If you want to grow a business, you will eventually need employees and team members.
You will also need them to perform well, or everything will eventually come crashing down.
Part of getting people to perform well is giving them useful feedback.
Most people give no feedback at all.
When they do, it is normally something vague like:
“You need to be better.”
“This needs to improve.”
That feedback is meaningless.
It does not tell the person what they did wrong, what they should change, or what they are already doing well.
Every week, give each team member three types of feedback:
Things they should start doing
Things they should stop doing
Things they should keep doing
Here is real feedback I recently gave one of my team members.
Start
Check in with every client each day at 9:00 a.m.
Follow up when something is blocking you and I have not responded within one hour.
Ask questions frequently when you do not know something. That is a major part of learning.
Stop
Sending me random links and asking for feedback. Always use screenshots.
Publishing content without my approval or review.
Building something a certain way when you are unsure instead of taking two minutes to ask.
Keep
Working hard and completing your work forms.
Making Instagram posts like you have been doing. They are performing well and making a meaningful impact.
Being responsive. That has been great.
That is real feedback.
It tells the person exactly what needs to change and what they should continue doing.
It is substantially better than telling someone they “need to be better.”
Hope this email was worth your time,
Matthew Larsen