This article was downloaded by: [McMaster University]On: 22 December 2014, At: 00:45Publisher: Taylor & FrancisInforma Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number: 1072954 Registered office: Mortimer House,37-41 Mortimer Street, London W1T 3JH, UK

Information Systems ManagementPublication details, including instructions for authors and subscription information:http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/uism20

Maintaining Positive Relationships when Giving andReceiving Critical FeedbackCarol A. Hacker aa A human resource consultant and seminar leader. She is the author of over 150 publishedarticles and 11 highly acclaimed business books, including the popular Hiring Top Performers– 350 Great Interview Questions for People Who Need People and 450 Low-Cost/No-CostStrategies for Recognizing, Rewarding, and Retaining Good People. She earned her B.S. andM.S. with honors from the University of Wisconsin. She can be reached at 770-410-0517 inAlpharetta, Georgia.Published online: 21 Dec 2006.

To cite this article: Carol A. Hacker (2003) Maintaining Positive Relationships when Giving and Receiving Critical Feedback,Information Systems Management, 20:4, 77-79, DOI: 10.1201/1078/43647.20.4.20030901/77296.11

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1201/1078/43647.20.4.20030901/77296.11

PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR ARTICLE

Taylor & Francis makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of all the information (the “Content”) containedin the publications on our platform. However, Taylor & Francis, our agents, and our licensors make norepresentations or warranties whatsoever as to the accuracy, completeness, or suitability for any purpose of theContent. Any opinions and views expressed in this publication are the opinions and views of the authors, andare not the views of or endorsed by Taylor & Francis. The accuracy of the Content should not be relied upon andshould be independently verified with primary sources of information. Taylor and Francis shall not be liable forany losses, actions, claims, proceedings, demands, costs, expenses, damages, and other liabilities whatsoeveror howsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in connection with, in relation to or arising out of the use ofthe Content.

This article may be used for research, teaching, and private study purposes. Any substantial or systematicreproduction, redistribution, reselling, loan, sub-licensing, systematic supply, or distribution in anyform to anyone is expressly forbidden. Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at http://www.tandfonline.com/page/terms-and-conditions

77

I N F O R M A T I O N S Y S T E M S M A N A G E M E N T

F A L L 2 0 0 3

MAINTAINING POSITIVE

RELATIONSHIPS WHEN GIVING AND RECEIVING CRITICAL FEEDBACK

Carol A. Hacker

An impor

tant part of management’s responsibility is related to giving and receiving critical feedback. Even healthy relationships can bring about disagreement, hostility, indifference, embarrassment, and a host of other feelings and emotions. Therefore, managers and supervisors must be able to give as well as receive critical feedback. This is not easy to do; many people would rather avoid confrontation, especially at work. But such skills can be learned. The ability to give and receive feedback — a learned skill that takes practice — is paramount to a leader’s success.

T IS NO FUN

TO GIVE THIS KIND of feedback to anyone, much less someone who works for you and upon whom you de-

pend to get the job done. And yet, it comes with the territory if you are in IT management. There are times when communication of this nature simply has to be given to help the em-ployee help him or herself to correct an unsatisfactory situation, which could be in the areas of performance, behavior, or both.

An important part of manage-ment’s responsibility is related to giv-ing and receiving critical feedback. Even healthy relationships can bring about disagreement, hostility, indiffer-ence, embarrassment, and a host of other feelings and emotions. There-fore, managers and supervisors must be able to give as well as receive criti-cal feedback. It is not easy to do; many people would rather avoid confronta-tion, especially at work. But the skills can be learned. This article is about both, because the ability to give and receive feedback is paramount to a leader’s success. It is a learned skill that takes practice.

Let us start with

giving

critical feedback. Giving feedback without causing defensiveness (your ultimate goal) can be stressful, yet the demand placed on an IT manager or supervi-sor often requires painful confrontation — painful for both the IT supervisor and the employee. Many people are unsure about what to do

concerning problem employees. Re-actions, sometimes in a display of emotion, tend to make matters worse. For some it is easier to beat around the bush or simply ignore the prob-lem altogether. But does it really have to be that difficult?

