Organisational Coaching – Great Organisations and Great Managers

I am sure you think you are doing a good job, the point of this question is how do you know?

Grab a broom, umbrella or some other long stick. Find a space where you will not damage anything by accident and try to balance the stick on the end of your finger. Did you manage to balance it? If not, try again. As long as the object you have chosen is heavy enough, this should be fairly easy. Now close your eyes and try again. Did you manage to balance the stick this time? Unless you have spent time practicing this little trick, you will find it close to impossible.

This difference is feedback. When we can see the stick, just as it starts to topple we can adjust. When we close our eyes, we don't know that the stick is toppling until it's too late to make an adjustment.

This is all pretty straight forward. So what stops us from applying it in our organisations?

How do you know that you are doing a good job?

How would your colleagues answer that question? The key word is "doing".

Many would point to the positive comments from their boss, their annual appraisal, bonus or salary increment or even satisfied customers. These measures tell people that they have done a good job. That is too late. Once a job is completed, we can't change the outcome.

So let's shorten the timeframe a little.

At the end of the day or the week, how do you know you are doing a good job?

We have the best chance of success if there is some form of active feedback in our environment which gives us a strong indication of whether we are on track to success. If we keep doing what we are doing, then we will be successful.

It's our job of managers to create that feedback.