How do you give direct feedback but still care about your people?

It can be hard to accept feedback from your people and encourage them to exchange it between themselves. If you can learn to do that better, it will help you grow to become the best people manager that you can be.

So what is Radical Candor, and why should you incorporate it into your culture?

In a nutshell, Radical Candor is the capacity to question directly while simultaneously demonstrating a genuine concern for the other person. If done correctly, it will assist you and everyone you surround yourself with in producing the best work of your/their lives and cultivate dependable connections throughout your professional life.

Although providing constructive criticism might seem like a no-brainer for improving a team’s communication and level of trust, it is uncommon. Effective criticism and appreciation require a personal connection. You must bring your entire authentic self to work and leave nothing behind.

How to get started with Radical Candor?

1. Get feedback from others — create an example you welcome and deliver constructive feedback (lead by example).
2. Give and gauge feedback — challenge directly and show that you care personally.
3. Encourage feedback — create actual processes that allow team members to feel comfortable voicing their feedback to one another.

Here is an example: Let’s assume you’re a manager, and you’ve noticed that one of your team members, Emily, consistently submits work late.

1. You’d start by establishing a rapport with Emily, praising the high quality of her work for affirming that you value her contributions (“Hey Emily, can I talk to you for a moment? First off, I want to say that the quality of your work is excellent. Your last project helped us improve our client’s satisfaction.”).
2. You’d then directly address the issue, stating that her projects have been consistently late and explaining how this impacts the team. Be specific and cite examples to provide clear context (“I’ve noticed that your projects have been coming in late recently. I understand you’re aiming for high quality, but the delays affect the team’s timeline and stress others. For example, the last project was due on the 1st, but it was submitted on the 5th.
3. Open the floor to her perspective, asking if there are specific challenges and how you can support her in resolving them (“Is there something specific causing these delays? How can I support you in finding a solution?”).
4. Finally, discuss potential solutions like setting deadlines ending on a note reiterating your appreciation for her skills and your intent to solve the problem together (“Would it be helpful if we set interim deadlines, or maybe you need more resources?”).

The key is to let your organization know that you’re going to start speaking out a lot more and that you’re not doing it to be rude or hurt anyone’s feelings but rather because you genuinely care about each person you work with and want to support them in achieving the finest job of their lives.

Radical Candor (Credits: Kim Scott)

If you want to learn more about it, I recommend the book “Radical Candor: Be a Kick-Ass Boss Without Losing Your Humanity”, by Kim Scott.

Thanks for reading, and stay awesome!

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Originally published at https://newsletter.techworld-with-milan.com on September 21, 2023.