But that last 10% is pure gold so it’s worth plowing through the trash to find the treasure. Okay, maybe that’s harsh, but its also true. Everyone comes to a feedback session with their own ideas and agendas. And you probably do the same thing when you’re giving feedback because, by default, people see the world through their own eyes. Makes sense, right? Empathy takes work. And sometimes empathy needs a little pat on the bottom to get it moving along.
Thankfully there’s something simple you can do to increase the percentage of usable feedback. Before you start collecting feedback make sure people know your goals.
Blam. Easy as that. It’ll save you time, improve the focus of the feedback and, as an extra bonus, you’ll be less defensive because you won’t be getting reactions to things that don’t address your primary concerns.