Feedforward - Part II

 

Feedforward - Part II

I'm rereading how we could improve through the feedforward tool created by Marshall Goldsmith. Dr. Goldsmith was recognized as the #1 leadership thinker in the world at the bi-annual Thinkers50 ceremony sponsored by the Harvard Business Review

Feedforward is a way to provide feedback to the future on a given topic. It doesn’t involve personal criticism since it is about something that has not happened yet. It reinforces the possibility of changing and can cover the same points as feedback.

Its application is easy and can be done by any manager with your team or you can work directly to develop the team.

Three main ideas:

• It is based on requesting suggestions that can help to achieve an improvement in the behavior, only ideas for the future can be provided.
• Listen carefully to the suggestions received. It is important don’t discuss the idea or include comments as “is an amazing idea”
• Write down all the ideas and be thankful for the suggestions

I worked with several cross teams with this idea and the results were impressive, asking questions as

• Do you think you could have done something else?
• What would have been achieved by doing that other thing?
• How can I help you in the upcoming weeks?

Also asking feedforward for my own improvement

• How can I improve my e-mail communications?

I love this dynamic, because there isn’t pressure, no judgment and if a suggestion does not seem valid to the person, it does not have to be valued or justified. The important thing is to focus on what you are going to do and put it into action towards the future.

Bear in mind that it doesn’t mean that we will stop providing or asking for feedback, however feedforward can be preferable, more efficient and, above all, better received.

Reference

www.marshallgoldsmithfeedforward.com

Originally Published on Mayte’s Corner...Thoughts on Project Management  - 2018 Q3 - PMI Northern Utah Chapter newsletter