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 I know the general information on providing feedback in public but wanted to hear peoples opinions on whether you'd alter for the following situation....

You have a fairly homogeneous group (say a call center or similar).  You notice someone doing something really well and it warrants positive feedback.  At the same time, its a behavior that would benefit the entire team.

Assuming that the direct is ok with public praise (say a D or I), would you give public feedback on the behavior so that everyone can see the  behavior and understand how it would also help them do their job?

Obviously I'd only do this for positive feedback.  Interested in peoples thoughts...

mmann's picture
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MEDPHRED,

I apologize for the delayed response.  I would not give the public praise.  I'd fear that giving the public praise would create an environment where 50% of the people would not adopt the desired behavior out of fear of being singled out for praise.

What did you do?  It's been a couple of weeks now... did you give the praise in public, and if so, what did you learn from it?

 

--Michael

acao162's picture

Why not give private feedback & later use the "good work" as a learning tool for everyone else.  Maybe in a staff meeting or an education/training session.  That way, no one is singled out but everyone can still learn.

When I see great work I want repeated, I call an informal stand-up meeting.  We examine the situation, what was done correctly, what was done that exceeded expectations and how we can all repeat that.  Often, the group brainstorms even better processes.

medphred's picture

Michael,

Thanks for commenting.

You're spot on with what I ended up doing.  I conveying the positive feedback privately to the individual and then using it in coaching with the others.  More time for me but hey, its not supposed to be about me I guess is it :-)

 

 

 

sbaleno's picture

 

You may have already heard Mike and Mark's thoughts on this.  They suggest praising a "group" (not an individual) in public is okay, with caveats.

The "Praise In Public, Criticize In Private Is WRONG" podcast addresses speaks to this: http://www.manager-tools.com/2010/06/praise-public-criticize-private-wrong

Steve