Coaching Through Positive Feedback — 5 Ways to Succeed
Do you like to be told what you have done wrong? Ok, maybe the occasional piece of direct feedback, about something you specifically could have done better, would be helpful. But no one wants to hear a continual string of negative comments and feedback. Identifying the positives can be a much more effective way to reinforce the good behaviors you want and eliminate the ones you do not. This level of effective development works in many different areas.
This is fairly intuitive information. We know, through our own reactions, that positive reinforcement feels better. We tend to do more of what people encourage us to than when we are told to stop doing something. Animal trainers do the same thing. If you want your dog to go to the bathroom outside, you reward and praise that behavior early on and, over time, the puppy begins to scratch at the door to go outside. Clearly, people are more complex animals than a puppy, but the principles can be very similar.
Studies show that focusing on shortcomings and things that need to be fixed will activate the ‘fight or flight’ portion of the human brain. That action works counterintuitively to what you want for a learning environment.
Focusing people on their shortcomings or gaps doesn’t enable learning. It impairs it. 1
Having a good plan for how you will reinforce positives in your team is the first place to start to enable a positive coaching culture. Here are five ways you can ensure you’re setting your team to win through positive reinforcement.
Have a clear description of ‘good’
Does everyone know what they are working towards? If there is no clear vision of what ‘good’ looks like, it can be very challenging to align people on the connection between their actions and the outcome. Use as many descriptors as possible to engage multiple senses to clearly define what you are looking for. Then, as you are providing feedback and coaching along the way, everything connects back to that vision of good. Now everyone knows what they are shooting for. The outcome is clear and everyone is measuring it the same way.
Keep it simple (and positive)
Your positive reinforcement doesn’t always have to be a big deal or lengthy reviews of the good work they’ve done. There is a place for that (see below), but sometimes the best reinforcement is a simple ‘yes’ when the right actions or happening. Or, ‘you’ve got it’ as you’re observing them. Those are quick, positive reinforcing actions that will go a long way in building the outcomes you are looking for.
Share specifics
Giving specific feedback is a cornerstone of effective coaching. Generic praise is meaningless in most cases. Sure, it's better than getting negative feedback, but it's hard to translate what it means or apply it to something you did. Whereas getting specific information (time, action, outcome) reinforces what just occurred. In an extreme example, it's the difference in me saying, ‘hey, nice job on that thing you did’ compared to, ‘I really liked how you were able to that last customer’s problem with the new Widget 1000 product. That is exactly the connection with customers we have been talking about. Really nice job of applying what you’ve learned to that situation.’
Suddenly, the team members can connect all the dots. It reinforced the coaching you had previously provided, it connected to the outcomes (what good looks like) that you had previously shared, and the customer made the purchase, reinforcing the action itself (see below).
There can be other ways of sharing specifics, that come after the fact. I read one idea where they used different observations, some of them captured on video, where a highlight reel was provided to show all the different examples of good behaviors. This can be a clever way of showing people the good things they are doing. Please ensure you take the appropriate steps to utilize any video in a productive and open way. This can backfire quickly in many ways if not approached correctly. You can also capture specific notes from your own observations and share a verbal highlight reel as well.
Teach them to see the positives
Often, completing the activity or behavior in the right way reinforces itself. If you are coaching elements of customer engagement, the immediate feedback from a customer can often be more valuable than you saying ‘good job.’ When they engaged as coached and the customer makes the purchase, smiles and says ‘thanks’, or tells the team member good job, the action now becomes its own reward. Ensure the employee recognizes that recognition. That could be the most positive feedback you can get, since that is the purpose behind the behaviors in the first place. You can end up reinforcing the ‘why’ at the same time as the behavior.
Build on previous positives
Pushing people to stretch ‘beyond their comfort zone’ can produce inconsistent results at best. If the leap is too far, the behavioral reinforcement may become negative quickly because the new task cannot be mastered. However, if you take a more progressive, step-by-step approach, you can expand people’s abilities more quickly. You can use the past successes as the springboard for the next activity. This allows new things to feel somewhat familiar, and not have a negative experience from the beginning. It is the equivalent to crawl, walk, run. They are all related, but it takes the success and positive reinforcement of one to build into the next.
All aboard the positive feedback express. Keeping your feedback and coaching on the positive side will accelerate the wins for you and your team. They will feel better about what they are doing and can recognize that they are doing well. In our current environment, maintaining talent is a top priority, supporting a culture where good things are recognized can be a differentiator to existing and even perspective employees. No one wants to join, or stay in a toxic workplace where everyone only hears about what they are doing wrong. Be the beacon of upbeat energy that helps people succeed and encouraging them to continue to do the right things, the right way.
How can you use positive coaching to help your team?
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