Your team members resist feedback on their work. How can you break through their resistance?
When feedback falls on deaf ears, the key lies in fostering a culture where constructive criticism is valued. To break through the resistance:
- Frame feedback as a growth opportunity, emphasizing the benefits of personal and professional development.
- Ensure a two-way dialogue by actively soliciting team members' input and concerns regarding the feedback process.
- Lead by example; show openness to feedback about your own work to encourage others to do the same.
What strategies have you found effective in encouraging team members to embrace feedback?
Your team members resist feedback on their work. How can you break through their resistance?
When feedback falls on deaf ears, the key lies in fostering a culture where constructive criticism is valued. To break through the resistance:
- Frame feedback as a growth opportunity, emphasizing the benefits of personal and professional development.
- Ensure a two-way dialogue by actively soliciting team members' input and concerns regarding the feedback process.
- Lead by example; show openness to feedback about your own work to encourage others to do the same.
What strategies have you found effective in encouraging team members to embrace feedback?
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Flavio Dutto
Head of UK Engineering
(edited)with intelligence and support, we are all at the same level (WORK CLASS) remember. if you are doing the much you can for your team and, let them feeling that you are trusting them, you will see that there will be no any resistance and everyone will follow the Leader.
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If your team members are resistant to feedback it suggests that they don’t value the feedback or don’t respect the person providing it. It takes time and trust to accept (and seek) feedback and critique…ultimately, it’s closed mindsets that only want to hear positive comments.
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I think its very simple. You dont need to give him or her any direct feedback if there is already a resistance. Better you take some part of the work and do it together and while doing the work as a team you can show how you do it. While explaining don’t include the words like better way or efficient way, explain him your way and ask him what he thinks about the alternative way. As he now knows alternative way and if its more efficient and applicable then he will automatically follow you. This is how we can manage people by setting up examples.
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To break through resistance to feedback, create an environment of trust where feedback is viewed as a tool for growth, not criticism. Start by giving balanced, constructive feedback, highlighting strengths alongside areas for improvement. Encourage open conversations and ask for their input on challenges they face, fostering a two-way dialogue. Frame feedback within project goals and team success, showing how improvements contribute to collective achievements. Reinforce a growth mindset by celebrating progress and making feedback sessions regular but low-pressure. Over time, this approach helps team members see feedback as supportive rather than critical.
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Put oneself in the shoes of the team mate who is resisting the feedback. People have their own situations and perspective which might be very different from ours. Informal interaction with the teammate might lead to the key, the trigger points or motivation to mould the feedback in an interesting and value adding proposition. One of my team mate was a habitual late comer which affected our daily stand up meetings. He revealed his personal and genuine reason in an informal discussion over a cup of coffee. His office timing and the time of team meeting was accordingly adjusted culminating into a win-win outcome.
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Impose your authority, but if possible, try to maintain open communication with them. Take their perspective into account and seek to understand how the feedback may fit into their work. Record the results for verification. It's essential to recognize that the person giving the feedback might not fully understand your team's perspective. Nonetheless, feedback is beneficial for the team and is one way to sustain continuous improvement.
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De acordo com que tenho vivenciado eu priorizo promover uma cultura de confiança e aprendizado, onde o feedback seja valorizado como ferramenta de crescimento. Até mesmo utilizando o “quickly feedback” sempre embasado em fatos e com exemplos reais do dia a dia. Então, seja exemplo ao aceitar críticas, demonstrando como usá-las para melhorar o seu perfil e transformar essas adequações em resultados. Adapte sua comunicação ao perfil do receptor, focando em soluções e desenvolvimento, não em falhas. Incentive o diálogo aberto, ouvindo e construindo juntos. Por fim, reconheça avanços resultantes do feedback, reforçando a importância da troca. Assim, criando um ambiente de evolução contínua, superando resistências.
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I believe that effective feedback starts much earlier than the feedback section. The leader must build trust with the employee, Trust makes the employees more receptive to feedback. It must be constructed in a daily base. As much trust you build, as much admired the leader is, maybe for its behaviour, integrity, technical skill or any other positive characteristics that the employee would be willing to mirror, more the feedback resistance can be broken. Breaking employee resistance to feedback requires a thoughtful, empathetic approach that fosters trust and openness.
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If it happens, that "all your team members resist" (that is how I interpret this not well formulated question, the options being: "many or all", but not: "few or one"), then you, as a manager fucked up! So what to do? First: as a manager you never do something to BREAK THROUGH the resistance of a team. The resistance is built from a combination of intrinsic human reactions and knowledge of facts - "cloud intelligence". Whatever you call it: it stands for something bigger than you are willing to recognize! Second: work on yourself how you lead, especially THIS TEAM, IF you have the luxury of time to change yourself and save the team. Third - likely the most efficient option: hand the management position to someone who is qualified.
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To break through resistance to feedback: 1 - Create a safe space: Foster an environment of trust and openness. 2 - Make it continuous: Incorporate feedback into daily interactions. 3 - Lead by example: the feedback should include what is your skin in the game. What is your role in the employees growth?
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