How to get customer feedback

The closer to the event you address the issue, the better. 

And it's much easier to provide feedback about a single, one-hour job that hasn't been done properly than it is to do so about a whole year of failed, one-hour jobs.

But if the situation involved is highly emotional, wait until everyone has calmed down before you engage in feedback

Informal, simple feedback should be given much more often than this – perhaps every week or even every day, depending on the situation.

It's not a once-a-year or a once-every-three-month event. Though this may be the timing of formal feedback.

Collaborations can be unproductive, time-wasting, and a strain on top employees.

Collaborative organizational structure can drain people’s time and resources, wherein employees are “emailed to death and meetinged to death."

... (or delegation), it helps to know where everyone’s expertise lies. 

Make sure your employees get to know each other, whether that happens through group lunches, coffee breaks, or informal social events. This also builds trust — a vital element for successful collaboration.

Spend some time planning. Then spend a lot more time doing. If you're unsure, do something -- and then react appropriately.

It's easy to think and plan and evaluate yourself out of ever starting a side hustle. See starting a side business as the grand experiment it is. Never forget that the fun is in the doing -- not the thinking.

You may need to spend some time on admin and infrastructure. But you don't need fancy spreadsheets, comprehensive reports, a catchy brand or a mission statement.

Successful side-hustlers focus on selling and working. Anything else is time taken away from generating revenue.

Unless it is completely uncalled for, negative feedback generally has the intention of informing us about our areas of improvement. If feedback isn’t provided, you may not grow and improve. If no one tells you that you are doing something wrong, you will keep doing it wrongly forever.

Providing timely feedback may be a sign that the manager cares and wants you to improve.

One should not be defensive when provided with negative feedback, and understand that it is for our own good.

One needs to act on the feedback by approaching it from a neutral and objective standpoint, not taking it as a personal attack. Instead of reacting, just pause and listen. Reflect on the feedback, giving yourself some time and space to respond with a level head.

Most effective one on one meetings typically last about 30 minutes:

• 10 minutes for the direct report from the employee;
• 10 minutes for the manager’s remarks and messages, and;
• 10 minutes for the employee and manager to draw a way forward.

• find out about the employee’s current emotional state.
• track the status of the employee’s performance and how their goals are coming along.
• learn if there are any obstacles in the way to the employee’s goals.
• discuss specific issues – either the employee’s, the manager’s, or both.
• get honest value-added feedback from the employee.
• provide an opportunity for the manager to coach the employee.
• share formal and informal information about the team and company as a whole.

Good managers provide continuous feedback to them. This allows the employee to quickly make course corrections and to feel successful.

Employers should be mindful of those they promote into leadership positions. Strong communication skills are a must when leading a team of people and coaching on this area might be necessary for some.

A good manager is empathetic to people and demonstrates this routinely.

If empathy is not a trait in a candidate for management, pair them with a leader who can mentor them on how to manage people before promoting them.

Even high-performing employees can face a decline in job performance and engagement when working remotely. This can be due to:

• Lack of face-to-face supervision, which leads to a two-way communication gap and even mistrust.
• There is a delay in the procurement of information as remote workers aren’t able to sense the atmosphere and real-time events at the workplace, leading to a lack of ‘mutual knowledge’.
• A sense of isolation among remote workers, leading to a feeling of less belongingness within the organization.
• Distractions at home due to unplanned work-from-home transition, with employees balancing childcare and many other responsibilities along with work.

A few specific, research-backed steps that can be taken to improve the engagement and productivity of remote employees:

• Establishing Structured Daily check-ins, by establishing a daily call or touchpoint.
• Providing several different communication technology options, using virtual communication tools like Slack, Zoom, Microsoft Teams etc., and making use of video conferencing.
• Establishing clear rules of engagement for communicating with the coworkers or the managers, according to the levels of urgency.
• Providing opportunities for remote social interaction by talking about non-work activities, thereby reducing the feeling of isolation among remote workers.
• Offering encouragement and emotional support by listening to the workers, acknowledging their stress, and keeping their needs and issues in focus.

• Self-Awareness: be aware of your trengths, weaknesses, and values and displaying them to your team.
• Relational Transparency: remain genuine, straightforward, and honest with your team. Display the behavior you hope to see in your employees.
• Balanced Processing: stick to your values when making decisions, but remain open to discussions and alternatve options.
• Doing the right thing: focus on doing the right thing for the long-term success of the business, not yours.

In a remote team, you'll need the right tools to make sure everyone stays on the same page and can continue to execute without a physical person standing next to them.

You likely will need a tool in certain categories like group chat and video conferencing to make remote successful.

Good processes let you get work done in the absence of all else. They provide structure and direction for getting things done.

A few examples from Zapier:

• Weekly Hangouts;
• Weekly One-on-Ones;
• Bring the team together 2 times/year somewhere cool;
• Automate anything that can be automated.

The goal of an effective 1:1 is not an update from your direct report or for you to lay down some instructions. It's a conversation. It's a chance to hear about your direct reports' ideas for your product, their career goals, and possibly their opinion of their performance.

Keep a list of three potential topics ready for discussion. When they say they have nothing to discuss, you can jumpstart the conversation with one of your items.

Your most precious resource is your own time and energy. When you spend it on your team, it helps build healthy relationships.

Your job as a manager isn't to give advice or 'save the day.'' It's to empower your reports to find the answer themselves. If you want to understand what's going on, ask. Let her lead the conversation while you listen and probe.