Some of us are too nice for our own good. Have you ever felt like you’ve been taken advantage of because of your penchant for being kind? Don’t allow for your kindness to be mistaken for a weakness. This is advice that we can all take, but it’s especially important for business owners and managers. Specifically, when it comes to giving your employees feedback, it’s important to get over your anxiety about giving it.
Believe it or not, your employees want feedback, whether it’s positive or negative. When you don’t regularly communicate with your staff members, it makes them feel like they’re alone in the woods. To be clear, workers appreciate guidance and assistance. Helping them along the way will make them better at their jobs, giving them greater confidence that they are significant contributors to the overall success of your business.
Many business owners are afraid to give feedback.
Studies have shown that employees are much more engaged when there are open lines of communication between them and their managers. It’s important for managers who are afraid to give feedback to remember that their employees actually want the help.
“Giving meaningful candid feedback can be stressful and unpleasant – True enough,” admits Victor Lipman on Forbes.com, “Providing honest feedback, particularly when it’s of the corrective variety, can be stressful. But it’s also necessary, a vital part of effective management. If employees were always perfect in every respect, management would be a breeze. But of course they’re not and it’s not. Which is why management is paid what it is.”
Give a “feedback sandwich”.
Let it be made clear that there will never be anything wrong with being courteous and polite. You can still provide constructive criticism in a pleasant way. If you’re concerned about hurting the feelings of your employees, know that there are ways to go about providing feedback that will end up with positive results. One way to do that is to provide a “feedback sandwich”. As Michael Heller advises on Business2Community.com, start and end your feedback on positive notes.
“It’s important to give negative feedback, but always start and end on a positive note,” he writes, “This will help balance any negative feelings and lower the defensiveness an employee may feel. If you are at a loss of how to do that in a more tense time, consider ending with future goals for your employee. Goal-setting will help focus the attention and improve behaviour. Even better, employees are more motivated and engaged knowing exactly what is expected of them within the workplace.”
Equip yourself with innovative feedback tools.
At MeloTel, we’re proud of the fact that our Monitor/Whisper Control Panel has helped many a business owner and manager to reduce the anxiety that comes with giving feedback. This innovative service enables you to both listen in to calls live and as they happen and whisper feedback to phone agents while they are on those calls. This immediate form of feedback is known to significantly improve performances and overall customer satisfaction.
For more information about MeloTel’s Monitor/Whisper Control Panel, please don’t hesitate to contact us at 1-888-MELOTEL or use the Live Chat feature on our website!
