Giving Feedback in Close Quarters

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified)
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Manager Tools Trinity
I think I found my main obstacle to giving adjusting feedback: the close quarters my staff and I share. How can I give adjusting feedback to a direct without all the other directs hearing? We work in a cluster of cubicles that are relatively open: three on each side of an "aisle." There's probably 10 feet that separates either side of the aisle, and probably five feet between each cubicle on any given side. Do any of you have a similar scenario and can help me out? Thanks, BJ
Submitted by Inactive Membe… on Friday June 6th, 2008 10:32 am

Part of me wants to say you should find a way to keep it private - going into a breakroom, saving it for your O3's, etc...But then you're in the "Come with me down the hall to the principal's office" mode.

Part of me says "Hell - keep your voice down, and do it right on the spot. If it's professionally done, and it's about a relatively minor behavioral issue, there's no real harm in being overheard occasionally."

But I guess I come down on the side of trying to find a way to pull the individual aside quickly and without drama and finding a way to be alone. The most important thing is to do it in a way that doesn't make the individual feel like it's a public humiliation.

-Hugh

Submitted by BJ Marshall on Friday June 6th, 2008 12:22 pm

I've tried waiting until the feedback-recipient's cubicle neighbors are gone, but I get so engrossed in my work that I won't notice when that happens.

BJ

Submitted by Ezra Robison on Sunday June 8th, 2008 6:17 am

BJ,

I have the same problem. This is one of the reasons that I end up saving too much feedback for OOOs.

One solution I have employed is hanging back in meeting spaces. As others are filtering out of a meeting, I say "do you have a second?" Once we are alone, I begin with "can I give you some feedback?"

That doesn't work terribly well. Too often, I feel like I'm not in the right frame of mind to deliver feedback there. Sometimes, I'm under the impression that the direct isn't. Sometimes it works.

If the feedback is positive, I don't mind giving it in the cubicles. But that kind of defeats the purpose, since then the location tips off the valence. I try to also deliver positive feedback after meetings, but I can't always get that to work either.

Cheers,
JG