Coaching with feedforward

As the name suggests, feedforward is different from feedback because it focuses on the future rather than the past. While feedforward may begin with a question such as:

“What have you learned about yourself and how you approach your work, which could be of benefit in how you manage future tasks?”

…the emphasis is not on dissecting what went right or wrong, but on what’s needed to achieve future goals.

The Role of Feedback

Feedback is useful when it helps the person:

  • Understand how they are seen by others
  • Relate their performance to standards (either their own or externally set)
  • Monitor their progress against both performance and learning goals

However, feedback is often clumsily given. Both managers and direct reports tend to dislike or feel uncomfortable with the process. This is partly because:

  • The receiver may take it personally
  • The feedback often says more about the giver than the receiver

To ease this issue, one effective strategy is to give the receiver responsibility for gathering their own feedback—making it feel less like something being “done to” them.

The Power of Feedforward

Feedforward helps people:

  • Clarify what they could achieve and what they want to achieve
  • Align their goals with team and business objectives, as well as personal career ambitions
    • e.g. “How are you going to build the track record that will get you noticed?”
  • Explore the support they need—including from their boss

Benefits of feedforward include:

  • People listen more attentively when they don’t feel criticised or under threat
  • It’s easier to focus on applying strengths than on overcoming weaknesses

Goldsmith’s Feedforward Exercise

Marshall Goldsmith, a strong advocate of feedforward, offers the following exercise:

  1. Choose a behaviour you’d like to change—something that would make a significant, positive difference in your life.
  2. Describe it as vividly as possible—what it is, and what a change would mean for you.
  3. Ask for two or more suggestions for what you could do to bring about that change—without any reference to the past.
  4. Accept the suggestions without judgement—don’t comment positively or negatively.

This exercise is typically conducted in groups, with the feedforward receiver repeating the activity with several different people. Suspending judgement allows time for ideas to percolate and “grow on you”—especially if you hear the same suggestions from multiple people.

Applications of Feedforward

Feedforward can be a powerful tool in:

  • Team coaching, especially for breaking down a blame culture
  • Alternatives to traditional performance appraisals in organisations
  • Coaching approaches like appreciative inquiry and strengths-based coaching, particularly for externally resourced coaches

© David Clutterbuck, 2015