Flexpa believes that providing critical feedback regularly helps promote a culture of continuous improvement and open communication.
We encourage all team members to give and receive feedback to promote personal and professional growth.
Direct Communication First: All Flexpals should first attempt to address behavior they disagree with directly with the other team member, respectfully and professionally. They should discuss their concerns and provide specific examples of the behavior they find problematic. The goal is to reach a mutual understanding and resolve the issue together as soon as possible.
Direct Communication Again: If the behavior persists despite the initial conversation, the employee should approach the other team member again and reiterate their concerns. The goal is to reiterate the feedback previously provided or additional critical feedback and to resolve the issue or issues promptly.
Escalate to a Manager: If direct communication does not resolve the issue or issues, the employee can seek help from their manager, who will act as a mediator. The mediator may also loop in Andrew. The mediator should facilitate a meeting between the two team members and help them communicate effectively, clarify misunderstandings, and find a path forward that works for both parties.
Management Intercession: If the issue is still not resolved, the employee can escalate the complaint again to their manager. The manager will listen to both parties again, review relevant documentation, and make an impartial decision based on Flexpa's values and policies.
We recognize the importance of confidentiality and respecting the privacy of all involved parties during the feedback process. Any feedback shared should be kept between the involved parties and the management and not shared with others who are not involved in the situation.
At Flexpa, we prioritize creating a safe and productive work environment for all team members. While the process outlined above is the ideal path for addressing behavior concerns, we understand that each situation is unique, and this process may only be the best fit in some cases. If you feel uncomfortable or unsafe addressing a behavior concern directly or if the behavior is severe, please reach out to your manager to discuss the best way to move forward.
Lastly, the above process is not intended for clearly unacceptable or illegal behavior. Employees should immediately escalate the matter to management if the behavior is inappropriate or unlawful.
Providing good feedback can be hard. There's no one single right way. The most important thing is to find something that works.
One popular method Radical Candor. Radical Candor is achieved when you care personally and challenge directly.
Praise in public, criticize in private.
- When people receive critical feedback in front of their peers they naturally feel defensive and are less likely to internalize feedback**.**
- Ask if the person is open to receiving feedback before sharing your feedback.
Beware of Ruinous Empathy.
- This is often the default quadrant for caring people
- When you withhold feedback for the sake of avoiding an uncomfortable conversation you deprive your peer of long term growth and hinder the rest of the team’s productivity
Positive feedback is important.
- An HBR study found that a ratio of ~5 incidences of positive feedback to 1 incidence of negative is optimal if you want to ensure that your negative feedback is fully trusted, listened to and internalized
Avoid broad statements and be specific (for positive feedback too)
- e.g. avoid statements like “Your communication needs improving”, instead provide feedback like “During your presentation, your slides had typos on slides 3 and 5. When typos slip through I fear it makes our team appear sloppy.”
- e.g, avoid statements like “That was a great presentation”, instead provide feedback like “I really liked the animation you added on slide 3. I think it perfectly highlights our product’s value and showed that our team pays attention to detail”
- Broad positive feedback can feel insincere, “they’re just saying that to be nice”
When giving feedback offer to help or propose a solution.
- See the example above, where the feedback suggested adding the Grammarly extension as an extra pair of eyes
Prefer to provide feedback immediately.
- Often there is lost context if feedback isn’t shared immediately