Be Specific When Praising: Fast Feedback Tip
June 20, 2008 by Phil Gerbyshak
Filed under Business
Wondering why your praise isn’t getting results? Take this quick quiz.
Quick quiz:
Does your feedback sound like this:
You’re doing a great job Joe! Keep it up!
Or this:
Thanks for working an extra hour the last 3 nights to finish up that tough project. Now that it’s out on time, our customers will be 31% more efficient, which will make the firm as a whole more profitable.
When someone on your team does something well, instead of a generic attaboy or attagirl, or look for the specific quality that was done well and thank them for that, along with it’s impact to the bottom line. Focus on the behavior exhibited instead of the person as a whole, and you’ll be much more successful with your praise. Specific feedback leads to specific results.
Thanks to Eric Eggerston for reminding me about this important management tip.
Great tip, Phil and Eric, specificity is the difference between authentic appreciaton and lip-service.
But even lip-service can be better than nothing.
First sign of a spam comment: “Nice post!” without any further elaboration.
Same goes for feedback to the people you work with. Nobody wants to behave like a spammer, especially with co-workers you depend upon.
I have to disagree. When it comes to managers or team leaders even letters addressed to “occupant” help. When people are beaten down anything has value. NOT the way to manage for strong morale and high productivity, but, as an engineer once said to me when accepting an offer from my client, “I wonder if my boss will notice I’m gone, I don’t think he even knows my full name.” Sad and more common than you think.
I have to agree that the praise should be specific but also close to the time that it occured. From what I have read in leadership books, praise is something we all crave but seldom give.