Editing UNITA Agile Management Guide (section)

== Feedback ==

=== Organisations improve through effective feedback ===

Receiving feedback can often be perceived as a negative experience, so Agile Leaders lead the way by courageously soliciting meaningful, useful and timely feedback from peers and other colleagues. While requesting feedback is important, Agile Leaders take time to ensure that they are visibly responding to the suggestions made by their colleagues in order to close the feedback loop. Agile Leaders model giving effective feedback that is open, honest and respectful.

=== Plan to give feedback ===

In this step, we’ll look at a method for thinking about how to plan what to say when you give feedback. This is the COIN feedback method (Carroll, 2018, p. 62).  
This method helps make connections between what you want to say in your feedback and what the recipient is looking for, as well as what the organisation needs. It presents four steps to giving effective feedback, as shown in the diagram below.

'''The COIN Feedback Method'''. Adapted from Mukherjee, S. (No date) *The COIN Conversation Model. Real-life Examples of Employee Feedback for Remote Teams*. [https://www.peoplebox.ai/blog/5-examples-of-giving-employee-feedback-in-remote-teams/#COIN]

'''The elements are as follows:'''

==== C is for connection and context ====

Try to establish what the recipient’s goals are in relation to the feedback conversation – what you want to deliver may not immediately fit with their requirements. For instance, if they want to know how to master a new skill, you need to connect the feedback to situations where you have actively witnessed them trying to work towards this target.  
To give context, you might say something like, ‘We have talked about you mastering a new skill in x, and last week I noticed you were starting to apply this in situation y‘ (if you don’t have a recent example, connect it to a past situation such as an earlier project). You can then start to link this to your feedback. Without establishing connection and context, you might find people become disconnected or confused by your feedback.

==== O is for observation ====

Here you make factual observations on someone’s work behaviour based on accurate and specific observations. If your observations are vague then this can lead to the recipient feeling confused or even ‘attacked’. Try to keep the observations ‘quick, accurate and to the point’ (Carroll, 2018, p. 63).  
You might say: ‘I noticed that you have not been to the last two morning standups and the project is due to go live next week’. The statement is based on fact and doesn’t seek to express a value judgement.

==== I is for impact ====

The impact of the behaviour you are feeding back on can be positive, negative or a hybrid of the two. Stick to the facts and help your team understand when their actions have negative effects.  
For example, you might say: ‘There were payments not paid on time to vendors on the project, which caused the project to fall behind. This had a negative impact on our relationship with the client.’

==== N is for next steps ====

At this point, you should collaborate with the feedback recipient to identify what action needs to take place, or what behaviours need to change or develop.  
Thinking about the future as part of your feedback can have a positive impact and help you get support from the recipient.  
For example, if a member of your team proposes a new tool for collaboration to help solve some of their time keeping and accountability issues, then you could say: ‘The idea of a collaboration tool is great and would help out the rest of the team. This will keep us communicating regularly and tasks will not be forgotten. When do you think you could demonstrate this to the rest of the team?’ (Carroll, 2018).

=== Tips for using COIN ===

The COIN steps are designed to help you provide objective information about what the person you are feeding back to is currently doing. It also gives you opportunities to collaborate on ideas about how things can improve in the future.  
The idea of this approach is that it ‘creates learning relationships and stimulates everyone’s desire for more feedback in your organisation’ (Carroll, 2018, p. 67).  
Carroll (2018) suggests that when giving feedback, you create a script in which you plan what to say around each of the COIN elements before giving your feedback.

=== Ideas for individual and team-based feedback ===

Often the word ‘feedback’ has instant negative emotional connotations for people based on their previous experiences. You may dread feedback rituals, and when this comes in the form of feedback that has been saved up for a long period of time, it can feel like an ambush rather than supportive.  
However, if feedback is carried out frequently, carefully and constructively, it can have a positive long-term effect on the recipient and on the culture of the team and the organisation.

==== Ideas for giving individual feedback ====

Giving individual feedback can often feel daunting, but remember that giving feedback is a two-way process. We must all learn to both give and receive feedback.

Here are some helpful hints when giving feedback. Make sure that:
# You, as the feedback provider, are credible and trusted in the eyes of the recipient.
# The feedback is conveyed with good intentions.
# The timing and circumstances are appropriate.
# The feedback is given in an interactive way, with a chance to raise questions.
# The feedback message is clear.
# The feedback is helpful to the recipient.

Used effectively, individual feedback will help people become more aware of their performance in the team.

==== Ideas for team-based feedback ====

Agile approaches to feedback encourage collaborative methods. Retrospectives are used by the team as a way to pause, consider their performance and discuss ways to continually improve.  
This technique is based on American writer and therapist Virginia Satir and colleagues’ work which explores the past in order to improve the future (Satir, Banmen, Gerber and Gomori, 1991).  
In a retrospective, four questions can be used to surface and communicate issues:
* What went well?
* What didn’t go so well?
* What have I learned?
* What still puzzles me?

(Source: Lyons and Waite, 2013)

Here are some further factors to remember when planning feedback:
* '''Make room in the plan''': How often is it appropriate for your team to carry out this type of reflection?
* '''Action the learning''': How will the learning from the feedback be fed into the next work phase? What needs to change?
* '''Deal with the issues''': How can you solve the things that still cause puzzlement?
* '''Celebrate the successes''': How do you recognise and reward team success?

It is important to remember that feedback is not about attributing blame.  
Both teams and individuals will be seeking feedback in order to gain awareness of themselves and how they are performing, and to use this for learning.  
Individual and team feedback should also be clear and ideally everyone should contribute.

=== One final model is the ‘rose, thorn and bud’ model ===

This is a simple, structured reflection which could be used when you are time poor (Gonzalez, 2020).  
Identify:
# A '''rose''': A highlight, success or small win.
# A '''thorn''': A challenge, or something you need help with.
# A '''bud''': A new idea or something you are looking forward to.

=== References ===

* Lyons, C. and Waite, L.M. (2013) ‘The four questions of a retrospective and why they work’, InfoQ, 3 June. Available at: [https://www.infoq.com/articles/4-questions-retrospective/]
* Satir, V., Banmen, J., Gerber, J., and Gomori, M. (1991) ''The Satir model: Family therapy and beyond''. Palo Alto, CA: Science and Behavior Books.
* Gonzalez, A. (2020) ''A mindful way to reflect: rose, thorn, and bud''. Available at: [https://www.mindfulschools.org/inspiration/mindful-reflection/]
* [https://www.futurelearn.com/links/l/70p1ru55km7qoydft9urdfvw553owve]
* [https://www.futurelearn.com/links/l/eemtw5ri3h4nx2liqh0r0eu327f0cev]
* [https://www.futurelearn.com/links/l/4gmsbzbhepx80t6ymqn7o2cz6jypvqd]