Feedback, Trust, and Anonymity

One of my guilty pleasures is making sure I catch Scott Adams’ Dilbert cartoon every morning.  Today’s is genius (at least, for those of us in the business of feedback).  In three panes, Adams succinctly captures the challenges and pitfalls of so many efforts to collect feedback.

Anonymous surveys that collect demographic or statistical information can be very useful.  However, surveys collecting feedback – particularly when that feedback about a service – are challenged greatly when attempted anonymously.

Fundamentally, the goal of collecting feedback is to understand his unique preferences and adjust your processes to fit his style accordingly.  Feedback of this nature is inherently personal and unique.  Providing a service (whether it be managing employees like the Pointy Haired Boss, or providing engineering expertise to a client) is not just a technical proposition.  Services are provided by people to people.  And since we’re all different and have individual preferences and approaches, there is no one-size-fits-all methodology.

Understanding this concept unveils the first challenge of anonymous feedback.  When no name is attached to the feedback, it can’t directly benefit the respondent.   When you receive anonymous feedback, and 99 out of 100 people love the way you do something, how much effect does the one dissenter have on your approach?  You aren’t going to change everything for one person.  However, if you knew who that one person was, you could adjust the process just for him (assuming it made business sense to do so).

Secondly, anonymous feedback demonstrates real challenges with trust.  The respondent can’t trust you to actually do anything about the feedback given (because, after all, you don’t know who gave it).  Or, he doesn’t trust the actual anonymity of the feedback.  With all the tracking and tricks of technology today, how often do you really believe your anonymous feedback is truly a secret?  Worse, what if you ask for feedback anonymously, and (without trying to) you figure out who gave challenging information.  Now, you really want to respond, and fix the problem – but doing so is going to violate the “trust” you offered the client by offering an anonymous survey in the first place.

But what about the good anonymity provides?  Won’t my clients be more honest?

Actually, you can get great, honest feedback, and get more of it – if the right person asks the right questions – to the right person at the right time.  Therein lies the challenge of building a great feedback process.  The most important aspect of collecting feedback from clients is to be sure the feedback is about the client – not about you.  If you collect feedback  in a manner that unveils the client’s preferences, and you respond by specifically helping the client more according to his expectations, trust is created.  When you prove to the client that feedback matters, and that you act upon it, there is no need for anonymity to get honest feedback.

That is the paradigm where the healthiest relationships are developed and were lasting client loyalty is built.

The Feedback Attitude

A friend of a friend found me on LinkedIn and passed along a resume, looking for a position as a web designer.  While we weren’t hiring for that position, I took a look at the resume.  To be quite candid, it was pretty awful.

I’m in the business of feedback, so I replied with some friendly but strong criticism.  I offered it as feedback – information to be processed, with no intent to hurt or offend.  I took time to highlight some of the good points, but spent most of my words identifying problem areas.   The reply I received could have been one of indignation, defensiveness, anger, or any other counter-productive reaction.  Instead, I got probably the best response I could have.

Ouch!  But thank you!

That’s the subject line of the email I received in reply.  What a great response!  In four words, two punctuation marks, and an emoticon this young woman managed to set the entire mood for our (still ongoing) dialog.  She accepted that challenges in her work exist, and acknowledged the effort (and even pain) needed to fix them.  She expressed honest gratitude for identifying issues for her to work on.  She also set a tone of friendly collaboration – probably the most important reaction to have when receiving tough feedback.  Before reading her response, I knew she was open to ideas, and willing to work with me to improve.

I appreciate your feed back and will work on it…

If you still want to help me organize my resume, etc, I am all ears….

Thanks for the insight.  I know you are right, I think I need someone to literally get in my face and prove it, instead of sugar coating it like people have been.

Within the email, she again thanked me for feedback.  Instead of defending why she did things her way, opened the door to further feedback, correction, and adjustment.

Not only has she set a tone of collaboration, but she also diffused any fear or anxiety on my part about giving feedback.  Since I had never met this woman before, it took quite a bit of courage to provide feedback.  I really wanted to help, but also wanted to avoid hurting her feelings, or causing her any more anxiety when she’s already out of work.  Instead, her reply opened the door wide open to mutually honest communication.  What I thought would be a one-time note with some suggestions turned into a week-long exercise to build a great resume.   I have been able to share my opinions openly and without fear of reprisal.

Now, I feel invested in this woman’s success.  I want to be a part of that.  Why?  Because her resume, and by extension, her process of finding a job, is now a part of me and my process.  I feel some ownership of what she’s built, and thus I feel connected by proxy to her eventual employment (and success).

When your clients give you feedback, they earn the same kind of ownership.  Engage a client who has given you feedback with a proactive, collaborative, and kind attitude and you will tend to get more feedback!  As you work with your client to tweak the processes and methods used to deliver services, these revised methods become your clients methods too.  He becomes invested, not just financially, but at a deeper level as well.  No one wants to see their own work or efforts fail.  It’s natural to want to win, to be right, and to succeed.  The more you can adopt processes and methods that match your clients preferences, the more he will want you to succeed.  Your success becomes his success.

