In this blog series, we look at the topic of feedback from different perspectives and share practical examples.

A collaboration from Moodtalk x Uma Collective

What is feedback?

Briefly and rationally summarized, feedback is a message that a person receives about how they are perceived, what positive or negative influence they have and how well they meet the expectations of others. Emotionally speaking, feedback is much more complex — the individual perspective is decisive. As a sender or recipient of feedback, we take on other roles that require different requirements when viewed individually from one another.
(Center for Strategic Leadership, 2016)

Productivity studies have shown that receiving feedback is critical to improving performance and motivation. Our LinkedIn survey revealed that 68% think the feedback culture in the company is good, but feedback is still practiced far too little. Without feedback, we only risk seeing things from one perspective — only from our own point of view. Openness to feedback is therefore essential for your own development and that of the company. With the right feedback, your own self-perception becomes more realistic and enables you to actively work on your own development.
(Center for Strategic Leadership, 2016 | Bassot, 2016 | Moodtalk, 2022)

Each recipient of feedback should be able to decide for themselves whether feedback is desired or not — but at the same time, everyone should also have the opportunity to address topics that relate to joint cooperation. In order to meet both needs, a functioning feedback culture is needed. 70% of Moodtalk users are convinced that the feedback culture in the company represents the greatest potential for improvement. The detailed analysis shows that there is often no common definition of the type of feedback and that the expectations within the team are not aligned.
(New narratives, Newsletter issue 85 | Moodtalk, 2022)

Expert insights on the biggest challenges from the community

Moodtalk user
“I'm tall, have a deep voice and can be very intimidating as a result. It is a challenge for me to create a suitable setting for feedback to my employees. In addition, I often have the feeling that many do not dare to discuss certain topics with me. Because of these circumstances, it is often difficult for me to establish the right relationship with the team.”

Expert feedback from Uma Collective Susan A. Wheelan describes in her book ”Creating Effective Teams” that, especially during a first encounter, people tend to subconsciously classify others and assign them a status based on external characteristics. Communication patterns and roles are defined very quickly at the beginning and must be consciously broken up. Regular and authentic check-ins* can help establish communication together and empower all team members to find their place in the team and accept each other. It is worthwhile to define the topic of feedback together, practice frequently and try out different methods — this is the only way to address the different needs and establish psychological security in the long term.

* What is a check-in? A check-in invites every team member to be present, seen and heard. All participants answer a question — in a meeting, in a chat, on a post-it — it is important that every person answers the question. Here Do you find inspiration for topic-specific check-in questions or visit Chek.in or icebreaker.range for inspiration or a random selection.

Moodtalk user
“I received leadership skills at a very young age. There are experienced people in my team, some of whom are even twice as old as I am. In this team setting, it may well happen that I am not taken seriously in certain situations and that I am doubted because of my age. I want more input from like-minded people to get inspiration for my leadership style.”

Expert feedback from Yannick Blättler, CEO at NEOVISO AG For a long time, the natural course of life was such that management work was left to the older generations. The older and experienced guided the young and inexperienced. As your example shows, this has changed drastically. While the argument sounds very simple that you are simply still too young, in the course of your management career you will notice that you are repeatedly doubted and have to justify your decisions sensibly and self-confidently. There are, of course, leadership personalities who make their decisions without opposition. However, these often have a past that is filled with great and successful decisions and so all decisions no longer have to be justified. As a young person, however, this history is rather small.

Nonetheless, as managing director or board member, I always remind myself of the advantage I bring to the table. You absolutely have to look at these topics and benefits In a quiet hour, reflect and write down. In the end, you too received leadership skills at a very young age. In doing so, I would like the following three questions Set:

• What know-how and skills do I bring with me as a young manager that can be profitably incorporated into business development?
• Why would people want to work with me?
• What success story do I have so far? (Even if this is small or was developed in other companies, write it down anyway)

In addition, it helps to remember again and again that young leaders do things differently, but that is exactly why they A refreshing breeze into everyday working life Bring in what is highly appreciated in the medium term. In the short term, decisions are regarded as changes, which then mean additional effort for the persons concerned. In the longer term, however, they will thank you.

