Closing the Feedback Loop
Engaging voices from the field is a critical piece of any network leader’s work. At See What I Mean, we advocate establishing a clear feedback loop. The earlier in the process, the better.
When we begin working with organizations, there’s often a culture of discontent around providing feedback, because the organization has lacked transparency around the process. Nobody likes sending a survey into a black hole, or fearing criticisms will be met with retaliation. Openness about the process builds trust and generates stronger results.
Too often, network leaders think of a feedback loop as following three steps: Ask → Analyze → Demonstrate. This approach misses a critical step in a transparent feedback loop: Ask → Analyze → Share back → Demonstrate.
Let’s break down these steps:
Ask: Learning from field members begins with asking the right questions. You might send out surveys or convene focus groups, or leverage standing committees to get their input on designing a new initiative. We’ve found that working with a consultancy can help members feel safe answering candidly. We make it a practice to include in our surveys the level of anonymity members expect as data is compiled, anonymized, and shared with organizational leaders.
Analyze: Once you gather your data set, it’s time to interpret the results. Does anything surprise you? We like to create a slide deck that pulls together key findings and incorporates anonymous quotes from field interviews, focus groups, and open-ended survey questions to present a blend of quantitative and qualitative data.
Share back: After you’ve analyzed results and before you begin developing that initiative/product, it is critical to bring your learnings back to the stakeholders. Remember: While you were deep in your analysis, the stakeholders don’t have the same lens into the insights. They likely only saw their piece of the process and may have been unsure if they were outliers with their opinion or their responses were consistent with peers.
The share back step allows leaders to gain confidence in their conclusions and participants to recognize their voice in the outcomes.
When we share findings with a group, whether through a written report or a meeting, we are asking questions like “Does this sound like you?” “Do you agree or disagree with these findings?”
We frequently hear comments of appreciation from stakeholders that we took the time to reflect findings back to them. They are apt to be more bought into the end result.
Demonstrate: Often, many weeks pass between the share back phase and the launch or demonstration of a new product or initiative. It’s helpful to recap some of those early findings and integrate the stakeholder voice once again when you demonstrate. This shows you truly listened and connects the impact so next time you send a survey, there’s an even greater response.
Does your organization take steps to close the feedback loop? Are there other steps we should consider?
If you and your organization could benefit from some support of this process, you’re not alone. Book a discovery session with our team