Performance Feedback vs Difficult Conversations: Why Understanding the Difference Can Make You a Better Manager

If we had to narrow down our work with clients to the topic that’s most in demand it would be how managers can get better at giving feedback and navigating difficult conversations with their teams.

This is such a common struggle in fact, that although we’ve created a 4-part, 8-hour course around it, we still sometimes feel like we’re only just scratching the surface!

In an earlier post, we discussed how listening is the single most impactful thing you can do to have more productive conversations. That’s why the first session in our course is dedicated solely to the art of active listening.

From there, however, we break up the sessions to focus on feedback and difficult conversations specifically – and how understanding the difference between the two can help you become a better manager.

With that in mind, here are 3 key points that bear remembering the next time you’re called on to speak with a team member about their performance.

1. There are two types of feedback

The first type of feedback you may have to provide as a people manager is what we call instructional feedback.

Instructional conversations typically take place when there’s an accepted system, structure, or method for doing something - and the person you’re speaking with has deviated from it in some way.

Examples of instructional feedback might include prompting an employee to fill out their expense report properly, or to follow established practices for incorporating your company logo into their marketing materials.

Providing functional feedback is usually the easiest type of conversation to have because – since everyone on your team should already be aware of company standards – all you’re really doing is connecting an employee back to what’s expected of them, and what they’ve agreed to as part of your organization.

2. Not all feedback is created equal

The second type of feedback – what we refer to as positional feedback – is much trickier to navigate than performance reviews involving company norms.

Positional feedback is what happens when you take a position on the way something should be done, when in reality there may be many ways to approach it.

Examples here might include evaluating the way a team member:

·       Presented their concept to a client

·       Dealt with a vendor, or

·       Put together an RFP (request for proposal) deck

In any of these instances, there’s no single ‘right’ way to move forward. And so any ‘feedback’ you give is likely driven by a belief you hold or a stance you’ve taken on how you’d approach such a task.

There’s an entire school of thought around the notion that this type of feedback is mostly ineffective. But suffice it to say that, rather than enabling learning or productivity, getting people to focus on their performance shortcomings tends to do more harm than good.

What to do instead?

According to feedback research presented by Harvard Business Review, you can start by acknowledging two important findings about learning:

1.     It hinges on grasping what we do well - not what we do poorly

2.     It happens most readily when someone pays attention to what’s right with us and asks us to cultivate that talent intelligently

If this sounds familiar, it’s because it echoes the philosophy behind CliftonStrengths and the way AMWTW has always worked to help managers and business owners lead successful, strengths-based organizations.

3. Difficult conversations are in a class apart

Finally, we have what’s known as the ‘difficult conversation’. Difficult conversations are characterized by one party needing the other to make a change in order to prevent a major consequence from impacting themselves, their team, or their organization.

Conversations like these are usually the result of one of two things:

·       A pattern of repeated employee behaviour that you’ve previously addressed

·       An event that falls outside the realm of what’s acceptable

Examples you might recognize include speaking with an employee who continually misses deadlines, or who has reacted poorly to a co-worker during a team meeting.

The main thing to understand about difficult conversations is that they don’t revolve around general performance improvements (as in going from ‘good’ to ‘great’). Instead, they focus on a change that needs to happen right away.

 Identifying which category your feedback or conversation falls into will help you prepare for one-on-one interactions more effectively and achieve more successful outcomes.

Want to learn more about taking the fear out of difficult conversations?

Check out our workshops or get in touch and find out how AMWTW can help turn the conversations you’ve been dreading into opportunities to lead with confidence and vision.