AID FEEDBACK MODEL
Last week was a busy week for me, culminating in a trip to Manchester and driving home in the torrential rain; oh the joys of being a corporate trainer! The session in Manchester included a delegate, Ian, who really had a problem giving what he perceived as ‘negative’ feedback to people in his team and this led me to think about using it as the subject for this week’s tip.
In DISC terminology, Ian was a high SC or Green/Blue. For the uninitiated, this means that he has a very reserved and steady nature and does not likely to have or create conflict in his life. He hates the thought of upsetting those around him; both in his personal and professional life. Consequently, he avoids giving feedback to people in his team, as he cares for them and believes they will be upset to hear that from him.
If this sounds familiar to you, here are some ideas about how to give what we call developmental or constructive feedback (note: not criticism) to people – i.e. when we want them to change/improve what it is that they do – in a way that reduces the risk of them taking offence.
WHY IS FEEDBACK IMPORTANT?
As a manager, you are accountable for your team’s performance and developmental growth. One of the best ways to support them is by sharing developmental feedback. For some, like Ian, this is where the job gets hard, as it’s much easier to recognise someone for an outstanding achievement or demonstrating a valuable skill than it is to correct a misstep or call out areas for improvement.
The thing to remember is that when provided in the right way, developmental feedback can have a profound impact on the individual’s motivation and growth. Numerous studies have shown that it’s exactly what the majority of people say they want.
A 2014 assessment of employee attitudes towards “positive” and “corrective” feedback by Jack Zenger and Joseph Folkman revealed that 57% of respondents preferred receiving corrective feedback. If given properly, and I know that’s a big if, 92% believed developmental feedback was effective in improving performance.
So, how can you give ‘negative’ or developmental feedback in a more positive way that will be listened to? Well, to begin with, I gave you some insight into my blog last week. I’d like now to expand upon the message it contained.
But first, why is it that some people dislike either giving or receiving this type of feedback. For many people it’s because it seems like a personal attack on the recipient; and quite frankly that’s because sometimes it is, so it’s no wonder the feedback is taken so badly.
I’m going to assume that whenever you have such feedback to give to a member of your team that you want them to listen to what you have to say and then act upon it, without a negative attitude.
the “aid” in AID FEEDBACK MODEL
OK, here’s one way that you can do it. You can use the acronym ‘AID’ in AID Feedback Model stands for:
ACTION
IMPACT
DESIRED ALTERNATIVE ACTION OR BEHAVIOUR
The big advantage of the aid feedback model is that, if used correctly, it can depersonalise your comments because, critically, you will be focusing on the performance, not the performer.
So, let’s explore how you can use the AID feedback model.
ACTION
The key is to make sure that you focus on the other person’s specific actions or behaviour; not on your interpretation of it. So you are feeding back to them what you actually observed them do or heard them say; not on their intentions, their personality or their character.
For example: “I noticed that you were late for work four days out of five last week.”
The secret in this step is to ensure that your assertion cannot be denied by the other person, even if it was for a reason like having a car service. Please also note that you are not blaming them. You are just stating your observations.
IMPACT
As a bit of an aside, when you are giving praise it is so easy to say to someone ‘that was really good, well done’ without saying why it was good or what made the difference this time compared with previous occasions.
So, this step can include both the positive or negative impact of their actions, but given the topic of this week’s tip, I will focus on the negative if that’s OK.
Here are some impact questions you might want to consider before you speak to the person concerned:
- What impact did/is their performance having on them?
- What impact did/is it having on the team?
- What impact did/is it having on you as their manager?
- How does this performance affect other departments?
- How is the customer (internal or external) impacted?
- Finally, what evidence do you have for this?
So, here is the example taken to the next stage:
“I noticed that you were late for work four days out of five last week. The impact of that was that others in the team had to deal with additional IT helpdesk queries which meant the client waiting times increased”
DESIRED ALTERNATIVE ACTION OR BEHAVIOUR
So far, so good. Please keep in mind that the purpose of your feedback is to enhance your team member’s performance and, hopefully, motivate them. So this last stage is important to determine what happens next e.g. develop to make it even better next time around, to correct a mistake or to perfect a process. Put the emphasis on what is missing rather than what is wrong – building on strengths or positives is far more likely to engender enthusiasm. Using open questions, ask the individual how they think things can be developed or built upon. This will help to gain buy-in and you may be surprised by the options they suggest.
Here are some desired alternative questions you might want to consider:
- What needs to change going forward?
- What does the goal look like?
- Are the actions you set SMARTER?
- When will you meet again to confirm improvement or review results?
So, here is the example taken to the next stage:
“I noticed that you were late for work four days out of five last week. The impact of that was that others in the team had to deal with additional IT helpdesk queries which meant the client waiting times increased. Unless there is a problem that I need to know about, I would expect you to be present at 9 o’clock”
Here’s another example of the aid feedback model:
“Thank you for providing me with the data I needed. However, it was two days late. Because it was late, I had to cancel a project meeting at short notice and we weren’t able to complete our resource plan on time. In future, if you are faced with competing priorities please let me know asap. That way I can help you adjust your priorities”
AID Feedback Model Conclusion
One of the key success factors of this process is to make it as data-based as possible so that there is little room for your team member to challenge your assertions.
Finally, remember with the feedback you always have two choices:
- Tell the person what you want them to know.
- Ask them to self assess and consider what has happened.
You may find initially that you tend to tell rather than to ask. The more you ask the more your team member will be able to self assess, clean up their act and improve their own performance.