Motivate People with Feedback

Someone once said - "Feedback is the breakfast ofchampions." Personally, I think that pancakes, crispy baconand maple syrup are the breakfast of champions. Howeverthere's no doubt that giving people feedback is absolutelyvital to ensure a motivated team who'll deliver results.

One of the top three factors that motivate people at work is- feedback.

The majority of people want to know how they're doing atwork. They want to know when they're doing well and theywant to know when they could be doing better. There are asmall minority of people who don't want feedback at all; butlet's face it; you don't want these people on your teamanyway.

Okay, so I'll accept the fact that many people don't want tohear bad things about their job performance, however itdepends on how they hear the bad news that'll effect theirmotivation at work. I'm sure that you'd want to know whetheryou were doing your job okay - I'm sure I would.

Like many people, I can be very sensitive to negativefeedback. At the end of any seminar or workshop I scan thefeedback forms looking for any comment that would dare tosuggest that I hadn't done a good job.

It's easy for me to look at negative feedback on the formsand say - "You can't please all the people all the time" or"Who cares" or "What do they know anyway?" I try to keep an open mind and think about what's being saidin the feedback. Is it something I should do something about- if this person didn't like something that I said, maybethere were others who felt the same way but didn't make anycomment? All I want to do in my job is be the best that Ican be, so it's important to listen to what my "customers"have to say.

We all feel different about feedback because we are alldifferent. Some people love it, others are okay with it andothers just hate it. I'm sure that you have people on your team who always wantto know "how they're doing." They come and speak to you andshow what they're doing. "Is this okay boss, am I doingthis right?" They're constantly looking for reassurance thatthey're doing the right thing. Then you'll have others onyour team who never come and speak to you and get mostuncomfortable whether you're giving them the good news orthe bad.

But let's think about you for a moment about you. You mightbe the kind of person who's comfortable with lots offeedback or maybe you'd prefer it in much smaller doses.

The important point is - the way you feel about receivingfeedback could affect the way you give it to your team.

Managers who are happy to receive feedback are usually happyto give it to their team members because they believe theirentire team feel the same as they do. And of course if you look at it the other way round -managers less comfortable with feedback tend to believe thattheir team feel the same way. This is often the biggestdanger because many managers don't receive feedback fromtheir manager and subconsciously feel - "Why should I givefeedback to my guys when I don't get it?"

Whether you receive feedback or not; whether you feeluncomfortable giving it or not - you still need to do it foryour people. Just be aware that they're all differentindividuals and they might react in different ways. Almosteveryone wants feedback - how much, is just a matter ofdegree.

Discover how you can generate more business by motivatingyour team!Alan Fairweather is the author of "How to get More Salesby Motivating Your Team" This book is packed with practicalthings you can do to get the best out of your people. Click here now http://www.howtogetmoresales.com

http://www.alanfairweather.com