Glenn Gaffney, the former associate director of CIA for Talent, once said, \u201cWhen you choose management, you choose people.\u201d The larger conversation was about feedback, and how we, as an agency, were severely lacking in providing actionable, ongoing feedback.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Everyone in the room agreed: giving and receiving feedback was the best way to further encourage good performance, correct poor performance and enable personal and professional growth. But managers and supervisors weren\u2019t doing it. Why not?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The reason is simple:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Giving constructive feedback is difficult, especially when it involves telling direct reports that they\u2019ve done something incorrectly that negatively impacted the team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Fortunately, a commonly used tool\u2014the Situation-Behavior-Impact model\u2014can help you provide more actionable and continuous feedback to your employees and co-workers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The model\u2014taught widely across the CIA\u2014requires supervisors to describe situations, behaviors and the impact of one\u2019s actions using factual information and specific language.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Situation<\/u><\/strong>: Using a specific date, time and place, describe the situation in which the action occurred. This helps people receiving feedback recall their behavior.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cJohn, yesterday during the team meeting\u2026\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Behavior<\/u><\/strong>: Using actions you observed, describe what you saw and heard. Stick to observable actions and neveruse judgment words.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201c\u2026you started speaking when Mary was already talking\u2026\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Impact<\/u><\/strong>: Assess what happened and explain how you feel about the situation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201c\u2026and I feel that was disrespectful to Mary and might make her less willing to speak up in future meetings.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Here is the SBI statement all together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cJohn, yesterday during the team meeting, you started speaking when Mary was already talking, and I feel that was disrespectful to Mary and might make her less willing to speak up in future meetings.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Note that you should initiate this conversation as close to the action as possible so the person receiving your feedback will remember the specific situation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Receiving critical feedback<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n When someone gives you feedback, respond at first by saying \u201cThank you very much.\u201d This can be difficult, but it shows humility, self-awareness and respect for your co-workers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The next step: an evolving conversation<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n After thanking the feedback provider, continue the conversation. Using the example above, John might say:<\/p>\n\n\n\n