Creating efficiency in your feedback system

Motivating your team can be as easy as giving them a platform to be heard. As a leader, it’s sometimes an easy thing to overlook

CREDIT: This is an edited version of an article that originally appeared on About Leaders

If you consider yourself the voice of the group, you need to start including more opportunities for your team to express themselves and be heard. You also need to ensure that the space you allow for such expression is fairly distributed, and that you have a process for following up with members of your team. 

If you are struggling with any aspect of employee feedback, adding some efficiency to your system could help you address the issues while ensuring that your employees feel seen, heard, and cared about. 

Use electronic software

To provide fair space and opportunity for your employees and team members to provide feedback, you’ll need to use software. While many organisations prefer to handle complaints, or employee issues, in person, not all employees are going to feel comfortable with this. If the issue is with the supervisor, the situation needs to be documented in an unbiased way. 

Using electronic software ensures that there is a record of the report, and a record of how it has been handled. Touch points within software programs allow managers to review and follow-up with people without having to leave the software program. 

This means that if there is any question about what was done, and when, it can be saved in the software. What’s more, daily, weekly, monthly and annual surveys can be sent out to employees to keep your finger on the pulse of the organisation, or department, with ease.

Create a schedule for review

Collecting feedback is just one part of the process. Of course, the feedback process goes both ways; it’s not just about employees providing feedback on their job satisfaction. Feedback is also used to measure employee and manager performance. 

Ensuring scheduled time to review the feedback loops that you have created is an important step. If you let your feedback build up, you run the risk of losing the opportunity to deal with time-sensitive issues and also of losing connection with your employees. If they are being reviewed by you it is not professional or good leadership to allow employees to wait too long for feedback, whether good or bad. 

Having a dedicated time to review feedback ensures that it gets done and nothing falls through the cracks. 

Follow up ASAP

As part of your review system schedule, you should have a dedicated window of time in which you respond to someone’s feedback. In some instances, and depending on the software you choose, you may be able to check a box or acknowledge in some way that you have at least seen their feedback, and vice-versa. 

In other instances, you’ll want to take the time to ask questions to gain more information. The longer you wait, the harder it will be to get additional information. This is especially important if there has been an incident that needs to be addressed. 

You will want to let your employees know that you are making plans to move on their suggestions and when, and if, this will occur. Always letting someone know that their ideas are good will help build the company and creates a sense of trust and commitment. 

Ensuring your feedback system is efficient saves everyone’s time. It makes you a better leader and provides you with more opportunities to connect with, mentor and help develop your employees into effective members of the team. 

Give your feedback system a once-over and tighten up the areas where you could use some more focus.