Something happened post Focussed Group Discussion (FGD) i was facilitating yesterday that has stayed with me.
I was discussing with the 'People Manager' concerned about what had been the major themes that had come out of the FGD.
I was telling the manager concerned what the group felt about how we could better structure/use in-person interactions (individual discussions between the manager and reportee's). I shared 'What they wanted more/less/started/stopped during these discussions?'.
Initial reaction of manager concerned was defensiveness. At one point, s/he expressed 'This is an unfair demand from me!'
His/her reaction made me aware of something i had forgot to make him/her aware about. My discussion with team was about 'what needed to change in the situation?' and was not about 'what the manager needed to do differently?'.
The subsequent question obviously is 'If these are the changes we want, who needs to do what differently? What would you need to do differently?'
Once i made manager aware that the focus of the discussion was on the situation and not the person, i sensed s/he became more receptive to looking at the feedback objectively.
I realize that the next conversation i need to have with his/her group would be around 'What does each stakeholder -manager and employee - needs to do what differently to achieve changes envisaged in individual conversations?'
Feedback is difficult to accept if we view it as 'feedback on us'. Feedback is easier to accept, if we view it as 'feedback on a situation in which we are one of the parties involved' - probably it is also a more constructive way to look at a situation.
-
Sourav
I was discussing with the 'People Manager' concerned about what had been the major themes that had come out of the FGD.
I was telling the manager concerned what the group felt about how we could better structure/use in-person interactions (individual discussions between the manager and reportee's). I shared 'What they wanted more/less/started/stopped during these discussions?'.
Initial reaction of manager concerned was defensiveness. At one point, s/he expressed 'This is an unfair demand from me!'
His/her reaction made me aware of something i had forgot to make him/her aware about. My discussion with team was about 'what needed to change in the situation?' and was not about 'what the manager needed to do differently?'.
The subsequent question obviously is 'If these are the changes we want, who needs to do what differently? What would you need to do differently?'
Once i made manager aware that the focus of the discussion was on the situation and not the person, i sensed s/he became more receptive to looking at the feedback objectively.
I realize that the next conversation i need to have with his/her group would be around 'What does each stakeholder -manager and employee - needs to do what differently to achieve changes envisaged in individual conversations?'
Feedback is difficult to accept if we view it as 'feedback on us'. Feedback is easier to accept, if we view it as 'feedback on a situation in which we are one of the parties involved' - probably it is also a more constructive way to look at a situation.
-
Sourav
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