Eliminate Judgment

BECAUSE JUDGMENT IS NOT FEEDBACK

 

   

A major part of your job as a manager is to give feedback to your employees to help them meet and exceed your performance expectations. It should be easy, right?

 

Just share your perspectives with employees, and they will improve, grow, and develop. As easy as this concept sounds, most managers struggle with giving feedback that is constructive, specific, productive, and received in the way it was intended. One reason giving feedback is tough is because we often don't give feedback; we make judgments. Don't feel bad. We all do it.

Performance conversations will be most impactful when you focus on judgment-free evidence. A critical mind-set for a painless performance conversation is to eliminate judgment.

Often, we don't even realize that we've made a judgment when we are trying to provide helpful feedback. Here are a few examples:

Judgment: "You didn't prepare enough for that important presentation."
Feedback: "There were details and statistics that were not included in your presentation. For example . . . "

Judgment: "You are not carrying your weight on the team."
Feedback: "You have completed three case files this week. Your peers are completing an average of six case files per week, and the standard is five files per week."

Judgment: "You did a great job today with the Jones complaint."
Feedback: "Your ideas for solving the Jones complaint were innovative and effective. You gave the customer several options, all of which were appropriate given the situation."  

 

You've been forming your opinions and perspectives since you and the employee first met. It can be tough to remain focused on the evidence and withhold judgment. Yet, facts and evidence will always be more influential (and less painful) in helping the employee see the impact of their behavior.

 

If your goal is to mold and improve employee performance, leaving your judgments out of the conversation will help employees focus on their own behaviors rather than on what you think of them.


Resources That Build Confidence
USEFUL TOOLS FROM ME TO YOU
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Purchase a copy of Painless Performance Conversations (if you haven't already) and post a review on Amazon, and we will send you a link to our mini webinar: Getting Started with Painless Performance Conversations. Just email us to let us know your review is posted on Amazon and we will send you a link to the webinar!  

You can also access bonus resources, including downloadable conversation planners, at PainlessPerformanceConversations.com.


Final Footnotes
NEWS & EVENTS FROM MARNIE


I recently sat down with fellow speaker and NSA member Craig Price to talk about Painless Performance Conversations as part of his popular podcast program, Reality Check with Craig Price.You can access the full interview on our blog: Painless Performance Conversations Podcast.   

 

As always, if I can support your efforts to enhance your organization's performance management practices, please give me a call at 480-705-9394 or shoot me an email. I'd love to hear from you. 

   
Warmly,  
MEG Signature 
Marnie Green, IPMA-CP
Principal Consultant

 

 

June 2013
Eliminate Judgment
Painless Performance Conversation Resources
Final Footnotes
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From Our Readers

"Marnie is a dynamic, engaging trainer who is very skilled at her craft.  With her Public Works experience and personal knowledge, she was able to tailor the training to our group and gave us insightful, usable tools that we could implement immediately. 


"Marnie's presentation to our Advanced Leadership Program was exactly what we were looking for - someone to tell us how to deal with those painful moments in the workplace when discussions with co-workers, bosses or employees must occur."

- Lisa Krueger,  President & CEO, Lake Havasu Area Chamber of Commerce

  

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A few recent tweets:

"Differentiate between feedback and judgment. Always provide feedback to employees."

 

"Feedback is not based on personal feelings and subjective opinions. It focuses on performance, actions, decisions, and outcomes."


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