You need feedback to learn and grow, and if you’re waiting for your annual review to find out how you’re performing, well... you will never find out. We don't do annual reviews at Luscii, there are no managers to tell you what is going well or not well, there are no performance reviews... If you want feedback at Luscii, you need to ask for it. And not from a manager, as you don't have one, but from your peers.
We understand that receiving feedback can be a stressful experience, that’s why many people hesitate to ask for it. But the more often you do it, the less stressful it becomes to initiate the conversation and to hear the comments. If you’re having a feedback conversation every week, there’s less to be surprised by and more opportunity to modify your behavior. The process will also make you happier and more productive at work.
People who go out and solicit negative feedback — meaning they aren’t just fishing for compliments — report higher satisfaction. They adapt more quickly to new roles, get higher performance reviews, and show others they are committed to doing their jobs.
We have defined a feedback process for your first year with fixed moments for you to ask for feedback. See the process below. After your first year, we will nudge every each cycle to request feedback.
Here are some tips that can help you to ask for feedback that helps you get ahead.
Understand what you’re looking for
Think about the kind of feedback you crave. Do you want more appreciation or acknowledgement? Evaluation of your performance on a particular project or task? Or general coaching about how you can improve and learn?
Ask for feedback in real-time
If you want some insight into how you did on a particular task or how you might improve on the next project, don’t dawdle. It’s best to ask sooner rather than later.
Pose specific questions
Whatever you do, don’t start off by asking, Do you have any feedback for me? That’s a terrible question. The answer is almost always no and you learn nothing. Ask instead: What’s one thing I could improve?
Press for examples
To get the most out of feedback once you’ve asked, you may have to probe for specifics. Sometimes, the person will say ‘I just think you need to be more assertive or more proactive or more of a team player. That’s vague and what we call a label. It’s not very helpful. You have to unpack the label. To do that, ask probing questions like, Can you explain what you mean? How could I have been more assertive just now? and What kinds of things should I do to be more assertive going forward?