Another aspect is the specific Dealing with management situations. It helps to strategically involve older generations. Instead of making decisions right away, I strongly recommend taking an integrative approach. Either you pick up the various opinions and communicate that you are evaluating them and coming back with the decision in the next meeting, or you have already made up your mind and proactively explain why you have decided against the opinion of older generations. I would address this immediately and argue with an understanding perspective. Take the view of the older generation and defend your sentences such as: “I understand that your preferred path would have been XY” or “The way I perceived you, you would rather have gone in the direction XY.” This is how they recognize that you take their opinion seriously and as a result, you will automatically be taken more seriously yourself.

What you must not forget: in intergenerational work, neither the older generations must forget the young needs, nor vice versa. That is why it is very important that you also take care of the needs of older generations and pick them up. In doing so, you also earn further respect.

As a final point, I recommend that you reflect on and optimize your way of communication. Young managers often appear as competent but not self-assured. There, it helps to get feedback on how to attend meetings, communicate with employees, how stringently you argue and how responsibly you communicate decisions. I also have various thoughts here that I can always recommend:

• Speak loudly rather than softly
• For meetings:
• Consciously greet everyone when they step into the meeting room
• In the agenda overview, show which decisions are likely to lead to longer discussions
• Take notes
• For one-on-one meetings:
• Try to pick up the conversation partner's perspective and take notes
• Ask specifically if you can't understand something
• In everyday work/ in the office:
• Talk to people: you have to become an absolute professional in small talk and at the same time always show your appreciative and helpful mindset (you lead at every moment)
• Show your enthusiasm in small moments: consciously point out generational differences and explain right away why we could approach certain topics differently in the future
• Never take yourself too seriously: leading means being a service provider for others

New perspectives

We have collected creative and exciting inputs for you that enable you to take on new perspectives.

🧢 Feedback hats

“Six Thinking Hats” is a book by Edward de Bono that describes a tool for team discussions and individual thinking. The associated idea of parallel thinking is a tool for teams to look at concepts from different angles. As a feedback activity, the thinking hats offer various lenses for constructive peer feedback. Team members present ideas or ongoing work, while selected people provide feedback from the perspective of one of de Bono's thinking hats.

Further links ⬇️

🔧 Die Feedback activity by Hyper Island

📖 How it works in detail: The Six Thinking Hats by Edward de Bono

📚 That book On the theory

💡 That Miro Board for practical use in teams

📚 A practical guide to feedback

Feedback is essential in any form of collaboration. A Practical Guide to Feedback helps readers conduct every feedback conversation with tact and ease and provides brief step-by-step instructions.

Further links ⬇️

📚 The Guide by SYpartners

📚 Creating Effective Teams

A practical guide to building and maintaining teams. Susan A. Wheelan goes into detail about the four phases of a team — Forming, Storming, Norming, and Performing — and thus illustrates the developmental nature of teams in the four phases. Separate chapters are dedicated to the tasks of team leaders and team members. Issues that often arise in teams are highlighted, followed by specific advice. Practical examples and questionnaires are used throughout the book, which give readers the opportunity to self-assess.

Further links ⬇️

📚 That book by Susan A. Wheelan

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Our experts

Uma Collective

The three founders of uma collective are co-authors of the blog series and provide expert input for your feedback stories. They specialize in people-centred advice in healthcare, with the aim of initiating new ideas and designing solutions actively and together with all participants through iterative processes. uma collective sees itself as a mediator on equal footing who promotes cooperation across borders and disciplines and makes knowledge and skills available.

umacollective.ch
linkedin.com/company/umacollective/

Yannick Blättler

Yannick is managing director at NEOVISO and provides expert input in your feedback stories. NEOVISIO is a market research, consulting and content production company with a focus on the young generation. The 28-person team applies a modern research and consulting approach. Yannick understands the needs of customers, speaks for Gen Z and Alpha and is able to connect all generations.

neovisio.ch
linkedin.com/in/yannick-blaettler/

Photo by Vlad Hilitanu On Unsplash