What is feedforward vs feedback?
When employees receive feedback, they get information about an action or activity that is currently happening or in the past. Feedforward is the opposite of feedback. It replaces negative feedback about what has happened with future-oriented solutions to work towards.
For example, instead of providing examples of how their sales skills have proven less than adequate in the past (feedback), an employee may be provided with suggestions, recommendations and training on how to boost sales and consistently meet targets (feedforward).
Related: If Your Employees Are Happy, They’ll Likely Stay, and Here’s Why
What is feedforward performance management?
For managers, conducting performance reviews can be daunting and stressful. In many cases, it is their least favourite part of their role. They feel the tension of the employee when trying to provide feedback and often find they shut down emotionally.
Forward performance management is a way for managers to provide their thoughts on how employees can best grow and develop their skills and what areas to focus on. Instead of an uncomfortable performance review focusing on past behaviour, managers can orient the conversation towards growth and help employees set goals.
Related: Performance Management: Improve Your Employees’ Engagement
Benefits of a feedforward approach
Companies are discovering the many benefits of a feedforward approach to performance. Some of the main benefits are:
Focusing forward
Feedforward assessments focus on how you can improve rather than dwelling on past mistakes. Feedforward assessments give insight into how a situation can be improved in the future rather than focusing on positive or negative feedback. This approach can be empowering and eye-opening for the employee and the manager. It also reinforces positive interpersonal relationships among employees by fostering a more co-operative and less competitive environment.
Related: How to Align HR Strategy with Business Strategy for the Future of Work
Non-judgmental
The feedforward assessment offers advice on how to improve in the future so employees can focus on the tools they can leverage to be more effective at their jobs. A non-judgmental review observes shortcomings only to foster future growth, not criticize.
This approach often prevents an employee from becoming defensive. Instead, it encourages them to be more open and honest as they work with their manager or team toward a common goal. The manager is empathetic rather than critical and can focus on moving forward to support the employee.
Reinforcing cooperative relationships
A growth mindset in the work environment fosters cooperation instead of competition. Employees can work together rather than trying to outperform one another. The feedforward approach creates a positive environment for collaboration and constructive assessment that reinforces better working relationships.
When employees are not competing, they feel free to share ideas and work together toward a higher goal. It observes the unique skills of every employee and aims to assign responsibilities according to each of their skill sets. The feedforward culture aims to observe and nurture the unique capabilities of each employee and give them responsibilities accordingly.
Related: Team-Building Tips and Activities to Boost Employee Morale and Engagement
Creating leaders
In a feedforward culture, new leaders often emerge. The growth mindset creates a perfect environment for employees to develop leadership skills.
Employees who are continuously focused on self-improvement may become excellent leaders. Those leaders will continue to foster growth in the team and promote the feedforward culture to coworkers.
Related: 7 Effective Skills to Help You Become a Better Leader
Focusing on long-term success
Since a feedforward approach helps employees focus on self-improvement, it also fosters long-term development and a desire to align with the company’s goals. A feedforward culture promotes better collaboration rather than focusing on faults and blame. Employees are more inspired to work as a team and help each other succeed.
Related: Overcoming a Spike in Turnover: What To Do When Retention Rates Drop
Steps for conducting a feedforward assessment
The feedforward approach avoids criticism and focuses on supporting the employee’s efforts toward improvement. To conduct a successful feedforward assessment, consider the following steps:
Set goals
Set goals before you start so you are clear on how you want to run the assessment. It is helpful to follow the SMART methodology to create goals that are:
- Specific
- Measurable
- Achievable
- Relevant
- Time-bound
Managers can determine the goals after discussing them with their employees. Employee input is imperative, so begin with a discussion.
Plan the assessment
The feedforward assessment plan considers who will be involved, a timeline for implementation and appropriate assessment tools. Before beginning, ask the employee to fill out a self-assessment form.
Listen well
Conducting a feedforward assessment means exercising listening skills and repeating what you have heard to ensure there is mutual understanding and agreement. Observing and listening allow you to collect data and information about the next steps. Conduct the assessment more than once yearly for best results, ideally at the end of a project or quarter. Frequent assessment can keep the momentum going so the employee continues to thrive.
Related: How to Develop Talent and Improve Employee Experience
Create an action plan
Based on the assessment, you can create an action plan. An example of this could be a list of training and development opportunities for employees to forward their areas of interest. Identify any resources required and set a timeline for implementation.
Evaluate the results
Using SMART goals allows you a defined timeline and set of objectives to achieve the desired results. Develop a system for tracking who has completed their goals. Identify areas for improvement and plan for future assessments.
Examples of feedback vs feedforward
Example 1
Feedback: “You didn’t stick to the project schedule properly.”
Feedforward: “I saw that there were challenges with time management in this project. For the next project, we could work together to create a more detailed plan with regular checkpoints to help us stay on track. How about we develop a strategy together to optimize scheduling?”
Example 2
Feedback: “You seemed distracted during parts of that presentation and spent a lot of time reading from slides, which made you seem unprepared. It would have been better to include more statistics from past projects so the client understands why we’re the right choice.”
Feedforward: “Your presentation was well put together! For the next one, can we brainstorm with the team and add some data that justifies our proposed budget? You also might find it less overwhelming if you reduce the amount of content on each slide to improve engagement. Let me know if you need any support preparing future projects.”
Feedforward assessments show employers how changing the approach to performance evaluations and insight can create a more empowered and positive workforce. Feedforward is a non-judgmental approach to helping employees improve performance, drive and motivation while reinforcing positive teamwork.
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