What’s your Dream? What countries do you want to visit? What skills have you always wanted to learn? Who is the person that you have always dreamed of becoming?
DaveDave dreamt for more champagne! |
DaveDave dreamt for more champagne! |
It's exciting to be able to show the global retail industry that we can innovate here in Australia.
The Customer Happiness team at Shoes of Prey was not only well-established when I was made team lead - it already had a sterling reputation. The job was never to uproot, but to take a team of winners to the next level. I imagine a chef devising the menu for a new restaurant, armed with only the finest produce, would understand. In reality that “piece of cake” factor is as daunting as it is inspiring.
Unlike my previous experience managing a small team at a certain newspaper, at Shoes of Prey you’re expected to make mistakes, but also to pick yourself up, chalk it down and be better. There’s no crutch of compliance for managers at Shoes of Prey, so I lean instead on the various strengths of my team members, the examples set by more seasoned managers and on self-education.
Lately, I’ve been self-educating on how to effectively provide constructive feedback. This gap in my knowledge became clear after conducting my first end-of-quarter reviews with my team members. Going in, I had an expectation of how it would go. I left the room with a new lesson under my belt: do not mistake expectation for edict.
I thought I'd share with you my key learnings from this article, which draws on the knowledge of clinical associate professor of management at the W. P. Carey School of Business, Minu Ipe.
Firstly, feedback needs to be specific, timely, accurate, actionable and meaningful or STAAM. Nothing surprising there, however Ipe suggests a more measured, four-step process to make constructive feedback more effective.
1) It begins with identifying the objective for giving the feedback. For example, am I hoping to change a behaviour? Effect short-term or long-term behavioral changes? Am I looking to reward good performance or ameliorate poor performance? It seems pretty obvious, but being clear about your objective beforehand is key in enacting useful feedback.
2) Prepare for the review. Managing a team of A Players (resumes that read like a who’s who of overqualification) in what so many people view as a thankless job, constructive feedback has the potential to become the proverbial poisoned apple. It ought to be a seed of opportunity. Preparation should include taking the time to make sure my feedback is STAAM; thinking about my relationship to the person I will be reviewing and tailoring my feedback for that individual; planning ahead for how I will handle any negative reactions; and determining an appropriate place and time to conduct the review.
There's some merit to the argument that in startups, having a small group with aligned thinking can be beneficial, because fast decision making is so critical, but once a business has gone through that stage introducing a diversity of thinking can be a big help.
Good to keep this in mind and not fall into the trap of hiring people like yourself.
via @joelpinkham
A diary of our adventures, successes, failures and everything we learn as we attempt to start a business or two.
Our first project: Shoes of Prey - design your own custom women's shoes.
Our latest project: Sneaking Duck - new prescription glasses, everyday.