Making hard feedback easier, office chairs & coffee crimes
Two minutes to help you tackle your week at work
Ever find it hard to give someone feedback? I have.
Today’s tactic will help you deliver even the toughest feedback. I’ll tell you something surprising about office chairs and we’ll top it all off with a painful joke about coffee.
Tactic
Work smarter, not harder
Have you ever had feedback for a colleague and not shared it with them? Maybe you thought they wouldn’t want to hear it or you were worried it wouldn’t land well. Giving feedback is hard. Having a framework to structure what you want to say makes it easier.
My favourite framework is called Situation-Behaviour-Impact (SBI). I find SBI gives my feedback the best chance of being heard and appreciated, making it easier for me to share it in the first place. I use SBI to prepare every time I have feedback.
Here’s how it works:
Situation → Describe a specific situation
Behaviour → Describe the specific behaviour you want to provide feedback about
Impact → Describe how the specific behaviour made you feel
Here’s SBI in action with some hypothetical feedback:
In yesterday’s review meeting, when you were on your laptop during my presentation, it made me feel like you didn’t value my opinion.
Situation → In yesterday’s review meeting
Behaviour → you were on your laptop during my presentation
Impact → it made me feel like you didn’t value my opinion
Here’s how NOT to give someone that same feedback: You’re always on your laptop when we’re in meetings and that’s why no one thinks you listen to them.
Can you give someone feedback this week using SBI?
(positive feedback counts too)
True Story
Tell your friends
The first ever mass produced office chair, the Centripetal Office Chair, was invented by Thomas Warren in 1851. It didn’t sell at first, but eventually the market for office chairs really got rolling.
Today, the average office chair with wheels travels about 12.5 km every year!
Terrible Joke
Try not to laugh
Why did the coffee file a police report? …
…because it got mugged every morning at work!
Thanks for spending 2 minutes with me today.
Have a great week!
P.S. Have a tactic, true story or terrible joke you’d like to share? You can reply directly to this email or leave a comment below. I’d love to hear from you.