Discussing Performance

Module 4 was about performance management. The module emphasized building individual and team capabilities to discuss performance productively. The centerpiece activity was the Feedforward exercise, and most people reported a positive experience with it.

1. According to Sheila Heen in her TEDx talk entitled, "How to use others' feedback to learn and grow," people typically do not receive negative feedback well, so they usually do not grow much in response to it. Why don't people receive negative feedback well, according to Heen? Discuss two reasons she offers. Drawing on the material in Chapter 6 ("Performance Management") of your textbook (Kinicki), why else might people have difficulty receiving and growing in response to negative feedback--describe two reasons?

2. Marshal Goldsmith contends Feedforward can set the stage for productive conversations that include feedback. After becoming adept at running Feedforward with teammates, why do people become (a) better at formulating and delivering negative feedback to them and (b) more open and positively responsive to receiving negative feedback from them? Discuss at least two different reasons in your answers to both "a" and "b." You should talk about four different reasons altogether. Cite the course resources that informed your answers.

3. Lessons emerging from the Feedforward experience and debrief were reinforced and extended in the two additional required articles"Learning in the thick of it" (Darling et al.) and "How to conduct a high-impact team self-evaluation (Smith-Jentsch). Based on the principles discussed in one of the articles, offer three recommendations about what MGMT 305 project teams could do to enhance their capability to discuss performance productively.