It is Friday morning and you are about to open the door to your office. The phone is ringing as the key slips into the lock. It has been a hectic week; the pressure is on, and you feel like you are losing your mind. You pick up the phone and it is the first of two project team members calling in sick! Then the CIO storms in behind you and wants to know where the re-port is that was due on Wednesday at noon. As an aside, he mentions the un-professional behavior of your repair technician. The woman is making ene-mies every time she opens her mouth. You are not surprised, but you have put off talking to her because she cannot control her temper. In reality, you are a

CAROL HA

CKER is a human resource consultant and seminar leader. She is the author of over 150 published articles and 11 highly acclaimed business books, including the popular

Hiring Top Performers — 350 Great Interview Questions for People Who Need People

and

450 Low-Cost/No-Cost Strategies for Recognizing, Rewarding, and Retaining Good People. She earned her B.S. and M.S. with honors f

rom the University of Wisconsin. She can be reached at 770-410-0517 in Alpharetta, Georgia.

I

MANAGING IS PERSONNEL

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

McM

aste

r U

nive

rsity

] at

00:

45 2

2 D

ecem

ber

2014

78

I N F O R M A T I O N S Y S T E M S M A N A G E M E N T

F A L L 2 0 0 3

MANAGING IS PERSONNEL

little intimidated b

y her and the way she responds to you.

Most IT managers have experi-enced situations similar to this in the past. You want to keep the internal and external customers happy, but you have an employee or two working for you who is (are) creating prob-lems. In the case of the repair techni-cian, she is a steady worker who sometimes loses her cool. She is un-der a lot of pressure to get repairs done ASAP. You do not want her to quit but, at times, her behavior can be a challenge.

How do you give feedback to this kind of employee and others who need to receive critical feedback? How do you accomplish this without causing defensiveness and causing a technically good, but sometimes tem-peramental employee to quit? First of all, expect defensiveness — it is hu-man nature to defend one’s attitude and behavior. But recognize that un-less you are willing to address prob-lems that need attention, the situation will most likely get worse.

Giving feedback is a step-by-step process:

1. Start by planning what you are going to say. Some managers even write it out before meeting with the employee so that they feel comfortable with their approach. They do not read what they have written to the employee, but men-tally know what direction they will take the conversation before they start.

2. Open the meeting with discussion of what needs to be improved; this is the gap between where the employee should be in terms of performance or attitude, and where he or she currently is.

3. Define the details of your expecta-tions. It is very possible that the employee misunderstood and the problem is easily correctable. If the problem is not easy to correct, this step may require more time.

4. Discuss ideas for improvement. What does the employee have to do to measure up to the standards? This conversation is interactive;

both the employee and the super-visor have valuable input during this step.

5. Agree on an action plan that is acceptable to both you and the employee. And decide how the employee is going to monitor his or her progress.

6. Close by asking the employee to summarize the discussion and set a date for follow-up. Follow-up is critical to the success of any criti-cal feedback session.

In addition, the following “do’s” can help serve as a guideline when you have critical feedback to share:

❚❚

Do give specific feedback and tar-get specific behaviors.

A general statement such as, “I don’t like your attitude,” does not supply enough information. What is it about the employee’s attitude that you want changed? For example: “Your nega-tive attitude and comments regard-ing the programmer ’s work schedule has upset a lot of people. You have no business interfering with what is going on in another department.”

❚❚

Do let the employee know the con-sequences of inappropriate and unaccep table behavior.

Te l l employees what they can expect if things do not improve. For exam-ple, “Your behavior has become a serious problem. If you don’t stop interfering with what’s going on in other departments, you will be dis-ciplined up to and including termi-nation. A written warning will be placed in your personnel file today regarding our conversation. You will be asked to sign it and you will receive a copy.” You may not have to get this stern, but if you do, be sure the employee understands what you say and mean.

❚❚

Do treat your employees like adults.

But if there is a problem, fol-low your organization’s policy, which might include a verbal warn-ing and then two written warnings if the problem persists. Do not assume that the employee under-stands the expectations and is mak-ing the necessary changes.

❚❚

Do stay calm.

Avoid “adult temper tantrums,” the term one QA analyst used to describe her supervisor. “She went nuts when things got tense. The employees feared her constant criticism of them as well as her erratic outbursts. She never let up. We decided she was crazy and one day three of us walked off the job at the same time.”

❚❚

Do choose the right time and the right place to give critical feed-back.

A very minor problem may need only a few minutes of private discussion in a quiet corner. Or, you may want to schedule a time when you and the employee can sit down in your office for a more compre-hensive talk. It may help to choose a neutral area such as a conference room for the discussion, particu-larly if an employee is upset.

