Feedback as a Challenge

Feedback – a Skill that can be Learned

Effective feedback practice is neither as specific as a science nor as abstract as an art. Feedback is a skill that can be learned and improved through conscious practice. As with any lesson, an understanding of the complexities of the subject is key to learning. This article will help guide you towards an increased understanding of the complexity of giving and receiving feedback in the workplace. “Feedback,” as intended for the purpose of this article, refers to work-related, informal or formal requests that colleagues might spontaneously make of one another.

Feedback across Cultures

In one pocket of cyber space in Feb. 2013, the article “Giving Feedback Across Cultures” was the topic of online conversation. It was published on the HBR Network—Harvard’s Business Review’s internationally renowned blog—by Andrew Molinsky, Associate Professor of Organizational Behavior at the Brandeis International Business School. The article described the case of a German executive who was sent to Shanghai, China to improve efficiency at a manufacturing plant. Using the patterns developed in typical German business culture, the executive gave „to-the-point,” „critical” and „corrective” feedback, whereas employees rooted in Chinese culture tended to expect „positive” and „empowering” feedback. As a result, employees felt de-motivated. Molinsky suggested that what was lacking in the strategy of executive was reflection on the kind of feedback that Chinese employees (in China) tend to expect. The conclusion: Recognizing and understanding feedback preferences is crucial for choosing an effective style of communication in order to support others in achieving personal and organizational goals. Blog commenters emphasized the value of feedback for personal development, and for functioning work teams and organizations. They also pointed out that giving and receiving feedback remains a real challenge.

The Challenge of Giving and Receiving Feedback

In the HBR Network blog discussion as well as in a separate and related virtual discussion between members of the LinkedIn-based HBR group, additional doubts concerning feedback were revealed by those who work professionally across the globe:

• The process by which feedback is given (e.g., face-to-face or mediated by another person or technology; positive or corrective, etc.);
• The setting within which feedback is given (e.g., formal or informal; individually or collectively, etc.);
• The ways in which hierarchical relationships drive who provides feedback to whom;
• The regularity with which feedback is given;
• Perceived issues of bias and legitimacy of feedback;
• The “appropriate” response to feedback.

Some simply have abandoned the traditional concept of “feedback,” and have opted instead for a “feedforward” practice that prioritizes a future-orientation.

The Feedback Profiler®

Overall, one point comes to the fore: Our learned ability to adequately recognize context-appropriate feedback preferences can make a gift of feedback—for oneself and for others in the intercultural workplace. How can we do that? In response to this question, organizational consultants Dr. Marcus Hildebrandt and Stefan Meister developed The Crystal Model concept and the related Feedback Profiler® assessment tool. The Feedback Profiler® works by collecting and presenting individual, team and organizational preferences on giving and receiving feedback specific to four dimensions:

• Drivers, or what motivates us to give feedback;
• Setting, or in what circumstances is feedback given;
• Process, or how feedback is given and received;
• Focus, or on what content feedback is given.

Build a New Feedback Culture

The pen-and-paper assessment takes 5 minutes to complete. Feedback profiles may be compared within professional tandems, teams and organizations. Diagnosing these feedback preferences may become the first important step to building a feedback culture among people and within organizations.

Authored by Kasia Liszka; Edited by Malii Brown

Kasia Liszka manages Research and Development at intercultures Central and Eastern Europe (intercultures CEE), based in Wrocław, Poland. Malii Brown is intercultures’ and E-Newsletter Editor and Director of Global Network Communications. The Feedback Profiler® was co-developed by Dr. Marcus Hildebrandt and Stefan Meister and is powered by intercultures. Email intercultures for more information on the Feedback Profiler®.

This article is the first of a two-part series on the topic of feedback practice. Read the second part of this two-part article on feedback in our June 2014 article, Feedback as an Opportunity…at Google.

The above article was included in the May 2014 intercultures e-newsletter.

Picture Source Title Picture: Getty Images.