Concept Development for Impact 2019 (Day 2)- Feedback Circle — An uncomfortable zone to be in.
The first time I sat in the feedback circle, I thought giving feedback is a piece of cake. I had given numerous feedback in numerous situations to youngsters, friends and colleagues. I thought feedback simply meant encouraging words and lines of motivation.
The feedback circle, on the second day of Concept Development for Impact 2019, made me rethink and question my understanding of feedback.
On Day 02, the participants, after giving problem presentation in front of the judges, had to fill up two feedback forms. One designed to reflect their own performance, second to evaluate another team’s performance. They also had to pick their preference to join another team in case they didn’t make it to the next round. Everyone filled the forms diligently for 30 minutes during Hi-tea break. Then they reassembled in the room for the “Feedback Circle”.
30 chairs in a circular formation were arranged simultaneously in two separate rooms. The circular formation ensured the participants were facing each other. Following the instructions, each participant sat beside their team members. In each room, one Labmaster and two coaches joined the circle to conduct the feedback circle.
The Labmaster was also responsible to provide her feedback to the teams. One of the coaches was responsible to share the feedback accumulated from the judges. Another one was responsible to keep the track of time.
Each team was given 8 minutes ( 3 minutes + 3 minutes + 2 minutes) in total for the feedback. 3 minutes to receive feedback from another assigned team. 3 minutes to share the team’s self-evaluation, and the final 2 minutes for the Labmaster and the coach to provide their feedback.
I was assigned as a coach in one of the feedback circles. I was there to provide feedback gathered from the judges.
The feedback circle isn’t a comfortable zone to be. Most of us are not comfortable giving feedback. Even more uncomfortable while receiving feedback.
The discomfort was evident among the team members. Some gave very generic feedback to the other team. Some only mentioned good things. They seemed unsure, nervous and cautious while giving feedback to the other team. While self-evaluating, some just read out the text from the self-evaluation form. Only one member from the team shared the team’s self-evaluation, rest stayed silent, even when the opportunity was given to speak. Most of the team didn’t utilise the full 3 minutes. To some, listening to the labmaster’s critical feedback was difficult. In some cases, the team’s urge to respond (defend) to the feedback was noticeable. We all feel such urge, don’t we?
Feedback, when given rightfully, has the power to make people realize their shortcomings. Ulla-Maija, one of the Finnish Labmasters, always says “Feedback is a gift”. If not given properly, it is an insult to the hard work done by the feedback receivers.
The idea behind feedback circle is to give and receive feedback in a respectful setting only to help each other improve. The layers of feedback — self, peer and from the Labmaster — are designed to provide multiple angles and to identify different areas to improve. Being in the feedback circle is uncomfortable. It is hard to listen to criticisms, harder to openly share our own weaknesses, much harder to refrain from responding to the criticism. But how could one improve without knowing what to improve on?
