Who is feedback feeding? This was one of the questions posed by executive coach Stephen Burt at the European Mentoring & Coaching Council UK conference in London on 5-7 May. By Elaine Robinson
Burt explored how to set up a two-way feedback process in both the coach’s and the client’s interests. He said feedback can be an advantage for the client by improving what they do with the coach in the relationship and helping them to develop resistance and handle feedback received from others. However, the coach may embody authority for the client so they should beware of the potential to fracture the relationship. It can be easy for the coach to fall into being judgmental or to use the term feedback quite casually, he warned.
“All coaches have a bit of an itch to scratch” and some clients invite feedback saying, “you can push me harder, you know”, he said.
He pointed out that behavioural feedback is being received all the time through observations of body language, cultural and social indicators. He suggested it is important to find timely anchor points throughout coaching sessions when verbal feedback, or just giving space, is judged to be appropriate.
“Some clients need time to think without me staring at them,” said Burt, an independent coach who works mainly on leadership development in public sector organisations.
Tips for generating an integrated two-way approach to feedback:
- See feedback as an opportunity to stop, get clear, be heard
- Works better with a tight definition of feedback
- Say what you did and the impact it had
- Do more than observe
- Don’t offer advice, opinion or judgement
- Acknowledge your beliefs and emotions around feedback
- Vary timing of feedback – beginning, middle, end
- Use process reviews and timeouts
- Find a common language
- Use powerful questions
- Trust your intuition
- Use yourself
- Try experiments: propose, agree, do and review
- Re contract, re-contract