Embedded Files
Welcome to our Asynchronous Module: The Gift of Feedback.
You will work through this module by scrolling through this learning space. To expand documents and slide decks that are included, you can click on the gray arrow at the top right corner of each item.
Feel free to focus on the pieces of this module that are most relevant to your topics of interest.
Please complete the Exit Ticket at the end of the module. We will use your submission to track completion.
Please contact datafellows@eddirection.org if help is needed.
Click on the button to the left to open the note-catcher, which is mirrored to follow the content as it is presented on the Learning Space. As you navigate through this module, you are welcome to use this optional tool to capture your notes.
Refer to your note-catcher each time you see this icon.
Session Outcome: This asynchronous module will guide you through feedback protocols and give you an opportunity to reflect on the feedback you receive.
Success Criteria: More specifically, Data Fellows will be able to:
Seek and gather feedback from the rest of the RSSP cabinet and other stakeholders
Implement a feedback survey with their RSSP team to build a culture of continuous improvement
Use a feedback protocol to have conversations with their team
Anticipated time to complete this module: 45 minutes + 45-60 minutes for post-work
Introduction
Introduction
The middle of the year provides a nice pause point to reflect on the work we have done so far and determine where we go from here. While we focus on data collection at the school level, it’s also important to collect data on our own performance and plan a path forward for our own development.
Think of a time in your career where you have received feedback that was truly valuable -- note, we are not talking about feedback that made you feel good or was an atta-boy, but feedback that pushed you to be better or to create a better product.
What was the feedback?
How did it make you feel?
Reflect on your relationship with the person who gave you the feedback
Was it a trusting relationship? Had this person given you feedback before?
Now, think about a time when you received feedback that you rejected (either openly or internally).
What was the feedback?
Why did you reject it?
How did it make you feel?
Receiving feedback is a gift, though sometimes it certainly doesn’t feel that way. When we reject feedback, it is likely because we disagree with the feedback itself or don’t have a trusting relationship with the person who is providing the feedback.
Part I: 360 Feedback
Part I: 360 Feedback
Often, receiving feedback feels evaluative, especially if it comes from a person in a position of power over us. Fortunately, there is a way to receive feedback from a variety of other stakeholders to give yourself a full perspective. This is called 360 feedback. Three-sixty feedback is what it sounds like: it gives you a 360 degree view of your performance, your work, and how you show up every day.
Why: Receiving feedback from one manager provides a limited perspective. Seeking it from colleagues, direct reports, principals with whom you work, and teachers who use your dashboard regularly can help you to identify trends within your own development so you can prioritize where you want to improve.
Why 360 feedback in the context of a Data Fellow? We are doing something new and innovative in education with this program. It’s important to solicit feedback not just about the products we are creating, but how we are showing up at work and collaborating with the rest of the team. This is all part of the spirit of continuous improvement.
A word of caution: in order to effectively give and receive 360 feedback, questions should be really targeted and not too open-ended/open to interpretation. It’s important to think about the things you want to get feedback on before engaging in this process.
Whom to collect feedback from: Anyone who you work with directly. This can and should include: your supervisor, your RSSP team, any school leaders you work with regularly, anyone who uses your product. If you feel comfortable, you may also reach out to your TAP point person for feedback.
How: Use the 360 degree survey on the right to collect feedback from the team members you have chosen. A couple of things to note:
You should ask questions that are targeted to ensure you are getting the responses aligned to your professional growth areas (general questions will solicit general feedback; specific questions will solicit specific feedback)
Feel free to change the competencies on the survey to fit your professional development areas or any leadership rubrics that your district has adopted
Talk to your team before giving them this survey and let the know to be as specific as possible
Print one of the surveys for each person who is going to fill it out; a nice touch is to fold it and put it in an envelope for them so they can seal it upon delivery
For Part II of the survey (Start, Continue, Stop), inform your team that you want to accept and incorporate their feedback.
Part II: Improving Your Survey
Part II: Improving Your Survey
Now that you understand the basics of the 360 Degree Survey and have seen an example, it's important to dive more deeply into getting it right so you can collect good information for yourself.
Read the article from Harvard Business Review on the right on 360 Degree Feedback and respond to the questions in your Note-Catcher about the four paradoxes:
The Paradox of Roles
The Paradox of Group Performance
The Measurement Paradox
The Paradox of Rewards
The Paradox of Roles
You cannot be both a peer and a judge.
