FEEDBACK
It's amazing in reference to one of the most vital and essential areas of business and management is the least written about by management gurus and other authors and given very little research into this area of company life.
Be it from a client awaiting a response from your customer services department requiring further information clarified for them, this is covered in their training to respond to client needs, some do it better than others.
However, this notion of feedback is also crucial to your employees. I personally think this is why many potential talented employees leave a company, because so little feedback is given and most comes back to them in a negative way heavily laced with criticism as a routine and not getting it right lends itself to an atmosphere of unease and distrust.
However constructive arguements have the advantage of clearing the air if done properly and in a civil manner without the need for a referee involved.
What is meant by feedback in my book, is of a briefing before and after a big or small event which had a meaningful lesson to be learnt, whether we wanted to hear it or not. Like at school the head teacher would announce any points to bring to our attention, the same applies in the working environment.
Although I know liberalists would tend to disagree and think only of the victorian times when you mention this concept. But it is this point on feedback which has all but gone from really discussing issues with employees and not just endless, pointless meetings that leaves you at the finish wondering why you bothered to show up, just like school.
Feedback is clarifying what you need and want employees to be aware of and how things stand at the moment. It debriefs the employee to respond to how things went, could be improved upon and mistakes to be learnt from to use for either avoiding in the future or adapting to make better use of, oh yeah and the good parts...got that covered!
It is better to use a structure which is satisfying if feedback is kept too and are short in delivery and often rather than a long meeting every week and month, this should be saved for the overall big picture, vision or special announcements to employees type feedback.
The lack of feedback is the result of many company manager's lack of information not poor performance.
However both require preparation which is co-ordinated and not an addition in management training, style nor as an afterthought. It wastes your time and your employees if they find communications is an echo of what you said last week coming to haunt time and again.
REFERENCE SOURCES:
Constructive Feedback by Roland and Frances Bee. published by the Institute of Personnel and Development.