Feedback - the magic word that makes and breaks relationships, teams, or companies. Up to some time ago, it was mostly managers providing feedback to their direct reports, although feedback used to be quite unstructured. With many modern workplace tools that launched in the last 10 years, gathering, sharing & documenting feedback for your employees became mainstream and facilitates the manager's job to ensure an objective review & more direct involvement in acting on all performance or behavior opportunities for their team members.
Providing feedback is important because it helps individuals and organizations to improve and grow. It can help individuals to understand what they are doing well and what they could improve upon, and it can help organizations to identify strengths and areas for development.
Feedback can also help to build trust and foster open communication within a team or organization. By providing feedback, you show that you value the contributions of others and are committed to helping them succeed. This can create a positive and supportive work culture that encourages collaboration and innovation.
Additionally, providing feedback can help to increase motivation and engagement, as it gives people a sense of progress and helps them to see how their efforts are contributing to the success of the team or organization. Overall, providing feedback is an important part of effective communication and can lead to better outcomes for everyone involved.
Here are some tips for providing effective feedback and coaching in customer service teams:
Be timely: Provide feedback as soon as possible after the event or situation in question. This will help team members understand how their actions or behaviors have an impact on the business and customers.
Be specific: Instead of making general statements, focus on specific behaviors or actions that you would like to see changed or improved. This will help team members understand exactly what you are looking for and how they can improve.
Be objective: Avoid making subjective statements or letting your personal feelings influence your feedback. Focus on the facts and the impact that the team member's actions or behaviors had on the business or customers.
Use a Quality Assurance process and Quality Assurance tools for giving effective feedback about specific customer service interactions, that you scored against your quality scorecard.
Be positive: Use a positive and constructive tone when providing feedback, and focus on the areas where the team member can improve rather than dwelling on mistakes. This will help them feel motivated and supported rather than discouraged.
Offer solutions: In addition to pointing out areas for improvement, provide suggestions for how the team member can address any issues or challenges. This can help them feel more empowered to make positive changes.
Focus on behaviors & outcomes, not on numbers: customer service agents have quite a stressful job and are responsible for performing on so many different KPIs; reaching these targets is not easy and requires support, feedback, and coaching. That's why it's important that you focus the feedback & coaching sessions on analyzing behaviors that lead to poor customer conversations vs simply stating numbers and targets.
Follow up: After providing feedback, follow up to see how the team member is progressing and offer additional support or coaching as needed. This will help ensure that they are able to make the desired improvements and continue to grow and develop in their role.
In the workplace, feedback can be used to:
Clarify expectations and goals
Provide constructive criticism
Help people understand how their actions and behaviors are perceived by others
Encourage growth and development
Improve performance and productivity
In personal relationships, feedback can be used to:
Build trust and strengthen the relationship
Help people understand how their actions and behaviors are perceived by others
Encourage growth and development
Resolve conflicts or misunderstandings
Overall, providing feedback is an important part of effective communication and can help individuals and organizations achieve their goals and improve their relationships.
Employee Feedback Tools
There are many employee feedback tools that are popular, including:
TINYpulse: This tool provides a platform for employees to give feedback and for managers to track and respond to it.
Officevibe: This tool helps managers gather and track feedback from their teams, and provides tools for improving communication and team dynamics.
Culture Amp: This is a tool that helps companies gather and analyze employee feedback to improve their culture and engagement.
15Five: This tool allows you to create customized surveys and get regular updates from your team members.
Reflektive: This tool provides a platform for real-time feedback and performance tracking.
Lattice: This is a performance management platform that includes tools for gathering employee feedback and tracking progress.
Workplace by Facebook: This is a collaboration and communication platform that includes tools for gathering employee feedback and improving team dynamics.
It's worth noting that the right employee feedback tool for your organization will depend on your specific needs and goals. You may want to consider factors such as the size of your organization, the type of feedback you want to gather, and your budget when choosing a tool.
What is 360-degree feedback?
360-degree feedback is a process in which employees receive feedback from multiple sources, including their supervisors, colleagues, and direct reports. Some popular 360-degree feedback tools include:
Reflektive: This tool allows employees to self-assess and receive feedback from multiple sources, including peers, managers, and direct reports. It also includes features for goal setting and performance management.
CultureAmp: This tool is designed to help companies gather and analyze employee feedback to improve company culture and performance. It includes features for 360-degree feedback, as well as surveys and analytics tools.
Halogen 360: This tool provides a range of features for 360-degree feedback, including customizable surveys, automated reminders, and analytics tools. It also includes a coaching module to help managers support employee development.
Clearview: This tool allows employees to self-assess and receive feedback from multiple sources, including peers, managers, and direct reports. It also includes features for goal setting and performance management.
BenefitHub 360: This tool provides a range of features for 360-degree feedback, including customizable surveys, automated reminders, and analytics tools. It also includes a coaching module to help managers support employee development.
It's important to choose a 360-degree feedback tool that meets the specific needs of your organization and aligns with your overall performance management process.