Feedback Culture

We at Cerebranium see feedback as an important tool, through which individuals can convey and receive information about each other’s performance. In the absence of feedback, it is difficult to ascertain the area in which a person can improve therefore, giving valuable and timely feedback becomes necessary. Marc Effron has rightly said “Feedback is the broccoli of all conversations. It is not very appetizing and we would prefer something else if possible, but ultimately it is good for us.”

Feedback can be both positive and negative, but it should always be constructive and genuine. Positive feedback is usually a comment on how past actions should be repeated or could help make future decisions. Similarly, negative feedback is meant to correct past actions and avoid them in the future. In an organization, we continuously receive feedback in different forms which could be meant for both personal and professional growth. Therefore, we should never close ourselves to corrective or negative feedback.

There are broadly 3 types of feedback:

• Evaluation Feedback- meant for the receiver to know his/her current performance.

• Appreciation Feedback- helps in motivating the employee and building trust.

• Coaching Feedback- is an amalgamation of the other two feedbacks, and it encourages the employees to improve in their domain.

At Cerebranium we have built a feedback culture by practicing bi-directional feedback, group feedback, and 360-degree feedback weekly. It ensures effective communication between individuals as well as different departments. Moreover, feedback is an important constituent of our core values—TIE (Transparency, Innovation, and Empathy).

Timely and constructive feedback helps the team members to steer transparency in communication. When the person receives this feedback, they bring innovation to their work by incorporating fresh ideas. Further, feedback enables individuals to understand others’ perspectives and build a connection with them, thus fostering empathy in relations.

To further improve communication and address the social needs of team members, we feel their SCARF needs must be fulfilled, as these factors can make a person feel either socially threatened, or rewarded. The five factors of David Rock’s SCARF Model are:

By addressing these factors, we intend to improve psychological safety (the belief that they won’t be disrespected or punished if they share their ideas, questions, concerns, or mistakes), encourage collaborative thinking, and make decision-making among our team members.

Meanwhile, it is equally important to know that Feedback lets people look at themselves differently and also changes the way they perceive others. Feedback prevents miscommunication between individuals and departments, and therefore the way feedback is given and received plays a great role. Some of the points to consider while doing so are:

Moreover, while providing feedback or communicating to someone, asserting accurately allows the person to express themselves clearly. They also get an opportunity to talk about their interests, concerns, or any disagreements. Therefore, to stay assertive and effectively communicate in difficult situations we have incorporated the DESC script by Sharon and Gordon Bower.

Incorporating a feedback culture helps the team to stay driven, confident, and work towards attaining goals. This environment motivates everyone to give feedback, regardless of their position, and understand the kind of impact they have on their colleagues. It is also an important way of learning effectively, and ultimately this contributes to the development of an individual personally and professionally. Feedback might be awkward, uncomfortable, and terrifying, but we believe it is essential, and therefore, it forms an important part of our culture.