Moving to Feedforward and Away From Feedback

I’ve had a couple of leaders come to our coaching sessions last week with a goal of how they can give better and more effective feedback to someone on their team. In one instance it was for someone who didn’t hit their target and continues to make the same mistake in a certain task. For the other, it was missing deliverables in a project meeting with a vendor and there was a theme emerging with this particular team member.

What is feedback?

Merriam Webster defines feedback as:

Feedback (noun) feed· back | \ ˈfēd-ˌbak

The transmission of evaluative or corrective information about an action, event, or process to the original or controlling source.

Typically, when leaders provide feedback, they point out errors, tell them what should have happened, (sometimes) ask why it happened, and tell them not to do it again. It’s almost always focused in the past. This often leaves the receiver of the feedback feeling deflated, guarded, defensive, or spiteful.

To illustrate, here’s an example…

Leader: “Here’s the issue. Why did that happen?”

Team member: “Here’s my reason and/or excuse.”

Leader: “This is what should have happened, and this is how you should have done it, make sure it doesn’t happen again.”

Team member: leaves feeling deflated, unmotivated, and/or unsupported.

This approach is very one-directional and leans toward the “autocratic” leadership style.

While understanding the past helps to inform the future, providing feedback, purely focusing on what went wrong, most likely won’t leave your team feeling inspired or committed to changing their behavior.

Instead, try “feed-forward.”

Feedforward puts in you the position of ‘leader as coach’ and can help your team member to

1) understand why their job is an important part of the organizational goals and the impact their work has,

2) empower them to use critical thinking, problem-solve, and correct their own missteps, and

3) promotes intrinsic motivation to get the job done right rather than as a directive.

To replay the above situation from a feedforward perspective, it might look something like this:

Leader: “Here’s an issue I’ve noticed. Why is it important for us to get this right when we experience the same situation again in the future?”

Team member: “Well, for X, Y, and Z reasons.”

Leader: (after illustrating any other impact not getting the task done correctly might have)

“So what could you do differently when you face a similar situation in the future to ensure it gets done right?”

Team member: “Well, I could do A, B, or C.”

Leader: “That’s great. I think ‘A’ could work. Here’s another suggestion of something that’s worked for me that might help you...”

Team member: “Thanks. That’s helpful. I think that’s something I could try.”

Leader: “Excellent. So what are you going to commit to doing the next time you face a similar situation?”

Team Member: “I will do 1, 2, 3 things.”

Leader: “Great. I know that you have a similar situation coming up later this month, so let’s plan to connect afterward to check how that approach worked for you.”

A key component of feedforward is connecting the task to the Why. Why is it important for your team to get it right? By illustrating this point, having them connect the dots and you fill in any gaps, you underscore how your team contributes, the impact their individual work has on the department and organization as a whole, giving them a sense of pride in their work, a sense of accomplishment, and helps to increase their motivation.

An after action review is another component that the above scenario briefly touches on (“let’s plan to connect afterward”). What was supposed to happen, what actually happened, why was there a difference, and what can we learn from this? Review and revise, and build on the learnings. Celebrate the small wins to build motivation. Remember to keep the talks positive, keep all goal-setting positive (ex: stop doing ‘X’ vs. start doing ‘Y’). Change requires motivation. The motivation can come from fear or positive support. The choice is yours. What you focus on, you get more of.

With a feedforward approach, you show up as a Leader as Coach. A “coaching” leadership style engages and empowers the team to deliver on objectives. You are developing your team. You co-create a path forward and show that you are on the same side, the same team, that you are there to help and support, that you want them to succeed.

Feed (verb) \ ˈfēd

a: to furnish something essential to the development, sustenance, maintenance, or operation of

b: the action of passing a ball or puck to a team member who is in position to score

Forward (adjective) | for· ward | \ ˈfȯr-wərd

a: advocating an advanced policy in the direction of what is considered progress

b: of, relating to, or getting ready for the future

How would you define "feedforward"?

Please comment, like, and share if this resonated with you.