If you were asked what skill you\u2019d use to survive the zombie apocalypse \u2013 what would you use? Would you negotiate? District them with jokes? Would you knit your way out? It was the exercise that caused the most laughter at the latest away day I ran. Exploring what left-field ways teams would use in the race for survival. I love it because it\u2019s light-hearted and fun, it gets people talking and engaged and it also subtly builds better connections between teams. But what really struck me that day was the power of feedback.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How often have you been told (whether its prompted or unprompted) what your impact is at work? What your unique value is? How you make a difference? You might have been thanked, you might have got compliments, had a good annual appraisal but have any of them gone into the detail of your impact? Asking outright can lead to surprising results and it\u2019s something we all need to do more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If something goes wrong, someone\u2019s often quick to tell us. If you\u2019ve had a detrimental impact on customer service, fundraising, marketing, finance, service delivery or the supply chain, it\u2019s important that it\u2019s resolved and rectified. But we don\u2019t often apply equal weight to celebrating success, whether that\u2019s good leadership, strong teamwork or any other of the myriad of ways we can add value. When things go well, it\u2019s easier to take them for granted \u2013 we don\u2019t often take the time to interrogate and understand the \u201cwhy\u201d behind what\u2019s going well and in turn acknowledge the work of those who\u2019ve made an impact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Impact is also one of those nebulous things that\u2019s sometimes hard to pinpoint. You might have a very obvious impact in your leadership through a crisis but your ability to remember birthdays might have an equally profound effect on the team. Asking colleagues directly (and anonymously if it\u2019s easier) for direct feedback can be uncomfortable but it\u2019s incredibly powerful \u2013 and a great way to get new insights into how you support others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Going freelance has forced me into it. After each project I now use a light-touch feedback form that specifically asks what my impact has been. It\u2019s one of my favourite things about finishing a project, and it\u2019s made me realise in all my employed role to date how little opportunity there was to ask or understand my impact in any of the roles I\u2019ve held. It\u2019s been incredibly powerful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At this particular event people shared positive feedback into their colleagues\u2019 impact, and there were powerful insights, heartfelt statements and beautiful drawings. You watched as people took them in and you could see the impact of this feedback immediately – that people felt seen. It was proof that we have more impact than we think, that that impact isn\u2019t always in the areas we think and that it\u2019s hugely validating to hear that we\u2019re appreciated, whatever role we hold.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Photo by Towfiqu barbhuiya<\/a> on Unsplash<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" If you were asked what skill you\u2019d use to survive the zombie apocalypse \u2013 what would you use? Would you negotiate? District them with jokes? Would you knit your way out? It was the exercise that caused the most laughter at the latest away day I ran. Exploring what left-field ways teams would…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":528,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[17],"tags":[13,11,20,18,15,12,21,25,10],"class_list":["post-527","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-facilitation","tag-charity","tag-consultant","tag-event","tag-facilitation","tag-founder","tag-freelance","tag-non-profit","tag-self-employment","tag-start-up-2"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t