Fierce Feedback
Why is feedback so hard to give?
You want to be honest without putting someone on the defensive. But softening the message can leave them guessing. Fierce Feedback® helps people discuss specific behaviors, listen to another perspective and make feedback an ongoing conversation. That includes asking for it, receiving it and recognizing what is working.
What makes feedback difficult for your team?
Tell us where conversations get stuck. A Fierce advisor can help you explore how Feedback fits your people and the conversations they need to have.
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The workplace problem
What happens when the message isn’t clear?
“Be more proactive.” “Great job.” Both can leave someone wondering what you mean. Without a specific example, it can be hard to know what to change or repeat.
Waiting can make the conversation harder, too. A small observation becomes something you have been carrying for weeks. By the time you raise it, the other person may be hearing about it for the first time.
Fierce Feedback gives people a way to talk about behavior while there is still an opportunity to learn from it. The conversation makes room for what you observed and what the other person has to say. Feedback becomes something people can exchange in the course of their work.
Part of the Fierce Conversations® methodology
created by Susan Scott.
What changes after Fierce Feedback
What will people learn to do differently?
After the program, managers should be better equipped to:
Make the message specific
Describe a behavior someone can recognize instead of relying on a broad label or hint.
Explore another perspective
Ask questions and listen for information that may change your understanding of what happened.
Invite useful input
Ask for feedback about your own actions and clarify what the other person is seeing.
Recognize what to repeat
Explain what someone did well and why it mattered, so praise gives them useful information.
Method overview
How does Fierce Feedback work?
The program teaches one conversation model for four types of feedback conversations. Participants learn to focus on behaviors and make room for asking and listening.
- 01
Giving feedback
Bring a specific observation into a conversation. Discuss its impact and invite the other person’s perspective.
- 02
Asking for feedback
Take the initiative to learn how your actions are affecting others. Ask for input you can explore together.
- 03
Receiving feedback
Listen to understand what someone is telling you. Ask questions that help you make sense of their observations.
- 04
Praise
Name a contribution and explain why it mattered. Make recognition specific enough for someone to understand what is working.
These are four kinds of conversations, not four steps to follow in order. Together, they make feedback part of everyday working relationships, with people both offering and inviting it.
Audience
Who is Fierce Feedback for?
Feedback happens between colleagues as well as between managers and direct reports. The program supports people who need to exchange observations, recognize contributions and discuss adjustments to their work.
People managers
Have more specific conversations about what is working and what needs attention between formal reviews.
Peers and project teams
Discuss how your work affects one another and hear the context behind a colleague’s actions.
Leaders shaping team habits
Model asking for input and responding thoughtfully, so feedback is something you participate in as well as encourage.
What can a more direct conversation change?
After Fierce conversation training at Goodway Group, one employee approached a colleague following a tense meeting. They described what the colleague had said and how it affected the team. The colleague explained the pressure she was under, helping the team understand her perspective.
“They were so proud they’d resolved the issue on their own, without involving a manager.”
Kandi Gongora
VP of People and Organizational Development, Goodway Group
Title at the time of the case study
How Fierce delivers
How can your people learn Feedback?
Choose the format that fits how your people work and learn. A Fierce advisor can help you choose a format and plan how Feedback fits into your organization’s learning path
In person
Facilitated learning that gives leaders space to practice, reflect and work through real organizational challenges together.
Virtual
Live, interactive sessions designed to build skills across distributed teams without sacrificing participation or application.
On demand
Flexible learning that supports individual development, reinforcement and broader access across the organization.
RELATED PROGRAMS
Build the next conversation skill
Foundations
Fierce Foundations®
Build shared habits for examining assumptions and hearing different perspectives before bringing them into feedback conversations.
Coach
Fierce Coach®
Help someone explore a challenge and develop their own next steps when they need space to think it through.
