Spending more than 13 years in Human Resource and after coaching corporates for some time now, I have seen so many incredible leaders struggle to give constructive feedback even though they believed it would help to improve overall performance. When you think about it, it’s easy to understand why. Giving feedback focuses on a failed past which can't be changed. It's limited and static. Often, it's received negatively and defensively.

Inspired by my coaching Guru Marshall Goldsmith, I had the opportunity to learn the feedforward process and quickly became a believer in this engaging, simple, quick and fun process. This exercise is especially productive when working with teams who are trying to take performance to the next level.

The FeedForward process helps you to envision and focus on a positive future, not a failed past. Athletes are often trained using feedforward. Basketball players are taught to envision the ball going in the hoop and to imagine the perfect shot. By giving you ideas on how you can be even more successful, the FeedForward process can increase your chances of achieving this success in the future. The following are the benefits

1. It can be more productive to help people learn to be “right,” than prove they were “wrong.”
2. Feedforward can come from anyone who knows about the task. It does not require personal experience with the individual.
3. People do not take feedforward as personally as feedback.
4. Feedforward can cover almost all of the same “material” as feedback.
5. Feedforward tends to be much faster and more efficient than feedback
6. People tend to listen more attentively to feedforward than feedback

The intent is to show how feedforward can often be preferable to feedback in day-to-day interactions. Aside from its effectiveness and efficiency, feedforward can make life a lot more enjoyable. When managers are asked, “How did you feel the last time you received feedback?” their most common responses are very negative. When managers are asked how they felt after receiving feedforward, they reply that feedforward was not only useful, it was also fun!

Are you interested to know about this fun exercise of giving “Feedforward”? Type “Yes” in the comment box and I will reach out to you to design an exclusive workshop with you and your team