[MUSIC] Hi everyone, now that we've talked about all aspects of the employee performance continuum. We're going to wrap up by talking about establishing a coaching culture. And how the conversations and feedback you offer, through your coaching efforts, really influence the culture you create for your team. In this video we're going to talk about how important it is for you to really think about the kinds of conversations that you have with your employees. And the methods that you use for feedback. You'll learn how to provide constructive feedback, and how to establish a culture of open feedback and accountability. And we'll go over some effective communication strategies. Okay, let's get started. So we've talked a lot about tactical things you can be doing as a coach. We're going to continue to talk about that. In this video I really want to talk about how important it is for you to really think about the kinds of conversations that you have with your people, and your team, and the methods that you use for feedback. Because your behavior and your methods that you choose here will really drive your culture. If you have a culture of people who dont talk to each other, and these are folks you have hired, then you need to look at that. If you have a culture of people that really talk to each other and collaborate. Then you have contributed to that. Okay? And one of the keys, I think, for all of us as managers is we have to get comfortable with feedback, because it is such a critical part of coaching. And I really believe that you have to work hard to get your employees comfortable with feedback. Because the truth is most of us don't arrive comfortable with feedback. Most of us don't come to work comfortable with feedback. Because in most cases, not just at work but in general, we don't really learn how to receive feedback. And so what tends to happen is when someone gives us feedback, we immediately think of it as critical. And when we feel like someone's criticizing us, we shut down, we get defensive. Right? We block that and then ultimately we are not listening. But feedback is the essential tool of a manager. So if you have people on your team who are resistant to feedback, you can see how that really creates a problem, in terms of your coaching efforts. So one of those initial sort of expectations I think, is so essential for you to establish with folks on your team, is to really help them understand that this is an open feedback forum. You're going to get a lot of feedback. Now you have to live up to that, right? Feedback has to be based on things that are going well and things that could be changed. One of my two favorite evaluative tools I use when I give people feedback are these two sentences. The first one is, keep this up. Right, so keep doing this. And then the next one is, next time, try this. I'm not a big fan of the word critique or positive criticism or whatever it is that people say. I think you just tell people, look here, here are some things you're doing that are amazing, keep it up. Here are some things that I would recommend you try next time. Now what we want to do though as manager, is that cadence, helping people know that you're going to help them on both sides of that. So you're going to recognize when they are doing an amazing job, and you're also going to recognize when there are things they could improve. The more you do that, the more consistence you are with that, the better the culture becomes acclimated to it. Your team starts to recognize this is just a part of what we do here, it's not personal, it's not attacking someone. There's no conflict involved, this isn't me being critical, this is me as a manager assuming that responsibility for development. And the best way I can provide development is to provide feedback. But for managers who don't provide feedback regularly, then when they do, it's like a really big deal, right. And sadly I hear this so often, you guys, that managers don't give feedback unless performance is poor. And when we do that we just set ourselves up to be the big scary manager. We set ourselves up to not be able to coach, because as soon as I pull someone into my office to give them feedback, they're expecting to get told how horrible they did at something. They are not anticipating positive feedback. They're not anticipating coaching. They're anticipating, I did something wrong and now I need to defend myself. And so you can't be surprised, if that's been the way that you've managed people, that people are defensive around you. Or they don't open up around you, because that's what you get when you lead a team that way. So the consistency of practice, which again we're going to talk about much more extensively through this course, is so essential. If I create an environment where I am always providing feedback, then it becomes the norm. And feedback drives performance. So the more I'm able to build a culture of conversation and feedback on my team, the more likely they are to respond to it and honestly. The more likely they are to perform. And the more likely they are to talk to each other, and give feedback to one another, instead of just coming to you as the manager for you to fix their problems, right? So open ended dialogue. Keeping everybody in the loop. Keeping feedback as a part of what we do. Both when things are going great and when things could be done differently, right? It's not personal, it's a part of our culture, it's who we are. These are things to really, really think about as a manager, and just to be very evaluative. Like, just think about it, is this how I run my team right now, or do I only address them when I have a problem? Do I only address them when I need something? And you can change that, but it starts with you, right? And we talked the thought model in the first course. If you're uncomfortable receiving feedback, you've got to look at what your thoughts are about that. Because that's effecting your ability to give feedback. If you think feedback is inherently negative, first of all, you'll end up only giving negative feedback. But secondly, you will be really uncomfortable with feedback. If you think feedback is a great way to learn, then you're going to probably be much more likely to give feedback. So, that's an exercise for you to really be reflective on, and kind of catch up with yourself on what you think it means to give feedback, and how people typically receive it. So in summary, we want to remember a few things. We want to remember that the managers behavior and feedback methods drive organizational culture, right? How well managers engage in this process really influence that whole group dynamic. Everyone needs to be comfortable with giving and receiving feedback. We have to remember that feedback isn't intended to be personal right, there's an opportunity here for feedback to be very constructive. Consistent feedback is essential, otherwise employees are defensive because they aren't used to it. And so that can actually cause more problems in the coaching. There is two kinds of feedback I always default to, right? Keep it up and try this next time, right? So that way we are not necessarily saying, hey you did this horribly. It's just like, hey let's think about this and how can we do something differently next time. Next time, right? And evaluate how you feel about feedback. If you're not comfortable getting feedback then you're probably not comfortable giving feedback. And so sometimes the first place to start as a manager, is all the way back to that thought model, and really evaluate what are the thoughts that you have about feedback. And are any of those preventing your ability or your effectiveness in how you're offering feedback to your team.
