Sales Managers: Train your Teams to Better Receive Feedback

Feedback is a powerful tool that, if properly managed, can bring real daily and consistent value to your teams’ performance. The challenge of mastering it lies in managers knowing how to give feedback and teams knowing how to receive it in the best possible way.

Ready to make your sales teams feedback experts?

Feedback can be defined as a reflection on an experience, a reaction, an assessment drawn from an event. It is increasingly used by companies that want to help their teams improve daily. These insights are very valuable as they allow for identifying problems, bringing up crucial information, or making internal improvements. Furthermore, they act as a lever for improvement on a multitude of points: daily life, general organization, professional relationships, action plans, user experience, process optimization… Feedback is a powerful tool, conveying important information, but it must be implemented with caution.

Addressing the work of one’s teams and drawing sometimes negative conclusions can prove counterproductive if not handled correctly. Indeed, it is sometimes complicated to address criticism, negative points or areas for review, and internal problems, even if these aspects, once understood, can drive improvements. Knowing how to present feedback, whether positive or negative, on a specific task or overall performance, is a complex exercise.

Today, we will help you understand how to better give and receive feedback, in order to make it a tool for company growth and performance.

Do Employees Really Want Feedback?

A complex question that requires a two-part answer: Yes and no. Various research on feedback shows that employees seek input on their work and performance. Nevertheless, neuroscience shows that our brains tend to perceive this retroactive, sometimes negative, feedback as a threat.

1) YES. Employees seek feedback

In its study, the leadership development consulting firm, Zenger-Folkman, found that employees prefer corrective and constructive feedback over praise, as it helps them improve their performance.

This chart highlights some of the key problems in organizations.
Most managers do not want to give negative feedback (not very surprising), while employees would like them to.

The secret is knowing how to deliver this feedback

In the same study, the firm found that over 92% of participants agree with the following statement: “If negative feedback is delivered appropriately, it is effective in improving performance.”

Managers, here’s the key takeaway! Be honest with your teams. Give them regular feedback, even if it’s “negative”; this will contribute to the constant improvement of their performance.

2) NO. Our brains don’t like feedback

Our brains want to protect themselves from criticism, even if it’s constructive. It can be perceived as a threat, a negative stimulus by our brain. It is inherently complicated to react positively to criticism, and that’s what makes it so difficult to accept and hear.

The problem with criticism is that it challenges our sense of worth. Criticism implies judgment, and we are all afraid of being judged.

As human beings, we also tend to focus more on the negative. In a positive setting, a pleasant conversation for example, we will naturally tend to remember the few negative phrases or moments from it. This is human nature, and this phenomenon is well-defined: it’s called “cognitive distortion. ”

Managers must therefore handle criticism with caution to prevent the signals sent from being perceived as negative and disruptive. For their part, teams must try to combat this natural rejection of criticism and accept those that are constructive and come from the professional environment.

Teach your Teams Automatic Responses so They Can Better Receive your Feedback

It’s all in your Head

Of course, all these tips are easier said than done, but each member of your teams can work on certain points to learn to better accept your constructive comments and feedback. Remind your teams that this feedback is meant to help them, not to put them down.

So try to teach them to step back from the immediate emotional impact of feedback, and they will then be able to focus on the positive.

Go Fishing for Feedback

You and your teams must constantly be seeking feedback because requested feedback will always be better received. Encourage your teams to constantly ask for feedback on their work and to develop a positive mindset in pursuit of continuous improvement. This will allow you to deliver feedback that will be better perceived, better understood, and more effective. Practice will gradually accustom your teams to stepping back from criticism itself and identifying the positive points stemming from it.

Here are some example questions your teams can ask to receive constructive feedback:

• If you were in my shoes, what would you change about my way of working?
• Is there anyone I should spend more time with for training?
• In your opinion, what are my 3 greatest strengths and weaknesses?

Listen Carefully

Regardless of the feedback’s nature: take the time to listen, reflect on your exchanges, and then develop a constructive line of thought. Don’t react impulsively, as your emotions might take over. Use it as an opportunity to grow, and consider that there is certainly a reason why you are giving or receiving feedback on their work or your own. Knowing how to listen means knowing how to exploit the full potential of the initiated process. Feedback that your teams hear but don’t listen to will not achieve the desired objective.

Download your white paper: “The Coach Manager” here

Teach Them to Embrace Failure

Failure is a key step to success, and society is increasingly accepting it. Don’t be afraid to fail.

Try to develop a mindset of risk-taking and acceptance of failure in your teams. To fail is to have tried. As Woody Allen says, “if you’re not failing every now and again, it’s a sign you’re not doing anything very innovative“. Furthermore, learning from your failures will be relevant for your future projects and will prevent you from repeating the same mistakes. Therefore, motivate your teams to take risks and initiatives in their work, without forgetting to give them feedback on these so that they remain motivated and engaged in the process.

Knowing how to Say Thank You!

Cultivate a “thank you” culture within your teams regarding the feedback and critiques you provide on their work. Giving this feedback is proof that you care about them and want to help them improve. Your teams should recognize this investment, just as you should thank your colleagues for giving you feedback on your own work. A manager who doesn’t appreciate their team’s work or its members, or who is simply detached, won’t provide feedback. So, be invested, and your colleagues will thank you once they realize the value of your feedback.

You and your teams are now ready to give and receive all types of feedback. Get started with us and tell us what you thought of this article!