This poster has been designed to be a laminated pocket card to carry in your wallet or purse for easy reference.

This poster at first glance might seem simplistic.  At second glance what isn’t in the poster is maybe more important than what is.

In giving feedback to someone on their idea, the wise leader will begin with the positive aspects of the idea.  What if there are no positives?  Then the leader mentions his/her thankfulness for the feedback.  Encouraging feedback from followers is always in order.

Then the leader shares his/her concerns about the idea.

Here’s what’s missing from the poster.  There is no mention of using a conjunction (i.e. but, nevertheless, however, etc.) between the plusses and the minuses of the idea.  It is never encouraged to say, “I think the fact that you’re giving thought to how we can cut expenses is always a good thing.  However, my concern is that the effects of your idea might negatively impact our customers’ evaluation of our company.”

Now read the sentence without the conjunction and notice the difference.  The conjunction emotionally negates all the precedes it.  Try it the next time you  attempt to give balanced feedback in a performance review.  It’s not as easy to do as it reads.

Categories: Communications, Conflict Management