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What is Lazy Feedback and what makes this important to you as a Leader Coach?

Lazy feedback is any feedback you can give without knowing details on what the other person actually did. In fact, you can recognize lazy feedback easily, because it is something you could tell your dog. “Good job.” “Well done”. “This was a great job!” You get it.

What makes lazy feedback harmful in the long run?

Well, it erodes the trust between you and your team member. When a Leader repeatedly resorts to lazy feedback, they show no evidence they, in fact, know what is going on in their team members’ daily lives. There is no evidence of sincere interest.

Even if you THINK as a Manager that you are interested, if you show no evidence of it in your conversations, people will rather assume the worst. Welcome ‘Negativity Bias’.

Lazy feedback therefore simply lacks substance. It uses nice words, but it can be said without any small effort. It is a very poor way to show you care about the performance of a team member.

Just imagine this from the other side. As a team member (which you are yourself to your own boss!), how much more powerful would it be to get feedback that shows your boss has taken notice AND remembered a detail in your own delivery?

(Example for non-lazy feedback, for lack of a better term!)

An incredible positive side effect of sharing detailed observations is also that you shine a sharp spotlight on the exact behaviors you want to reinforce as a Leader. Lazy feedback cannot deliver that as it is simply too broad and general.

Now, why is lazy feedback still so common? It is easy and fast to give. It feels good in the moment…for both feedback giver and receiver. It is after all still a small boost of encouragement.

If there is solid trust between Team Member and Manager, some lazy feedback sprinkled in here and there will probably not do too much harm. It can in effect be still mildly positive. However, in the long run, relying on it will not pay off.

1. Bring Details

Before acknowledging your team member‘s work, think hard what about that success you want to reinforce and put a spotlight on. But what if you cannot remember any specifics? Well, then think harder about how you can identify (possibly through other sources) what specific behaviors by your team member created that positive impact. Without specifics, your feedback will at best create a positive emotion for just a moment, but very little lasting learning.

2. Consider giving positive feedback in the general format of a ‘Power Thank You’*.

It shows in a smart way how to construct positive feedback that is helpful and effective. What does a Power Thank you entail? Here is its structure:

Part 1: Recognize the person for something specific that he or she did. (It can also be something the person refrained from doing that would have hurt someone.)

Part 2: Acknowledge the effort it took for the person to help you by saying something like: “I know you didn’t have to do _______” or “I know you went out of your way to do_______.”

Part 3: Tell the person the difference that his or her act personally made

Part 4: Mean it! Somewhat self-explanatory. This technique only works if you actually believe what you say. Your team members will be sensitive to things you might say just to please them (or get them off your back).

An example for a Power Thank You:

Lazy feedback is something that happens very often between Managers and their team members. It is a type of throw-away feedback that lacks substance and evidence of any effort by the feedback-giver. Over time and over-relying on it, it will contribute to an erosion of trust between Team Member and Manager.

I suggest sharing feedback instead in a way that shows you know details about the behaviors that contribute to the outcome you observed. What specifically did the person do to have that impact? The ‘Power Thank you’ specifically is built on that principle, as it recognizes humans’ innate need to be acknowledged for their efforts and to be told about the impact they had.

Want more? Listen to the Podcast on the same topic. The player is right above the video in this article 🙂

Best, Maik

* from the book ‘Just Listen’ by Mark Goulston