The survey highlights areas that affect how well the work group is performing. This allows managers to focus on issues for later concentration. This is best done in a feedback meeting with employees.
The purpose of such a meeting is to share survey results with the employees, and to use this information to identify issues that the work group needs and wants to resolve. There are several useful guidelines for conducting such a meeting:
- Prepare for it. Familiarize yourself with the feedback results and note any you find surprising.
- Begin the meeting by stating its purpose.
- Illustrate results clearly for employees. Make copies or use overhead transparencies.
- Encourage employees to ask questions and make comments. Listen for their comments and ideas before offering yours.
- Ask questions only to clarify results or to help explain surprising results. Do not discuss causes or solutions at this meeting.
- Conclude the meeting with information on the items needing improvement. Ask employees to prepare to discuss causes and solutions at subsequent meetings. Schedule the next meeting for a week later.
- Recap the meeting, covering both the strengths and the areas needing improvement. Thank the employees for their ideas. Positively discuss your next steps.
Both you and your employees are likely to experience a wide variety of emotions to a feedback meeting, including anxiety, because you and they do not know what to expect, and defensiveness, if it is felt that the purpose is to reveal negative information about you or them. You can influence the reactions of your employees in several ways:
- Talk about situations and behavior, not personalities.
- Be positive about survey results; view the results as information that will help the group work better.
- Encourage people to make comments and ask questions.
- Be realistic; do not make promises that cannot be kept. These results can help solve some, but not all, issues.
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