Friday, March 4, 2011
Post #2 Observer feedback
When you are assigned the task of being the observer for a group, you have a very important task and it needs to be done properly. This chapter gave very specific guidelines on how to report an observer's findings in a constructive way so that group members can learn and grow from their mistakes. One of the key things they pointed out was to not use terms like "good job". People need the feedback to be more specific so that they can understand where the group needs to fix their problems. It is also important to remember that an observer is also the facilitator, your are meant to help people work diligently and stay on task. What you report back to the group is meant to enhance the groups work. There is always a time where someone may be offended by what is reported back to them and may not take constructive criticism well. The chapter says not to argue with them but remind them that this is your opinion on how well the group is working and not to take everything so personally. After the observer expresses their findings, they also need to be able to suggest ways to help make the situation better. An observer has a very important role and can really be beneficial to a group. In my opinion it should be required that every company uses an outside pair of eyes to evaluate how the group is functioning so that the company can reach it's full potential. I really thought this chapter was very useful!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I completely agree with what you said about the importance of providing constructive criticism instead simple feedback with words like "good job" or "awesome"... people need to know exactly what they are doing well so that they can continue to do well in the future. I think this example works great in reference to teachers and professors and the feedback that they give to their students. I can name quite a few teachers in my life who have simply provided positive feedback like "good job" or even negative feedback on work like "needs improvement" but never took the time to explain why and left it up to me to figure out exactly what needed "improvement" or why my work was "good".
ReplyDeleteHey there. I think you did a really good job on your post for the discussion this week. I really enjoyed reading about observer feedback and I thought you did a really good job addressing all the elements involved in observer feedback. I agree that using the term "good job" when providing feedback isn't constructive for a group at all. Saying good job to a group is the same thing as saying "I don't have anything to say so I am going to say good job and pretend that I was doing my job." Simply saying good job doesn't provide any useful information for a group to improve on. If you are going to provide feedback you need to really pay attention and give the group something to work with.
ReplyDelete