Competition to stay relevant, productive and synergistic in today’s market is fierce. Many organizations are realizing that the key is empowering teams to seek their ultimate best in productivity, ingenuity, customer relations, emotional intelligence and communication. However, some methods are more effective than others.
As a coach, I see firsthand how organizations and businesses believe that their success starts with their culture and ultimately the effectiveness of the individuals that work within it. Yet, they don't know how to go about creating a culture that is built on transparent synergy.
In order to help organizations improve team performance, I created a framework for communication and feedback that I call the FeedForward-Fifteen process. The FF-15 is based on the idea that when leaders create a tool for accountability, communication and triple-loop learning, it empowers individuals to aspire to reach their potential, work collaboratively with others and improve their creativity and overall performance.
The Five Aspects Of The FeedForward-Fifteen Process
1. The purpose: The purpose of this process is not to sandwich what a person does well with improvements. Rather, its purpose is to create a powerful dialogue between a manager and an employee about behaviors and actions that can help unlock potential.
2. The script: The FeedForward-Fifteen process utilizes a script to help ensure that a manager clearly communicates, sticks to the point and asks powerful questions. The script should be objective and use positive language that moves people forward (more on this in a minute).
3. The consideration: When developing the script, first consider the person you will be communicating with. Ask yourself, "What is this person's potential and what holds them back? What does my company need to see from them?" This allows you to pre-frame the discussion before it even begins.
4. The frame: For starters, your script should include one-to-three behaviors, actions or strengths that you notice the individual demonstrates that inspire others and increase productivity. Second, include one-to-three aspects that are key to helping the employee meet an upcoming challenge or improve overall performance. Leaders should use language that moves people forward. For example, avoid phrases like, “You did this last month — how are you going to change that?” A better approach would be, “Our next project will require you to work collaboratively with the team, which means sharing information and updates daily. Do you commit to doing this moving forward?” Be sure to build in time to ask the employee about their perceived strengths and possible areas of improvement. It's also important to find out what motivates the employee. At the end of the conversation, you will want to provide one-to-two clear competencies that you would like the employee to focus on. Get their commitment and agree to check in and share your observations as time goes on.
5. The safe space: The job isn't finished once you've created the script and framework. It's also important to build a safe space for the conversation. I suggest reading over the script three times in order to help you identify and remove judgment and reactive emotions. As previously mentioned, the script should also allow the employees to share their thoughts and insights. While you are having the conversation, ensure you maintain a state of curiosity, ease and empowerment.
Now that we've examined the core aspects of the FeedForward-Fifteen process, let's discuss how to implement the process company-wide.
Once a leader has practiced using the process by role-playing with a colleague or two, it is important for the leader to explain the process to the entire team. State how each person in the room is key to the success of the business and that it's important to invest the time to connect individually with each other in order to transparently share expectations and successes, as well as identify areas for growth. Let your team know that you want to honor their potential by using the FeedForward-Fifteen process.
To build strong, transparent performance conversations, you have to set aside the time. In the beginning, it's recommended that the leader meets with each employee for 45 minutes, twice a month for three months. Once the leader and team members have familiarized themselves with the process, the goal is to do biweekly 15-minute check-ins (hence, the name FeedForward-Fifteen).
Lastly, it's important to convey the power of the outcomes. The goal is that employees and leaders both feel they consistently have empowering, transparent conversations and are able to share insights, expectations and blindspots. Often, when working with companies to implement this process, employees have expressed that, prior to FeedForward-Fifteen, they did not understand expectations, the direction of the company or how their performance was being measured. After going through the FeedForward-Fifteen process, they not only knew where they stood, but also reported feeling more empowered and knowledgeable.
Although this process requires vulnerability and the investment of time and energy, it's worth it when it yields a space for the team to master high-performance behaviors.
