The 4 Criteria of Corrective Feedback

If you’re a manager working in the tech industry, you might be facing some challenging conversations.

A recent survey by the University of Michigan showed almost 79% of consumers across age, income, education, and geographic demographics expect “Bad times” ahead for business.

With increasing media reports on inflation and the upcoming recession, we’re seeing tech companies prepare for this with two less-than-popular approaches:

• RTO: Increasing companies, similarly to the much publicized decision of Musk with Tesla, are enforcing a return to office
• Layoffs: With concerns rising for the 2023, tech layoffs and hiring freezes appear to accelerate

These two shifts look to create longer term stability for overall company health to match investor sentiment. Both private and public investors are changing valuation metrics for tech companies, focusing on strong cash flow and profitability, but that doesn’t mean it’s a comfortable shift for either manager nor employee.

The layoff anxiety coupled with changing workplace expectations set the stage for managers to sink or swim with employees.  Read more about the managerial competency you need to help your company continue growing as we face unpredictable challenges in business.

Managers need to draw on a skill we called Managerial Courage to handle some of these challenging conversations and changing workplace practices?

What does it mean to be competent with this skill of Managerial Courage?  You don’t hold back what needs to be said and have the skills to deliver feedback with a cadence, timing, and diplomacy.

Developing competency in this skill might feel intimidating if you’re a new manager, but figuring out the techniques and mindset you need can have a huge impact on the team.

If you’re enjoying our Summer reading suggestions for managers, Radical Candor by Kim Scott is a great place to start.

The other piece to consider with these tougher conversations? Consider Approach and Know Your Audience for each individual discussion. Remember what you know about the person you’re dealing with and let your emotional intelligence guide you on when to dive into the harder-to-hear portions of your feedback.

Your commitment to your employees is to always hold space for trust and communication. By candidly delivering news and decisions in a timely manner, you help employees continue to trust you - even if they might not love all the information you’re sharing.

In addition to building trust with employees, improving your managerial courage also helps you learn to trust yourself as a manager. 

Skilled managers trust themselves to know to be the right person for a challenging conversation. 

Would you like to build your trust with yourself and your team through crucial conversations? Make sure you follow these guidelines when giving feedback to others:

1. Make it Current
2. Make it Direct
3. Make it Complete
4. Make it Actionable

By verifying your conversation fulfills these criteria, both you and your audience will have clarity on the next step. If you’re a BQC member, listen to the complete KnowledgeWave podcast on Managerial Courage in your resource library.

To learn about becoming a BQC client and receiving access to management resources like this, send us a message on LinkedIn or submit an inquiry on buildingquality.company to learn more about getting started.