MOLO Feedback - Leaders Should do This to Increase Team Effectiveness
Posted on April 26, 2021 by Anne Nicoll, One of Thousands of Leadership Coaches on Noomii.
If you expect employees to be open to receiving feedback from you, you need to be open and motivated to receive feedback from them.
There is a lot of discussion about feedback in the leadership press. The array of opinions about the effectiveness of feedback, why you should or should not give feedback, and what type of feedback you should give can be confusing. This makes it hard to know where to start. Should you use a tool? Should the feedback be 360 and anonymous? When should you collect and give feedback? How do you prepare the employee for feedback? What do you do if they disagree with you? Will their brain feel hijacked and go into fight or flight mode? The list goes on. In my opinion, the best way to start is for the leader to take the initiative and ask for feedback about themselves from their team.
What is feedback?
Here is what I mean by the word feedback. But first, let me start with what I think feedback is not.
Feedback should not be:
- An annual event at review time
- A pat on the head
- A long drawn out process
- A list of a person’s faults and failings
- Considered objective
- Assigning blame and focussed on failure
- Instruction or direction (instruction is not feedback, it is training!)
Feedback is:
- A learning tool
- Future-focused for improvement and growth
- A reflection of what matters to the person providing the feedback
- A two-way dialogue
- Provided regularly and often
- Concise and clear
- Reactions and observations
- A basis for great coaching to generate self-discovery and learning
If you expect employees to be open to receiving feedback from you, you need to be open and motivated to receive feedback from them. You cannot expect to get open, honest and actionable feedback by simply asking “how am I doing”. People are more likely to say, to their boss, “great”. It is important to create a non-threatening and positive way for employees to share feedback to you about you. You must MODEL the behaviour of asking, reflecting, integrating, and checking in.
The MOLO approach to Feedback
Here is how to do it:
Ask for feedback on yourself by saying:
“I want to make sure I am providing you with the support you need to be successful. What should I do More Of and Less Of to help you be as effective as you can be? “
That is the MOLO approach to feedback.
Wait for a response. I mean really wait. In silence. Even if necessary, until it is uncomfortable. Just wait.
Accept what they say, all of it. Don’t argue. There is no right or wrong, it is their observation or reaction. Yes it is subjective, but, find a way to learn from the feedback. Write it down.
Repeat steps 1-3, regularly.
The MOLO feedback approach is about asking for information that you can truly action. Once you have received the feedback, it is important to do something with it, take action, and let your team know what action you chose to take and why. The more you, as a leader, model how to ask for forward-focused feedback, and actually make changes, the more your team will ask for it too.
ANNE NICOLL
