How to Introduce New Behavioral Norms
I was asked how to begin introducing the idea of giving and receiving feedback to a small team who hadn’t been doing this previously. Their purpose is to create an environment in which feedback with peers is the norm.
The caller indicated that it wasn’t that the team was hesitant or resistant, but that feedback just wasn’t one of the norms in the existing culture.
This question leads me to a broader discussion on how do you introduce any new behavioral norm into an existing culture.
I’ll use feedback in this example, but this process can apply to any norm you want to establish like:
asking more clarifying questions
increasing teamwork
holding each other accountable.
Step One
Let everyone know that you are considering creating a norm around making feedback part of the work culture and why. Include your own definition of what feedback is and even some examples of how this might look specifically in your day-to-day work.
Here’s an example:
In our work environment I am defining feedback as:
Proactively asking questions when you aren’t clear on something.
Speaking your truth in a timely, fact-based way when something is bothering you.
Raising uncomfortable or difficult topics in a clear, kind way.
Frequently acknowledging and celebrating each other’s progress or good work using specifics such as “Great job getting that application finished and in on time”, rather than a general “good job”.
Fact-based feedback focused on work processes and products, and not related to personality, assumptions, emotions, or personal preferences.
Step Two
Provide some reflection questions for you and the team to work on independently:
What comes to mind when you think of “feedback” as a tool for effective communication? How do you define feedback?
What do you believe will be the positive impact if giving and receiving feedback becomes the norm for how we communicate?
What challenges do you perceive might arise?
What might prevent you personally from using feedback as an everyday tool in our workplace?
Ask people to spend some time on these questions and schedule a future meeting where they’ll come prepared to share their answers with the group.
Step Three
In the scheduled team meeting, discussion can be facilitated by taking each question, one at a time.
Your facilitator skills will be essential. Follow these simple guidelines:
Frame the purpose of the meeting at the beginning. For example: “We are here to gain a shared understanding of how feedback could be used as a tool for improved workflow, job satisfaction, and communication.”
To make the time together more interesting and help everyone be involved, I recommend having people work in teams of 2-4, sharing with each other their answers to Question 1 and 2. (Groups larger than 4 are too big, some people won’t get time to speak.)
When you bring the group back together, have them share what they heard from each other, and have time for clarifications or adjustments. Using a white board or flipchart, capture the responses as people share them.
Move through Question 3 as a large group. By uncovering the perceived challenges, you will be able to then move to brainstorming solutions. Using a white board or flipchart, capture the responses as people share them.
Question 4 is designed to help people think ahead to having a commitment to begin using feedback more frequently. I would do this as an individual reflection piece. Give people 5 minutes to write this out and then close by asking each person what their individual commitment would be to practicing feedback in the work environment.
This is a simplified version of how I would facilitate this with a group.
I’d estimate a 3-hour single session or two 90-hour sessions for this.
From here you can go into developing norms for feedback and even have some sessions where people practice receiving feedback so they get more comfortable.
P.S.
You can learn more about feedback and the skills and tools that go into “Mastering Feedback” in my book: Mastering Feedback - Everything you’ve never been told about giving feedback.