One of the great tools for leadership is ‘Feedforward’ often used even by sports coaches. I first came across this word while going through my coaching journey almost a decade back. Leaders can often have a negative impact when the feedback is not well communicated, it becomes more of a download than a well meaning input that can nurture the team member. In a knowledge economy, every human capital is critical for the team, thus creating a positive environment of nurturing talent is most important after hiring right.
Many organisations are realising that the key is empowering teams to seek their ultimate best in productivity, ingenuity, customer relations, emotional intelligence and communication. However, some methods are more effective than others. As a coach, I feel a culture is built on the approach of synergy and transparency. Though organisations understand this, rewarding the right behaviours and practices are sometimes missed which in turn promotes toxicity. Organisational culture is founded on the behaviours and practices of the leaders. Feedforward is a great tool for the leader and when practiced effectively can yield world class results!
4 Ways that you could use this tool better are following:
- Purpose : To unleash the hidden potential. Mostly when feedback is given from a negative space the results are counterproductive. Thus preparing as a leader before you go for the session is critical. The important aspect is to focus on the future state of excellence. Case in point if you are coaching an olympian you would highlight how they can improve their speed -accuracy rather than harp on their inadequacy.
- Ask vs Tell -Mostly as leaders are running against time; preparing to ask -discuss and create goal around the skill is hardly prioritised. Thus one needs to find time to prepare ones notes before going into a feedforward session. Tell is fine when you are working with D1 or D2 person (Situational Leadership) who has no experience or exposure and still doubting the process. Its an ineffective approach when ‘tell/direction’ is used with D3/4. Another approach that works well is INJ approach. (follow. my blog to know more about INJ in my later blogs)
- Customisation.-Preparation in accordance to personality style, background, environment and exposure of the person is also an important aspect to look into. The recipe needs. to be customised as per the person -situation and outcome you would like to derive.
- Support the Reframe -Leaders should use language that moves people forward and support their growth. When leaders are able to create a safe environment of metamorphosis for team members they are creating future leaders, alternatively they are just using power to subjugate others around them.
Feedforward is a way to create organisational best practices and behaviours for speed and agility, rather. than staying in a static phase. The goal is that employees and leaders both feel they consistently have empowering, transparent conversations and are able to share insights, expectations and blindspots. The process sure requires vulnerability and the investment of time and energy, however the outcomes sure impact organisational top-line and profitability.
What are the outcomes you have got from your recent coaching sessions…How do you think you can use feedforward to optimise your leadership and coaching quotient…
For more you could explore reading the following book:
What. got. you here wont get you there by Marshall Goldsmith
drsonaliduttabaanerjee 
A succinct exposition on ‘Feedback Feed Forward’ !! Sonali, my ‘feedback’ to you is, please continue to do everything, particularly by writing such blogs so that, readers and followers like me, notwithstanding the length and breadth of our experience and exposure, feel enlightened and educated, and we move forward.
Guru Rabindranath Tagore had said :’Let noble thoughts come from every side”. So be it, by way of your blogs.
Just a few thoughts to complement the purport of your Blog :-
* Feedback ought to be given with a positive intent and a positive content, with a strategic purpose in enabling a ‘feed forward’ by the recipent, resulting by way of a positive contribution by the latter. thus, Feedback ought to be an exercise which should be carried out with sanctity, and not sanctimony.
* At the same time, receptivity of the person to whom the feedback is being given, is equally important.
* In a corporate-kind-of-an-environment, more-often-than-not, it is the ‘boss’ or the ‘manager’ who feels it is only his/ her prerogative to give a feedback to his/her reportee, and that, it is the obligation of the latter to accept and obey without demur, and the reportee is not expected to give his/her own feedback! This is repugnant to the sanctity of a feedback. The Orwellian-statement that, ‘all are equal and some are more equal than others’, is not conducive in creating a sound working relationship, far alone from sustaining it. This is to say, giving a feedback should not be a ‘one-way-ticket’, in fact it ought to be a ‘two-way-traffic’.
I reckon, perusing your Blog will be both an eye-opener and a useful piece of learning.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks Vikas for your golden words and expressions. The element on the reportee’s feedback on the leadership is equally pertinent…you have beautifully articulated the need of every person to be more aware of how they are impacting their environment. Totally resonate with your. thoughts.
LikeLike
Interesting thoughts. Definitely, a forward looking discussion based on the invidual’s needs add more value than a post mortem.
LikeLike