February 18, 2003, ISPI Vancouver Event
Feedback
on
Providing Feedback to Improve Performance
By Patricia Morris, ISPI Vancouver
On Tuesday, Feb. 18, 2003, Matt MacEachern presented Providing Feedback to Improve Performance to ISPI Vancouver. For background, please see our initial and follow-up bulletins about the event. ISPI Vancouver member Patricia Morris collected participants’ feedback about the session. This article is a result.
Sixty ISPI Vancouver members and guests attended Matt MacEachern’s session, Providing Feedback to Improve Performance, "instead of going to a Tuesday night film," as one participant put it. Ken Bellemare, an experienced magician/facilitator, summed up that Matt provided "a good way to refocus us on feedback." Many participants appreciated that the refocus would help with relationships both at work and at home.
Ken Eisborne "expected to attend a lecture and instead was involved in an interactive exchange of ideas and shared experiences." Many of us especially liked an activity in which designated members of triads searched for lost ducklings from Matt’s flock of rubber ducks. It enabled us to experience the difference between feedback and ideas and the relative effects of negative and positive feedback. One participant, perhaps tying in ISPI Vancouver’s January session on return on investment, suggested analyzing the effect on productivity (ducks per minute?) when negative corrective past-tense feedback is replaced with positive present-tense ideas. What do you think, Matt?
After the workshop, Karen Willis of Lehigh Northwest Cement wrote, "I’m going to be much more conscious about reframing when giving corrective feedback." Reframing in this context means shifting our thinking from what we don’t want toward what we do want. Like many others, Karen wrote, "I’ll use the three-step model whenever I give feedback." The model, Drive-by Feedback, consists of three components: a headline, a specific example, and a value to the performer . . . . . "Hey reader, you’re doing a great job reading this article because you’ve almost made it to the end without stopping. And now you too can feel re-energized about the important leadership skill of giving effective feedback."
Matt MacEachern’s enthusiasm for the topic, respect for his audience’s expertise, and talent as a facilitator reminded us of ways in which intentional skilled feedback can help us to achieve our goals. The session energized and changed us, often in small ways —"We had fun and laughed a lot" — and always in positive ones. It was definitely better than a Tuesday night film. And this is from a film lover.
At the Ironman Canada 97 triathlon, Matt MacEachern was grateful for some interest-catching, meaningful, useful feedback from son Josh MacEachern just when Matt needed it most — at Mile 17 of the marathon.
Matt MacEachern is Manager of Training and Development for Crystal Decisions. He also presents workshops as an associate of Pacific Adventure Consulting. Matt credits many of the concepts used in his ISPI Vancouver session to Andrew Kimball of QB International.
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