Clearview® Performance Systems brings you ... ... a Culture of Results & Engagement™
Here's the next in our series of weekly managerial TIPS (Techniques, Insights, and Practical Solutions)
to help you better engage your team in the activities that lead to higher performance.
CORE Bites Issue #42
FeedForward—the art of coaching feedback that focuses on an employee's learning and development into the future instead of evaluating and judging the individual's performance in the past (back)—has been mentioned a few times before in our CORE Bites TIPS.
In this issue, I'd like to concentrate on Feel/Felt/Found ... a simple, keep-in-your-backpocket technique that's extraordinarily powerful. This approach is a classic objection-handling method that most sales people know about, but—with a few creative tweaks—I've found it to be extremely useful during future-focused coaching sessions with ALL employees.
The reason the Feel/Felt/Found strategy works so well in coaching is managing is not about "you" (as the manager) ... employees want to be heard and understood. Using Feel/Felt/Found demonstrates that you've heard what the employee has said and that you can relate and empathize with the situation (FEEL); it conveys to the employee that he/she is not alone with these feelings and that you or others have experienced this exact (or very similar) circumstance (FELT); and, finally, it lets the employee know that things can change and improve (FOUND).
As in all effective management techniques, the key to successfully using the Feel/Felt/Found strategy is to be sincere. [Note: Recognize that you do not always have to say exactly "Feel, Felt, Found" ... many times it will make sense to just insert alternate words that mean the same thing, such as: "I can relate" or "The solution may be to ...]
One of the great things about this technique is that it's easy to implement. Here are a few examples of Feel/Felt/Found future-focused HVA TIPS to help you improve your ability to coach more effectively, build rapport, and earn trust:
Using Feel/Felt/Found will help you move to a more collaborative discussion and get to better outcomes. Give it a try ...
I'd love to hear how this HVA works for you!
Neil Dempster, PhD, MBA
RESULTant™ and Behavioral Engineer
"When you show deep empathy toward others, their defensive energy goes down, and positive energy replaces it. That's when you can get more creative in solving problems."
— Stephen Covey —