Page 145 - Anne Bruce - Building A HIgh Morale Workplace (2002)

Employees Want and Need a Manager Who Cares 125

he or she has paid attention to the difficulty of the project and
respects what the employee has accomplished.

Type 2: Fast and Action-Oriented. This type of feedback is

often called “speedback” because time is of the essence. Top
managers know how to use this technique to create a high
morale work environment because they know that employees
get pumped up when their managers are spontaneous and
waste no time giving them fast feedback on the spot! Here are

some examples of this type of feedback:

• “That looks frustrating, Mark. I have some templates in
my office I think may help. Let’s go get them now and see
if it makes the job easier. Then, I’ll get back to you this
afternoon to see how you’re doing.”

• “Hold everything, Jane! I love your enthusiasm, but I think
you may want to try a softer approach first. Let’s sit down
and I’ll share with you a personal experience I had last
year and you can tell me your thoughts as well.”

• “Hi, Lucas. I’m calling right after reading your e-mail to let
you know that I still don’t have all the details or answers
to your questions. I thought you’d appreciate knowing this
right away. I do think I’ll have something for you by 4:00
today.”

• “I just got your memo, Todd, and I wanted to respond
immediately to say that I think it would be best for us to
follow up on this right away. When can you go over this
with me?”

Type 3: Helpful and Corrective. The point here is to be con-

structive and not destructive. Helpful and corrective feedback
should be easy to swallow. It’s a method that tells someone you
care and that you are willing to take the time to point out areas
of needed improvement and show that person how to use his or

her greatest strengths to accomplish the task successfully.
Helpful and corrective feedback should never be delivered with
anger or aggression. Think before you speak and plan the
appropriate corrective feedback. For example: “Tony, learning