Your opinion counts

How to solicit more feedback

Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:04):
Good morning. This is Laura. Welcome to the New Corner Office,
the podcast where we share strategies for thriving in the
new world of work where location and ours are more
flexible than in the past. Today's tip is to solicit
more feedback. Let people know that their opinion counts, offer

(00:29):
easy ways for them to give that feedback, both positive
and negative, and you will get more of it that
in turn will help you be on top of your gain.
In some organizations, there is a culture of feedback, with
people feeling comfortable offering feedback to others at any point.
Some of us are in lines of work where people

(00:50):
comment on what we've written or published all the time,
but in much of life this is more rare. That's
why it can be a great idea to solicit more feedback.
People have opinions, so it's helpful to provide ways that
they can share these opinions. And just as important, when
people can share their feedback through appropriate outlets, you're less

(01:12):
likely to have people walking around with strong opinions that
they are suppressing or we're still grumbling about inventing about
two people who aren't in a position to address their concerns.
So how do you solicit more feedback. An easy way
is to ask during meetings, ask people directly for their
questions or concerns. Now, I don't mean asking does anyone

(01:34):
have any questions? This doesn't really help. Instead, you need
to be more targeted. Jane, you were in marketing for
years before this. What are we doing wrong here? Nick?
I think you seem a little skeptical. Can you tell
me why? When people open up with their ideas, thank them,
even if you feel attacked or the feedback seems a

(01:57):
bit unfair. Letting people know that or opinion counts means
they'll be more likely to keep sharing their ideas rather
than worrying about getting their heads bitten off. You can
also ask outside of meetings. Call people up after something
happens and ask how they thought it went. Ask for
specific feedback. I'm trying to come across as a bit steadier.

(02:20):
What do you think I could have done better? Or
I'm worried I'm not getting ideas from everyone? Any strategies
you suggest I use for getting people to open up.
You can ask for this feedback from your manager, of course,
but your peers probably have useful ideas as well. And then,
of course there is more broad feedback such that you
might get from customers or clients. You want the digital

(02:44):
equivalent of a your Opinion Counts box where people can
put their notes, So put a form on your website
and put a specific email address too. The best way
to make sure that people know their opinion counts is
to make sure that their complaints are praise are in
fact addressed. And you can post some examples of feedback
and how it was resolved on your site so people

(03:06):
can see evidence that feedback is addressed. You can invite
people to be reachable about their feedback. Maybe have a
blank asking for your name so that we can reach
out to hear more about your ideas. Now, this is
not to say that all feedback is useful. We all
know that plenty of feedback is useless or even actively wrong.

(03:32):
But one of the best skills you can learn professionally
is to sort through feedback to see what is useful
and what is not. And the upside of getting lots
of feedback is that you will see that it is
not all the same. Instead, it's about seeing trends. If
the vast majority of your customers love an ideal, well great,

(03:54):
But if a quarter hate it and a quarter love it. Well,
you can figure out how much that matters to you,
but you know that that doesn't mean it's inherently good
or not. So figure out ways to get lots of feedback,
generally by asking for it specifically whenever you can. Then
you can use this feedback to figure out what works

(04:16):
and what doesn't and what really allows you to shine
in the meantime. This is Laura, thanks for listening, and
here's the succeeding in the New Corner Office. The New
Corner Office is a production of I Heart Radio. For

(04:37):
more podcasts, visit the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,
or wherever you get your favorite shows.