HOW TO GET HONEST FEEDBACK

If you want to polish your effective communication skills, learning how to get honest feedback should be part of your training. This professional communication skill is easy to develop simply by practicing one two-step technique.

Here’s a typical professional communication example of when you would need some honest feedback:

Suppose you’re at a business luncheon with a client and you ask, “So what did you think of that proposal I just delivered?”

People tend to give you hollow compliments and say things such as, “It was nice. I really liked it.” They don’t do this to be difficult, or because they don’t care; they’re trying to be polite–but as you know, normally that’s not not a good recipe for 100% truth. So how can we get the honest professional feedback we need? Simple. Use the "What Would it Take" tactic. The "What Would it Take" tactic is an easy two-step process:

Step #1 – You ask someone for an opinion on something. For example, “Mark, this is the proposal I’ve been working on for presentation at our next sales meeting. What do you think of it?”

Mark will probably say something nice and polite such as, “Oh it looks great.” That’s OK, but it’s normally not the whole truth–it’s what Mark thinks you want to hear. So then you go to:

Step #2 – Use the, “What would it take…” line. It sounds like this: “Well, thanks, but tell me, what would it take to make it even better?” Now you’re more likely to get the answer you were looking for the first time–an honest answer such as, “Well, if you added some more financial details and graphics, I believe it would be even more compelling.”

That’s the type of thing people wish they could say the first time, but they can’t–they need some guidance and permission from you. This communication technique delivers both. It does so because you first let them say what they thought you wanted to hear, and then thanked them for it and asked for more, so they were then able to give you the honest truth the second time around.

Now all that’s left is to say is something simple like, “thanks,” and you have the honest feedback you were looking in the first place.

This is a great tactic for getting to the truth. People very rarely tell it to you the first time (especially the “amiable” personality type), so let them go ahead and say nice things they think you want to hear, and simply follow it up with a, “What would it take…” line.

It even works well at home when, for example, you’ve made dinner for your spouse, and you say, “Here, Honey, taste this and tell me what you think.”

If your spouse is like most, you’ll hear a, “Tastes great!” But that doesn’t really mean much. If you follow it up, however, with a communication technique such as this one, and say, “Thanks sweetheart. Tell me, what would it take to make it even tastier?” NOW you’ll be more likely to get some honest feedback such as, “Well, I think if you added a little garlic and onion, it would be even tastier.” Simple.

Now be prepared–if you don’t really want honest feedback, then don’t use this communication tactic. Know your own level of sensitivity to criticism.

Note: For questions and feedback, you can email Dan at learn@powerdiversity.com, or visit his website at www.powerdiversity.com and he'll try to help in any way he can.