Issue link: http://psai.uberflip.com/i/1120405
W EEKLY EDITION MAY 22, 2019 Feedback: Friend or Foe? By Karleen Kos, PSAI Executive Director • Present . If a team member brings you a problem , ask, "What are some things that work for you when you deal with other people? Get them talking about positive results and interactions. Don't let them drift into the problem with remarks like, "But that won't work with [th is person.]" You want them to channel the feeling of success they have with other people. Statements like, "With most people , I can smile and laugh a lot," or "usually I just say what I mean and that works for me," are what you are listening for from your employee . This analysis causes them to feel successful and also releases chemicals in the brain that reinforce the feeling of success. It's like getting a hit of a legal drug. • Past . Next, have them look at ways they've solved problems in the past. "When y ou've run into difficult people in the past, how have you resolved those issues?" People live in patterns. If they have been successful in resolving interpersonal problems in the past, get them to tap into what they did to move forward. If they can see in their mind's eye what they actually did and how they felt in a prior challenge, and can then see how to adapt it to the current situation, they can move toward excellence. • Future . Last, have them think about how they might apply what they've discovered to future interactions with the challenging person and others as well. Ask, "What do you already know that you need to do? What do you know will work?" Of course, you can offer your own ideas using language simila r to that in the table on page 10 . But it is best to assume the employee does already have his or her own personal wisdom from which to draw, and you're just helping them recognize it. F ads regarding how to supervise people have come and gone during my decades of both being an employee and of e mploying others . How to give feedback, conduct performance reviews, and otherwise facilitate the best results are always a hot topic. The fact is, there are no silver bullets. However, I am a believer in using what science teaches us to our advantage, and so the HBR article caught my eye. Its suggestion that there are ways to provide feedback that will be more successful due to the instinctual nature of brain functioning seemed to add a new perspective to this well - worn topic. I liked how HBR summed it up: P AGE 12 CONTINUED ON PAGE 13