Tuesday, June 9, 2015

“Put those away” and other awkward feedback



While I know that feedback isn’t a new topic for this blog— I do know I haven’t had the guts to be this direct before.  Today’s tip tackles awkward feedback—addressing issues like cleavage, body odours/scents, tight/low-rise pants, falling asleep, texting during work hours etc.  


I feel (and have heard from educators) that these are the hardest issues to provide feedback on.  I also feel that even though we've had opportunities to give this sort of feedback our natural reaction is to just hope the issue will just get better on its own (it can’t be just me that feels this way, can it?).


I could blather on here, but this link called Giving Feedback - 3 Funny Examples of Giving Employee Feedback  says it well.  Shari Harley provides an entertaining and practical way to learn some great strategies for giving awkward feedback.


The clip is almost 15 minutes long.  While I recommend you watch the whole thing, here are the highlights (the time in red is what minute the topic is addressed if you want to skip to that part).


4:30    She demonstrates how to tell someone to “Put the girls away”.  Her steps are to:
  1. Introduce the conversation “I’d like to talk to you”
  2. "I’ve noticed that…"
  3. Provide a statement regarding the impact of this 
  4. Provide examples (I think this is number 4 in the video she skips what #4 is)
  5. Ask for her take on it (The most likely human response is defensiveness so don`t be surprised by this)
  6. Make a suggestion (The Winnipeg version of her example is Garage-they have a lot of bandeaus there)
  7. Ask “are you willing to do that”?
  8. Finish up with something like “Thank you for your time; I’m glad we had this discussion.  I know it was awkward”.  Then end the conversation (no one wants to hear about something they are doing wrong for more than 2 minutes).


8:30  She demonstrates the process again with giving feedback about body odour 

9:45   You can skip forward here to 11:55

11:55 She demonstrates the process again to address texting in front of patients

Some other gems in this video include:
  
  • When you tell someone the truth you are doing them a favour.
  • Don’t expect that just one chat will change the behaviour.  Be prepared to address it again.  She suggests that you say something like “Be prepared to talk about this again.  If  I see it getting better I will let you know and if it`s not getting better I`ll let you know" 


Take care and have a great week...Lisa




No comments:

Post a Comment