Feedback is an integral part of business life: customer reviews on Google, performance reviews with employees, sprint retrospectives in agile teams – we encounter feedback everywhere. And it comes in different guises: sometimes as a surprising ghost that makes us freeze in shock, sometimes as a friendly companion that gently guides us on the right path. It is often only nuances – tone of voice, look – that decide how feedback affects its recipients. This is why companies need a mature feedback culture. But that is by no means the only reason: feedback givers also benefit from successful communication. Because they reveal a lot about themselves – about their values, for example. And that's exactly what we need to be successful.
The Art of Constructive Feedback
Constructive feedback should always be part of the corporate culture and should be applied consistently. Just as we wash our hands every day, we can also practice psychological hygiene. We routinely practice respectful behavior such as constructive feedback without giving it a second thought.
Numerous books explain constructive (and effective) feedback works. This does not need to be repeated in detail here. Instead, I would prefer to point your attention to the aspect of value communication, which resonates in all feedback. However, I will focus on one communication model in particular because it is quoted in many guidebooks and reveals some interesting ideas.
Friedemann Schulz von Thun: The Four Levels of a Message
Friedemann Schulz-von-Thun's four-sided model has now become part of the canon of communication psychology. Of course, there are extensions and criticisms. And like any other model, it is a mental construct that does not always reflect all facets of everyday reality, but nevertheless sharpens our awareness of unconscious processes.
Schulz von Thun focuses his attention on the different levels on which a message can be understood when it is sent or received. He identifies four levels, assuming that a message can be related to its factual information, to the person sending it, to the person receiving it and to their relationship. In this sense, the levels are called: Factual, self-disclosure, appeal and relationship levels.
There are several ways to understand the following statement by a fictitious coworker:
"In the end, everyone is responsible for their own work results."
The subject of the message is personal responsibility in everyday working life.
However, the sender may also be implying that she feels left alone.
As an appeal, it could be understood the other way round as "Don't get involved!".
And on a relationship level, one could recognize a harsh rejection of collegial cooperation. This is how quickly offenses and misunderstandings can arise.
For constructive feedback, it therefore helps to communicate clearly on all four levels.
To stay with the example, it would be conceivable to respond to the statement above:
"I would like to pick up on your statement:
You said the everyone is responsible for their own work results (=subject level).
That gave me the impression that everyone was fighting for themselves – without support from the team.
The statement irritated me (=self-disclosure),
In my opinion we are jointly responsible as a team and work together as partners (=appeal level).
Is my impression correct?"
For the relationship level, it is important that the feedback provider communicates at eye level.
This type of feedback is constructive because all four levels are taken into account. In addition, the feedback provider works strongly with first-person messages: "I was irritated...." instead of "You have..." – In this way, communication can be free of offense, which increases psychological safety in the working environment.
What Added Value Does Constructive Feedback Offer?
After the excursus on the communication square, the question may arise in many people's minds: Why all this effort? And is constructive feedback actually necessary? I'm sure many readers have experienced management styles where it was said: "Not scolding is praise enough!" And perhaps they still worked productively. However, in today's VUCA world*, the "old ways" of traditional boss statements no longer work. And that's not because we're struggling to win the goodwill of rare specialists and presumably picky millennials amid a shortage of skilled workers.
What ensures our success in volatile markets and complex competition is to position ourselves with clear values. In our rapidly changing reality, the question of what tomorrow's world will look like is more pressing than ever before. Companies are gradually turning away from purely profit-oriented activities and are looking for business models that create "added value" for the (global) community. Examples of such companies include Patagonia and Einhorn, which of course only represent a small part of rethinking entrepreneurship. The values we stand for should therefore flow into our daily actions – and therefore also into our feedback culture.
Feedback is an invitation to learn, to leave your comfort zone.
PS: Are you interested in the topic of "leaving your comfort zone"? You can find out more in this article.
*VUCA stands for the terms volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous. In broad terms, this refers to the fragility of traditional business models (e.g. Kodak), the sudden success of new players (e.g. Uber) and the unpredictability of markets.