Developing an Action Plan
Sharing feedback—particularly corrective feedback—can be difficult, and many people breathe a sigh of relief when that step is done. But you’re not finished yet. For feedback to be truly effective, it has to be heard and implemented. The next step of the process is planning how to move forward.
Specify next steps
For positive feedback, consider sharing the person’s good work with others as an example or asking her to train or coach her colleagues on an area she’s excelled in. It’s easy to overlook such valuable opportunities when you’re in the thick of daily work, but sharing the key to one employee’s success may increase others’ efficiency and motivation.
For corrective feedback, after you and your direct report or colleague have identified the core issue that needs to be addressed, work together to develop an action plan for moving forward that is mindful of the root cause of the behavior. If, for example, you have discovered that your employee is always late to work because she has a long commute, you may be able to offer her the flexibility to work from home a few days each week. You can also emphasize the effect her behavior is having on others as added incentive to help her change her ways: If she discovers that her behavior is lowering the morale of those who are punctual in addition to affecting her individual productivity, she may be more motivated to arrive on time. Here are other options to consider:
• Offer a carrot. Find more interesting and satisfying assignments for the employee to work on as an incentive to arrive on time.
• Use a stick. Require that she be prompt, and establish explicit consequences for tardiness (for example, documenting the situation in a formal performance review, which could later hamper her chances for promotion).
• Seek an alternative. Explore the possibility of formally changing her hours so she can come in an hour later and work an hour later each day, or work from home one or more days per week. You might even institute a flexible schedule for the entire group so that everyone has the option of arriving at work within a range of times.
Whichever approach you take, confirm that you and the recipient are leaving the feedback session with the same understanding of what will come next. Therefore, you should:
• Summarize the plan. If there are multiple components, specify each one.
• Have the recipient show that she knows what the next steps are. She might demonstrate her understanding by restating them or by agreeing to something you have written down.
• Explicitly ask how she feels about the plan. If any points seem unresolved, be open to clarifying them or, if appropriate, revising them.
• Identify when and how follow-up will occur. Be as specific as possible.
• Set a time frame for achieving the primary goal and, if appropriate, smaller goals along the way.
When specifying next steps, make sure that you and the recipient feel that the plan belongs to both of you. A sense of mutual ownership greatly increases the likelihood that the recipient will apply your feedback.
Follow up
For the sake of the employee, your team, and the organization, don’t stop the process of change when the feedback session ends. After giving positive feedback, for example, continue to reinforce the good behavior. When others can learn from that behavior, follow up to arrange training or coaching sessions led by the individual you’ve praised.
In cases of corrective feedback, continue to observe how the employee is doing and whether she is following the agreed-upon action plan. Specifically, you should:
• Check in regularly to ensure that the action plan is on track. Follow the schedule you outlined as closely as possible.
• Ask the employee to describe her progress.
Encourage her to be frank about any obstacles she may be encountering, and do what you can to help remove them.
• Be explicit about any improvements that you’re noticing. Offer praise and reinforcement to bolster that progress.
• Be frank if you notice that progress has been too slow or is not happening at all. Discuss specific options for getting the situation on track.
Feedback is not a cure-all for workplace ills. In some cases, you may discover that the feedback recipient just isn’t changing his behavior, even after multiple feedback sessions. There are many reasons why this may happen: The employee disagrees with you, doesn’t understand the need for change, or just doesn’t care. If a problem persists despite vigilant and judicious follow-up, you may have to take additional—and in some cases, more severe—measures.
If things aren’t improving, consider whether there’s anything you might be doing to add to the problem. Were you clear enough when you gave your feedback? Did the recipient understand what he should be doing, and are you supporting him? Ask for help and advice from human resources, or, if you’re not the person’s manager, consider reaching out to his boss for assistance. If the behavior (or lack thereof) continues, set up another feedback session, but include another person in the discussion as a witness, such as an HR representative. Document carefully what the person says and agrees to, as well as how he behaves and misbehaves. If there is no improvement, that person might not be the right fit for your team or organization.
If you have followed these steps and things progress to the point of termination, you’ll know that you’re doing the best thing for everyone involved. You, your team, and your organization do not need to suffer because of one person’s behavior.
For more guidance on how to proceed if the recipient doesn’t react well to your feedback, see “Handling Difficult Feedback Situations” later in this book.
Assess yourself
Don’t forget your own role in the process. You, too, should be learning from feedback discussions. After a feedback session, use table 3, “Evaluating the feedback process,” to evaluate how the meeting went, and monitor how follow-up is progressing.
TABLE 3
Action plans, deliberate follow-up, and self-evaluation all reinforce the ongoing nature of constructive feedback. In short, the learning (for your colleague and for you) doesn’t end after the door on the feedback session closes. When you act with that principle in mind, your example has an impact on your colleagues and direct reports, and everyone on the team benefits.