\n\tMany of us were raised on the practice of catching people doing something wrong. And we often carry this habit into our professional careers. But that focus on the negative, while seeming \u201cnormal,\u201d is not at all inspiring. The decreased motivation in direct reports\u2019 or colleagues\u2019 morale and esteem makes no business sense and, happily, is avoidable.<\/p>\n
\n\tThe good news is that in general, our Millennial colleagues were raised in home environments where parents were much more apt to give positive messages often. Therefore, getting regular positive feedback is part of Millennials\u2019 work-life expectation. For those of us not conditioned that way, their need may seem unrealistic. But we can either fight reality or work with it.<\/p>\n
\n\tA practical benefit of positive feedback is that it reinforces similar and desired behavior in the future. Think about your own life. When someone has congratulated, celebrated, or appreciated you for something, aren\u2019t you apt to want to get that recognition again?<\/p>\n
\n\tThere is even a wonderful biological happiness factor that is a personal reward for catching others doing something right. Epigenetics research shows that the person who receives positive feedback has his or her genes express positively, making him or her feel good. Happily, the same studies show that the person offering uplifting messages feels just as good in the giving. An unexpected side effect is that people who even just witness these \u201cacts of kindness\u201d feel great being around these positive exchanges. How good is that!<\/p>\n
\n\tGENUINE, AUTHENTIC FEEDBACK<\/strong><\/p>\n \n\tSo those are the \u201cwhys\u201d for catching people doing something right. But what about the \u201chows\u201d? First, catching people doing something right needs to be genuine and authentic; pretending just doesn\u2019t fly. If employees aren\u2019t continuously doing right things, they shouldn\u2019t be working there. You can ramp up finding good things to acknowledge by using what emotional intelligence (EQ) calls \u201csocial awareness.\u201d It is, of course, wise not to overplay the praise hand, but each individual has his or her own thresholds and scale of what is too little and what is too much. You need to use your EQ wisdom for tuning in to each person to discover his or her right amount.<\/p>\n \n\tThe coaching world shows us three levels of giving positive feedback depending on the personality, situation, and regularity of the practice: Praise, Acknowledgment, and Appreciation. Let\u2019s use \u201crunning a meeting\u201d as an example that invites catching the new facilitator doing some things right:<\/p>\n \n\t1. Praise<\/strong> is a general statement that is positive and feels good to receive. For example: \u201cThank you!\u201d \u201cGood job!\u201d \u201cWell done!\u201d Using the \u201crunning a meeting\u201d example, you simply could say, \u201cNice job running that meeting!\u201d<\/p>\n \n\t2. Acknowledgement<\/strong> takes the feedback loop of communication to more specifics. You include observable behaviors in your messaging. I suggest noticing three such actions. The feedback for the well-run meeting could begin with \u201cpraise\u201d and move into three specifics of what the person did to deserve the praise. \u201cHey, nice job running that meeting. You put together an organized agenda, actively engaged all attendees, and got the minutes out that same day.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\t3. Appreciation<\/strong> is a way of telling someone his or her inner characteristics or traits were clearly in play in bringing success. Building on the meeting example, you might say, \u201cHey, nice job running that meeting. You put together an organized agenda, actively engaged all attendees, and got the minutes out that same day. To do that, I know you had to be thoughtful, caring about inclusion, and future oriented for success.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tHowever you go about catching people doing things right more often, your increased practice will produce that many more moments of positive influence for those around you. It\u2019s a fine win-win habit to get into.<\/p>\n \n\tManager-leader specialist Jim Hornickel is the director of Training & Development at Bold New Directions. Along with a B.A. in Management, Hornickel\u2019s professional experience includes 25 years as a manager-leader in several industries; life, leadership, and relationship coaching; and authoring books \u201cNegotiating Success\u201d and \u201cManaging From The Inside Out (16 Insights for Building Positive Relationships With Staff).\u201d For more information, visit www.management-traininginstitute.com\/home\/<\/a> and www.boldnewdirections.com<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \n\tThe coaching world shows us three levels of giving positive feedback depending on the personality, situation, and regularity of the practice: Praise, Acknowledgment, and Appreciation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":172,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"cybocfi_hide_featured_image":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[30],"class_list":{"0":"post-11079","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-magazine","7":"tag-how-to","8":"magazine_issues-july-2018"},"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n