How communicators can elicit more candid feedback
When workplace discussions go off the rails, it’s often due to a lack of empathy and clarity. Try these tactics to conduct more substantive conversations that yield richer, more honest insights.
How do your colleagues really feel about work right now?
What bugs them about their jobs, and what could the company do to alleviate their biggest concerns?
Communicators who can capture this sort of candid feedback are truly indispensable. But it takes a strategic approach to glean honest insights that most workers won’t freely share. Keep these tips in mind to pursue more free-flowing, enlightening conversations:
Focus first on the needs of the feedback receiver.
As challenging as it is for even the best-trained and experienced givers of feedback to conduct constructive feedback discussions, the emotional burden is borne by the person receiving the input.
Receiving constructive feedback fires up a full shopping cart of emotional reactions ranging from challenging a person’s sense-of-self to generating feelings of outrage, anger or disappointment.
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