As a business, you always love positive feedback. You’re happy; you high-five your team, talk about it in the huddle, and it puts a little pep in your step! But how do you gracefully accept and handle negative feedback? It hurts a little, but you want to know ways that you need to improve. Naturally, you don’t want to keep doing the same thing. Most often, I believe criticism is often a one-time challenge and not usually an ongoing issue.
Making your team aware of what client feedback is being shared is important. And especially important for the team members on the front line. Nothing makes you feel good than hearing how someone appreciated your efforts. Regardless of the feedback, hearing what people have to say can motivate your team.
How do you share both great and not-so-great feedback with your team? There are a few ways, and it’s an excellent time to role play and figure out if you should change or implement a process. Or it could be you had a patient that had a bad day.
Communicate Feedback Often
Share the feedback you’re getting with your team often. You’ll want to share feedback in real-time or at least within the week because you want the interaction fresh in the team’s mind. That way, your team is constantly improving. It’s an excellent opportunity for constructive criticism and thinking of ways for patients to have a fantastic experience.
How do you share feedback? There are a variety of ways. You can do it daily or as it comes up at the huddle. Or a quick before-lunch meeting or before you head out for the day. You might want to bring in lunch and review the feedback if it’s not great feedback. Customer feedback should be routine, not only when it’s negative.
DISCOURAGE THE “BLAME GAME” Culture
This needs no explanation. You’re all a team. It’s counterproductive to make excuses and finger point. Learn from the experience and discuss how the situation could have been handled differently and ideas for the next time you encounter a similar problem.
PROVIDE ACCESS TO THE TEAM
Allow the team to have access to client feedback. Please don’t make it a surprise at your meeting or huddle. Have the reviews show up in the “office” e-mail. Let the team have the autonomy to see the feedback on their own. It will allow them to digest what they’ve seen, do their self-assessments, and self-evaluate their performance/interaction.
CELEBRATE ALL THE WINS
Be sure you’re creating a positive culture. So often, we focus on all the negative things and feedback. Build your team up and have fun doing it. Wins are wins. Every patient came that day, you killed your daily goal or received great feedback from a client. It feels good to get a compliment. You can give shout-outs at meetings, at the huddle, or on your communication system. If you want to go one step further, you can put a SUPER STAR or WAY TO go board in the break room and post all the positives. Don’t be shy about handing out rewards. A coffee card or lunch from their favorite restaurant. Find out how your days change when you focus on the good.