Can you imagine a business where all your clients want you to succeed?  Where your clients are your biggest advocates?  Imagine what this attitude shift will bring when it’s time to send invoices, or raise your fee structure, or request a contract addendum for additional services or a change order.  Instead of arm wrestling over details, you have a client engaged with you on a deeper level.  And since he was fundamentally a part of the process that created the need for billings, your ability to recover fair and rewarding compensation is secure.

Ask for feedback!  Then respond openly and engage your clients in the solutions that follow.  Mutual success is not far behind.

As for the resume, it has gone from something that would very quickly hit my recycle bin, to something I would even pass along – not because of her skills or experience, but because of the process she used to improve.  That’s the kind of person I want to work with.

Johari Window, Part II

I blogged about the Johari Window a few months ago here. In summary, the Johari Window is a very simple and quick exercise that any two (or more) people can engage to give and receive feedback quickly, simply, and openly.  I’ve recently come across two online implementations that are fun and easy to use.

For those social media fans out there, you can use the Facebook application to share feedback with your friends and associates.  What you might learn about yourself is worth the effort.

If you don’t do the Facebook thing, you can use a stand-alone web version.  No registration or hoops required, but it takes a bit more work to invite others to participate.

If you haven’t already, experiment with the Johari Window with some friends, family, and/or coworkers.  After filling out the form and comparing notes, a discussion to understand the results may prove even more enlightening.

Ask for and give feedback daily!

Axium Webinar featuring Mike Phillips – Client Feedback

On April 9, 2009 Mike Phillips presented industry best practices webinar for Axium entitled Client Feedback: Learn Simple Ways to Enhance Your Firm.  This program illustrated how a design firm can create a simple system to collect and incorporate client feedback. View a preview clip of the presentation below:

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To view the webinar in its entirety, visit Axium’s Resource Center http://www.axiumae.com/resources/webinars/industry-webinar.aspx?id=61127

It’s Just Not Fair!

I had an interesting conversation this morning, arriving at work and walking into the break room for my morning caffeine.  Some coworkers were discussing injustices from early in life (playground bullying, unfair parental punishment, etc).  Even those these events were trivial, and took place three decades ago, the memory (and emotion) has stuck around through the years.

What causes “unfair” experiences to remain so powerful in our experience?  I’m no psychologist, so I won’t try to answer that question.  However, it’s important to be aware that memories of unfairness and injustice last a long time.  It’s even more important to understand the behavioral effects on those who feel they were treated unfairly.

Economists and psychologists have studied a phenomenon called “strong reciprocity,” classically observed in “The Ultimate Game.”   In this game, two strangers are brought together.  Stranger A is given a sum of money , and instructed to divide it however he sees fit between them.  Stranger B can accept the money, or reject it.  If Stranger B rejects the money, Stranger A loses his money as well.

In a purely rational sense, if Stranger A starts with $100 and keeps $99 (giving $1 to Stranger B), Stranger B should still accept the offer – after all, $1 is more than he had to start with.  However, since this isn’t perceived as “fair” Stranger B will almost always reject that offer, costing both players any winnings.  In fact, any time Stranger A attempts to keep more than 1/2 of the money, Stranger B becomes increasingly likely to reject the offer, to the point that over half of observed real-world subjects rejected offers where the balance exceeded 70/30.

According to James Surowiecki at the New Yorker:

“Essentially, people are willing to pay to punish those they think are free-riding or acting unfairly, even when doing so brings them no material benefits.”

Even though in EVERY case both parties win, the feeling of injustice causes the majority of people to cause a lose-lose outcome when the scales are balanced too far in someone else’s favor.  Unfortunately, the same ineffective behavior is seen professionally.

In delivering a service (for a fee), the client expects a certain value.  That value is based on their perception of how effectively the service was performed, and how well the service fulfilled a need.  At times, the balance of perceived value between cost of the service and the actual service delivered shifts too far in favor of the service provider.  When this happens, strong reciprocity by your client (where he will take a loss to penalize you for being unfair) can unmake the profits from your job  - and even become punitive to a broader degree.  Usually, this behavior isn’t even malicious in intent, but rather a natural behavioral response to a perceived injustice.

John Timmer at Ars Technica says this:

“Within this perspective, the snap judgment is that an offer is unfair. Sometimes, we can engage the post-hoc rationalization, in this case involving the economics of the situation, and override our ethical calculations. But, in a substantial fraction of the cases, we never get the chance, as we act on our snap decisions before that process can occur.”

Basically, as soon as a situation is perceived as unfair, unjust, or in some other way disadvantageous, the natural and immediate tendency is to reciprocate an injustice with injustice.  This is why feedback is so critical to get early in any service relationship.  As soon as a client perceives the balance of value going too far in favor of the provider, he has the opportunity to make his feelings known.  Whether his perceptions are valid will be for you to decide – but being aware of the imbalance lets you adjust, react, and manage the situation towards a win-win.   Without this crucial information, you may find yourself with a client committing resources and increasing his losses simply to make sure you feel the pain too.  Whether this pain is an unpaid invoice, loss of a client, or even a liability claim, it’s often too late to find the win-win.

