Don't Repeat My Feedback Blunder: Here's What to Do Instead
Are you blasting your whole team with feedback that's only meant for one person?
Have you ever had to give feedback to a single person on your team, but you chickened out and decided to share the message with your entire team instead?
I’ve used this approach in the past, and it’s caused a lot of problems.
In my first management job, I had a team member who routinely arrived late to work. The majority of my team was punctual, but “Gary” was not.
I knew I should probably talk to Gary about his tardiness, but I was worried about how he would respond. Every time I’d given him feedback in the past, he had become angry and defensive.
Because I was scared to encounter Gary directly, I blasted my entire team with the message:
“Hey everyone, just a reminder: please show up to work no later than 8:00 AM. We need to start unloading the truck promptly at 8 o’clock so we can finish stocking the shelves before the store opens.”
Here’s what happened when I shared that message:
Gary didn’t take the hint.
One of my top performers (someone who was incredibly punctual) came up to me afterward asking if I was upset at her for showing up two minutes late last week.
Another employee asked me who on the team had been showing up late.
I made the mistake of using the “shotgun approach”—spraying little pellets of candor across the whole team rather than delivering feedback to the one person who needed to hear it (Gary).
With one shotgun blast, I managed to do three unproductive things:
I failed to address Gary’s problem.
I scared one of my top performers.
I stirred up the rumor mill.
When you deliver shotgun feedback, you cause collateral damage. Innocent team members begin questioning if they’ve done something wrong. Others start wondering about the intended recipient of the message: Is someone going to get fired? Who is in trouble?
And yes, the guilty party often loses the message entirely. Cognitive dissonance causes them to assume the message wasn’t meant for them.
What I should have done is use a “sniper rifle approach” by speaking with Gary one-on-one. I should have had the guts to talk to him directly rather than blasting the entire team for his mistake.
The conversation could have sounded like this:
“Hi Gary, I noticed that you showed up after 8 o’clock three times last week. That delayed our truck unloading process, which made it tougher to finish stocking the shelves before the store opened. Going forward, we need you to be here on time by 8:00 AM. Is there anything I should know about that is keeping you from being here on time? If so, I want to work together to try to solve that.”
The sniper rifle approach ensures that the message is delivered unambiguously and candidly to the person who needs to hear it. Although this approach requires more courage, it is much more effective.
The next time you need to share a tough message with someone, don’t hide behind a shotgun approach. Be brave: have a one-on-one conversation with the person who needs to hear it.
-> For tactical tips on how to give candid feedback, see this related story.