All of us wrote exams when we were in school to see how much we had learnt. Unfortunately, more often than not, the real world doesn’t have an assessment system in place. And that makes it all the more vital for you to develop your feedback loop. Only then will you get to know if you are on the right track or not.
When you create or work on something, you are seeing the world from your perspective. Unfortunately, the market is made up of the views of the entire population. So, it’s imperative to know the opinions of other people as well. Hear what they have to say.
Everyone is kept on track via feedback. This is advantageous for anyone engaged in any form of activity, such as working on a project, preparing for an event, learning, and so on.
Feedback assists your team in avoiding serious blunders. It saves you time correcting someone’s work, decreases errors caused by miscommunication, and prevents regrets from people who feel like they failed by establishing a transparent and honest communication flow during any type of teamwork.
You develop stronger bonds with others. Honesty and trust are fostered via feedback. It frequently entails criticism, which is something that most people dislike. However, if provided in the appropriate way, it can aid in their evolution. People are motivated by constructive remarks. Here, a friendly demeanour works nicely. You may not only assist people in seeing what they may be doing incorrectly, but you can also allow them to use this as counsel rather than judgement.
You should develop a feedback mechanism for yourself. How do you do that?
Feedback can be helpful for any kind of team and any kind of business. So it’s only natural to start thinking about how to get feedback on something you’ve created. One thing that’s so powerful is getting the right kind of feedback from the right people.
It’s essential to pick the right people to take feedback from. Find people who can adequately articulate where they think you are going wrong. It’d be even more helpful if the people you are taking input from actually have expertise in your domain.
Often the work that we do can be quantified. But if there is no existing scale to quantify your work, create one. For without any measurements, you cannot improve. Develop a scale to judge your work and ask people to rate your work using the same.
But what does one do with the feedback they receive?
The process doesn’t end with the first iteration.
The feedback you get on what you’ve executed is essential. Feedback is information you get from someone else. Feedback is anything that tells you something about your performance or behaviour that you didn’t already know. It may seem obvious, but to use feedback effectively, you have to stop and listen. When people give feedback, they sometimes say things they don’t mean. They have their own needs, their own goals, their agendas. They may even use feedback as a way to vent their anger.
So, first of all, don’t defend. Don’t argue back. Don’t counter. Just listen.
Then, try to discover the “message” in the feedback.
Maybe another way to think about it is that if your goal is to move up in the world, then feedback isn’t the answer. It’s part of the answer. The question is whether you have the tools to use feedback effectively. Obviously, there is no one size fits all solution to it; you have to find the system that works for you.
Start with finding people who are willing to give you mindful feedback. Also, learning to ask the right questions can become very handy. Only when you ask the right questions will their input be of use to you. Keeping track of all of the feedback is imperative. Once you have identified the message, use it to improve.
Successful people try 1000 thousand things, and a few of those things work. It’s impossible to get everything right the first time. Understanding that and accepting it is the only way to succeed.
Experiments are how you learn what works. If something doesn’t work, don’t keep tinkering with it. You don’t know why it doesn’t work, and you don’t want to keep guessing. Instead, move on. Find a concept that does work, and stick with it.
When you do that, you’ll still make mistakes. But you’ll eventually figure out what works.
Then you’ll be right. And you’ll be incredibly successful.
Feedback is essential because it’s the only way to know what you’re doing wrong and what you’re doing right.
Varun, Content Writer