Remember that kid in 2nd grade that ate two cupcakes at the school party, so you got none?   People don’t forget an injustice, and your clients won’t either.   A client lost tends to stay lost, forever skewed against you and your organization.

Ultimately, no one wants to lose.  Ask for feedback early and often,  adjust when needed to foster a fair outcome, and win-win outcomes are virtually assured.

A&E Business Journal Features Article on Client Feedback

The A&E Business Journal, published by the AE Management Association, featured an article on Client Feedback in their May 2009 issue entitled “Using Client Feedback to Address the Five Biggest Problems for Design Firms,” written by Mike Phillips AIA.  In the article Phillips discusses how to collect actionable data from your clients and how to use this information to reduce problems and liability, increase profitability, improve team performance, and enhance marketing effectiveness.  Here he discusses how collecting feedback in design firms can be especially challenging.

Design firms tend to solve unique problems in unique ways, which brings a focus on developing a deeper understanding of the specific details of our clients’ problems, preferences and priorities. Not only is this success criteria elaborate, but it is different for each project and often mutates multiple times during a single project due to shifts in budget, schedule and a client’s sense of desired quality. Design firms which utilize a system for tracking and responding to these changes waste less time and creates the maximum value to their client by being better aligned with their needs.

To read the entire article, subscribe to A&E Business Journal. The AE Management Association is offering a FREE 2009 AEMA Salary Survey with an AEMA membership of $125.00 for those who sign up by June 30, 2009.

Mike Phillips is President and Founder of Phillips Architecture and DesignFacilitator. His personal website can be found at AboutMikePhillips.com.

Feedback About Me is Really About You…

We’ve spent over five years focused on feedback, and along the way, we’ve participated in every feedback program we come across.  We’ve taken every survey, fielded every call, and attended interviews.  In almost every case, the same mistake is made.  The feedback I’m giving to you, shouldn’t be about you – it should be about me.

Let me say it again:

When you ask me for feedback, the focus should be me.

The most common mistake we see in feedback programs is that the person asking for feedback mistakenly acts as though HE is more important than the client he’s surveying.   The feedback programs are very ego-centric, rather than client-focused.

Feedback requests should be primarily for the benefit of the person giving feedback.  If there’s nothing in it for them, you won’t get much feedback, and what you do get will not be of good quality.  You also miss a HUGE opportunity to build lasting loyalty and commitment from your client.

So, how does one ask for feedback for the benefit of the person you’re asking?

1. Keep it SHORT. You are taking time from your clients when you ask for feedback.  Show them that you respect their time by not wasting any.  Ask only what you need.  If some feedback collected suggests further attention is required, THEN you can take some more time to discover and respond.  Ask no more than 5-7 questions.  Take no more than 2 minutes.  Respect their time as if it’s your own.
2. Don’t wait until the END. If you collect feedback at the end of a project / service, how is the client helped?  Get feedback EARLY and OFTEN, before the work is done.  The client will know you have a chance to respond, adjust, and deliver the final product in a better way, before it’s too late.
3. Stay FOCUSED. Their feedback tells you about their needs and expectations – so ask questions that bring this to light.  Avoid questions to which the answer gives them no benefit.  ”How do I compare to competitor XYZ” would be a good example of a bad question.  There’s no way to answer in a way that helps me.  Questions such as “How did my responsiveness match your expectations?” lets the client provide course correction – or praise – so you can adjust your responsiveness to a more fitting style, customized for that client.
4. Follow Up. If you ask, and they respond, do something about it.  Let them know how their feedback is going to help you help them.  Responding in a way that returns immediate results will create an ecosystem of constant feedback, adjustment, communication – and long term loyalty.

“So what about me?” you may be asking.  That’s where a system for collecting feedback becomes critical.  Collect feedback in a consistent way, in short doses – but get a LOT of it.  Over time you will build a vast history of performance and effectiveness, from which you can glean countless insights into you, your staff, and your company.

If you want to be client-focused, be sure your client feedback sends the same message!

Mike Phillips to present webinar with Axium on April 9th

DesignFacilitator Sponsors
PSMJ Circle of Excellence 2009

DesignFacilitator is sponsoring PSMJ’s Circle of Excellence Conference in Orlando March 19 & 20, 2009.   Visit our table to learn more about our Client Feedback Tool and what it can do to increase the prosperity of your A/E firm.

“PSMJ’s Circle of Excellence represents the top 20% of firms participating in PSMJ’s Financial Performance Survey that achieve the best overall business performance in the A/E industry.

This distinction is awarded based upon a combination of 11 performance benchmarks that measure business operations in terms of profitability, growth, cash flow, overhead control, business development, project performance, and employee satisfaction. As a group, PSMJ’s 2008 Circle of Excellence firms averaged 21% revenue growth, 27% profits (as a percentage of net revenues) and less than 10% employee turnover.

PSMJ’s 2009 Circle of Excellence Conference is going to be held on March 19-20, 2009 in Orlando, Florida.”  – PSMJ Resources, Inc.