we believe that this type of information is vital to our growth and our client’s experience. We would love to know how you gather and use feedback!
Connect with us and tell us how you grow and develop with the use of Feedback!
Have an amazing week!
The Fresh Perspective Team xx