One of the continuing puzzles of organizational feedback is that many managers still wait for the annual review before dealing with a developmental issue. Getting feedback weeks or months after it's needed can be both a shock and largely useless. The more time between a critical incident the less insight, both on the part of the employee as well as the manager. Furthermore, waiting to give feedback can mean that a negative behavior can be internalized by a person, making it all the more difficult to deal with.
So, as I stated in a previous post, I was delighted by the comments of Carol Bartz, CEO of Yahoo to a NYTimes interviewer. The article title states her case: Imagining a world without annual review.
When asked about what she's learned to do as a leader, she talks about both getting and giving feedback. Her comments are spot on, even humorous, and exceptionally useful.
I also ask simple questions, like “How am I doing? What should I do differently?” At first, people are shocked when you ask them that. They won’t answer right away because they actually don’t think you’re genuine about it, so you have to kind of keep probing and make it safe. They eventually will come around and say, “Well, just this.”
I have a variant on Bartz' practice. When someone tells me I've done a good job, I occasionally ask what, exactly, was good about my performance. Initially, it can be a shock to the system of that person and he'll shut down. But some can give a helpful, straight message. The process has pluses and minuses. Plus is that you can get helpful feedback from some, and you can coach them into giving you better feedback. The minus is that some who gave you a stroke saying good job, etc., won't do it nearly as much or at all, largely because they don't want to take the time or thought to give pointed input. Some, even find the question embarrassing. Of course, you also learn from your question who has the ability to give really helpful feedback.
Q. And how do you give feedback?
A. I have the puppy theory. When the puppy pees on the carpet, you say something right then because you don’t say six months later, “Remember that day, January 12th, when you peed on the carpet?” That doesn’t make any sense. “This is what’s on my mind. This is quick feedback.” And then I’m on to the next thing.
If I had my way I wouldn’t do annual reviews, if I felt that everybody would be more honest about positive and negative feedback along the way. I think the annual review process is so antiquated. I almost would rather ask each employee to tell us if they’ve had a meaningful conversation with their manager this quarter. Yes or no. And if they say no, they ought to have one. I don’t even need to know what it is. But if you viewed it as meaningful, then that’s all that counts.
I'm all for that. Let's institutionalize the process for American business.