❚❚

Do follow up after your discussion.

Do not assume that employees will automatically change their attitude and behavior just because you asked them to do so. According to Stephen Covey, it takes 21 days to change a habit.

The following “don’ts” are among the mistakes many managers make. As you focus on giving critical feedback in the helping spirit, keep the follow-ing in mind:

❚❚

Do not start with a positive and then immediately switch to a neg-ative.

There seems to be a miscon-cept ion tha t the “ sandwich technique” is the best way to give critical feedback. In addition, avoid using “but” as part of your com-ments; that is, “You’re a good pro-grammer, but....” The “but” negates whatever you said at the beginning, and employees quickly learn to react to any compliment as merely the preamble to a criticism. Get to the point. Then conclude with what the employee does well. For example, “You seem to be having trouble meeting deadlines. Is there something going on that I should know about?” “You’re a valued member of the project team. We need your support in getting the work completed on time. What do

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

McM

aste

r U

nive

rsity

] at

00:

45 2

2 D

ecem

ber

2014

79

I N F O R M A T I O N S Y S T E M S M A N A G E M E N T

F A L L 2 0 0 3

DATABASE MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS

y

ou think? Can you make it hap-pen?”

❚❚

Do not interrogate or reprimand employees in f ront o f o ther employees or customers.

Your goal is to help them improve, not to be l i t t l e o r embar ra s s them. Although most managers know this cardinal rule, it is sometimes forgot-ten when the pressure is on.

❚❚

Do not forget that employees have different perspectives.

For example, another supervisor told you that your engagement manager was rude. However, that supervisor did not mention the crude and demean-ing manner in which he first spoke to the manager. Be sure to get both sides of the story.

❚❚

Do not use “always” or “never” in describing an employee’s actions.

These are unrealistic generaliza-tions, and the employee will usually be able to immediately provide an example to prove you wrong.

RECEIVING FEEDBACK

T

om Peters, the author of

In Search of Excellence,

says that “good listeners get out from behind their desk to where the customers are.” Good lis-teners also solicit feedback from their employees. Some managers solicit feedback from their employees on a regular or ongoing basis. Some organi-zations query their employees annual-ly via an employee opinion survey.

Regardless of your approach, there are some guidelines that will help you to receive feedback, whether positive or negative.

❚❚

Be sure you understand the nature of the feedback.

You can do this by asking for clarification with open-ended questions. These questions begin with one of the following words: who, what, when, where, why, how. For example, do not pre-tend you understand the critical statement your software engineer just made if you really do not. Sim-ply say, “I’m not sure I follow you. What do you mean by…?” Question until you understand; it is one of the best techniques for eliminating mis-communication.

❚❚

Listen carefully and actively.

This means tuning out extraneous noise. Do not let your mind wander. The average person speaks 150 words per minute. The human brain can listen and comprehend 1000 words per minute. The brain can easily be distracted when it has that much time to spare.

❚❚

Maintain eye contact.

It is the best way to let the sender know that you, the receiver, are listening and understanding.

❚❚

Paraphrase what you have heard.

It assures the sender that you under-stand the message. It is a good habit to get into. And if when you para-phrase you find that you misunder-

stood, the sender can either repeat the message or rephrase it.

❚❚

Avoid interruptions of any kind.

Telephones, beepers, and knocks on the office door can impede the process by causing the feedback to be misunderstood or misheard.

In summary, criticism facilitates growth. It can increase employee mo-rale and retention. If used properly, criticism is used to encourage im-provement, not to remind people of their failures. The ability to give and take criticism is something every IT manager must strive to do well. Hon-esty is a core value in any strong orga-nization. The goal of feedback is always to help employees understand what they did wrong, receive recogni-tion for what they did right, and learn the correct way to handle difficult sit-uations as well as increase their desire to improve. Learning how to provide honest feedback can make the differ-ence between a successful business and one that struggles to keep top tal-ent and survive for the long term. On the other hand, if you are on the re-ceiving end of critical feedback, do your best to listen and maintain an open mind. Shutting down, losing your temper, or ignoring what your data specialist, technology consultant, or technical support analyst has to say can only hurt you in the long run.

▲

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

McM

aste

r U

nive

rsity

] at

00:

45 2

2 D

ecem

ber

2014