MGT631: High-Impact Feedback & Listening
Course summary:
Sharing feedback is an important part of an organization's culture and an effective business tool that reaches across all levels. This course focuses on learner's ability to communicate positive and developmental feedback. They will also learn to receive feedback and to listen to accurately to best understand the speaker’s intended message.
Course experience:
In this course, individual performers learn how to deliver both positive and developmental feedback efficiently. They also learn how to be receptive to input and to listen to understand the speaker's intended message accurately. In the workplace, these skills help them to optimize and sustain their own and their coworker's performance.
Who should take this course?
Technical professionals wishing to earn Washington University's Technical Leadership Certificate. This course is designed to teach participants ways to increase their effectiveness with teams, in meetings and in individual discussion with peers, managers, vendors and customers.
Course outline:
- Introduction: Learners take part in a “fact or myth” activity to gain critical information about giving and receiving feedback. The facilitator introduces the two types of feedback: positive and developmental.
- Giving Feedback—Key Principles and STAR: Learners watch a video spoof called “Top Colleague” (a fictitious reality game show) that demonstrates poorly delivered feedback and subsequent poor receptivity to feedback. Learners discuss why the feedback in the video went wrong. The facilitator defines effective feedback skills and leads a discussion on the importance of meeting people’s personal and practical needs. Learners adjust the video judges’ feedback to encourage greater receptivity from the video contestants.
- Building Your Listening and Feedback Receptivity Skills: Learners discuss the importance of being aware of Feedback Deflection Traps, Receptivity Techniques, and barriers to listening to accurately understand a message. Learners identify a Receptivity Technique that would help the video contestants demonstrate better listening skills.
- The Feedback Discussion Model: Learners watch a video depicting a colleague in need of developmental feedback. The facilitator introduces the Feedback Discussion Model. Learners then watch a video that shows an employee efficiently delivering developmental feedback to the peer depicted in the earlier video.
- Skill Practice—Giving and Receiving Feedback: The facilitator introduces the Feedback Planner. In groups of three, learners participate in three rounds of skill practice for delivering developmental feedback.
- Applying Your Skills: In pairs, learners describe real-life opportunities they have for delivering either positive or developmental feedback back at work and plan their approach to those discussions.
Learning outcomes:
- Support colleague's job performance, growth, and development
- Build authentic, trusting relationships with colleagues
- More wisely choose opportunities to give and seek feedback
- Handle, reduce, or eliminate defensiveness or negative emotions that can occur in a feedback discussion
- Help create a culture of teamwork, performance & communication
Applies toward the following certificates:
Have questions?
Contact us if you would like to speak with a program director or visit our Frequently Asked Questions page.
"This course was super helpful to revisit better ways of providing/receiving feedback. I'm dealing with an issue at work where providing feedback is tough, so I got to role play and get suggestions on what to do better/what I was doing well." MGT631: High-Impact Feedback & Listening