I venture to say that everyone’s work environment changed in some way over this last year. Many businesses were unable to remain open for an extended period. Many were fortunate to make adjustments and were able to remain open while employees worked from home or another remote location. I was blessed in that I have worked remotely for many years now and did not have much change in my day-to-day work environment.
With businesses trying to figure out what the new normal is as they bring employees back to the office, now is a good time to make some suggestions around feedback. Take advantage of the opportunity while things are fluid. Here at LearningBridge, we talk a lot about generative feedback. Taking advantage of this shift in company culture can help you strengthen or start this feedback process.
When members of your team work in different locations it can be challenging. In the article, What Is Your Best Advice for Me?, Michael Crowther gives an example of asking for advice while hiking with one of his search and rescue teammates. These opportunities can be great, but when you are not sharing office space there is no crossing paths at the water cooler. You can still have an impromptu side discussion at the end of a phone call or video meeting with a coworker, but it’s different from those in-person moments. Hopefully, over the last year you have made some changes and have been able to keep the communication open.
If you are returning to the office and feel that your communication has been less than desired, this is a great opportunity to make an adjustment. With the changes going on with returning to the office you can suggest a more frequent schedule to check in with your manager. Keep in mind that the request doesn’t have to come from higher up. Take charge and show that you have a desire to receive feedback and act on it as suggested in How to Receive Feedback Graciously and Act on It Visibly.
Maybe your check-in interval has been good. If that is the case, then you can use this as an opportunity to focus on improving the quality of the feedback conversation. The idea of generative feedback is not a one-and-done deal. In Find Your Growth Sweet Spot (Live Webinar), Glade Holman discusses how to find your performance and development sweet spots. Once you have found your performance sweet spot you can focus more on development. This will help you in becoming a better asset to your organization.
Generative feedback can be helpful along the path to better ourselves. Taking the time to seek out this advice and outwardly act on it can keep the feedback flowing as others see you actively change based on their feedback. Utilize the change that may be happening in your organization to bring feedback to the forefront.