What are some ways you can avoid the Paradox of Roles?
How can you ensure your team gives you honest, valuable feedback, instead of "great job on everything?"
The Paradox of Group Performance
Focusing on individuals puts the entire group at risk.
How can you ensure your team doesn't feel like it's "us vs. them," or if you're on track to meet your goals that feedback is unimportant?
What are some concrete ways your can avoid the paradox of group performance?
The Measurement Paradox
The easier the feedback is to gather, the harder it is to apply.
How can the measurement paradox negatively impact your 360 degree feedback? What is the value of receiving qualitative feedback over a letter grade?
The Paradox of Rewards
When peer appraisal counts the most, it helps the least.
How can you avoid the paradox of rewards? If you are not getting a bonus or a reward after you receive this feedback, how can you ensure it's valuable in other ways?
Part III: SARAH
Part III: SARAH
When we receive feedback, it can natural to have an emotional reaction - positive or negative. When we receive feedback that we feel ourselves rejecting, it's important to ask why. Is it because the feedback is not valid? Or is it because it is valid, and it struck a nerve?
When this happens, we enter a process known as our good friend SARAH. Perhaps one of your colleagues gave you feedback on the 360 degree survey that your area for growth is around your technical skills and your dashboard. This may strike a nerve (understandably), and you'll enter the process of SARAH.
While there is no predetermined timeline spent in each of the stages, the good news is that when you go through SARAH, you are not at any one stage forever. You also may find that you move back and forth along the continuum. You may feel that you're coming to a place of acceptance, just to feel angry again the next day. While definitely frustrating, there are strategies you can use to help move yourself through SARAH more quickly.
Shock: to mitigate your shock, ask yourself why you are feeling shocked by receiving this feedback. If you write your survey questions well, feedback should not come out of left-field because your questions were grounded in particular actions and were specific, as opposed to general. Try to find the context of the feedback so you can ground it in something specific.
Anger: shock can lead to anger as you understand what the feedback means to you. If you find yourself angry after reading feedback, find time to reflect. Assume best intentions in the writer and remember that you don't have to change your entire practice.
Rejection: if you find yourself in rejection, give yourself a little time and space. Go for a walk, get a drink of water, and come back to it when you're in a different headspace. Try seeing the feedback from the other person's perspective.
Acceptance: hooray! You have gotten yourself to a place where you can accept this person's feedback. Now that you've accepted that this is something you can work on, you can make a plan to move forward.
Hope: finally, you've arrived at hope. You've developed your plan for implementing the feedback and are ready to get back to work. Take a minute to reflect at this point on which phases were easier and more difficult for you to overcome, so next time, you find yourself in SARAH, you are ready for her.
360 Feedback for the Team
360 Feedback for the Team
We highly recommend that this reflection activity be done in a team. If you are in a position on your RSSP team to encourage the team to engage in this process, we believe it will be valuable for everyone. This section of our asynchronous module will explore ways in which you can engage your team in this process.
If you choose to do this, begin with explaining the process to your team and having them read the Harvard Business Review article linked above.
Then, follow the steps to the right.
Instruct your team to make a list of recipients of the survey.
Print and administer the survey; give recipients a clear deadline.
Provide yourself and your teammates time to individually reflect, and assign them to bring their reflection to a team meeting to share.
During a team meeting, include time for each person to share the synthesis of their results and their commitments.
Conclude the team meeting by having every person share out their commitments; capture team commitments on a common document or poster for future reference and accountability.
Finally: give your team a head's up about SARAH. This allows you not only to recognize and validate that it's hard to hear adjusting feedback, but also to create a common language. In the future, you may find yourself and your teammates talking about "going through SARAH" when news hits -- and you'll appreciate that someone else has the same language and interpretation as you do.
Part IV: Reflection
Part IV: Reflection
Once you have your team's feedback surveys in hand, it's time to reflect. Keep SARAH in mind as you do so, and if you come across feedback that makes you want to hole up, put it aside until you are ready to come head-to-head with it.
Open up the reflection document linked to the right. Once you have all of the team's feedback in your hands, you can complete this exercise and determine your next steps. Thank you, as always, for embodying the spirit of continuous improvement -- the kids in your district are so lucky to have you!
Module Complete!
Module Complete!
Congratulations on completing the module. Please complete the Exit Ticket form by clicking on the link above. We will use the information you submit to track your completion.
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