Whether you are a new or seasoned professional, being a fast learner is a sought-after characteristic. There are several tools and skills that will help expedite one's career advancement, yet a vital resource is feedback — to have someone share their perspective on your work and give actionable advice on how you can do even better next time.
Many companies have structured performance reviews on a quarterly, semi-annual, or annual basis. These reviews, however, may not always be sufficient in frequency and value for new hires. It becomes easy to get enveloped in daily to-do lists, aggressive project schedules, and office politics. Instead of having a prearranged review meeting, it may be up to an individual to initiate these potentially difficult discussions.
While this may be easy for some, this much-needed mission of soliciting feedback can be daunting for many new team members. Below we deliver insights on how facilitating feedback can be a fruitful and organic conversation.
To begin my investigation, I spoke with Heather Hatmaker, Business Development Manager of Samsel Architects from Asheville, North Carolina. As a small, but mighty, local office of fourteen, the firm focuses on high-end residential work in the Appalachian region. I also connected with three members of Mackey Mitchell Architects, a 39-piece practice working in various project typologies spread across four locations: Human Resources Manager Kimberly Hughes, Firm Principal Kyle Wagner, and President Steve Emer. (Full disclosure: I worked for Mackey Mitchell Architects from April 2017 until October 2020.) Lastly, I reached out to Jan Harmon, the Director of Human Resources at HOK's Los Angeles office, to learn how a large firm with a global reach fosters and facilitates feedback.
Overall, each firm and its leadership impressed me with their enthusiasm and dedication to improving office culture. My four-year experience influenced my approach and attitude towards our conversations. I recall my own experiences and instances where friends and colleagues experienced frustrations caused by the lack of structured, constructive feedback. While the companies I spoke with surely represent a small sample size to draw large-scale conclusions, it became clear that the frustrations and hesitations relating to feedback so often revolved around mishandled communication.
Some may view the process of soliciting feedback as emotionally taxing and something they may not be willing to pursue unless absolutely necessary. Too often, these assumptions come reinforced by the pernicious "me vs. them" attitude — staff members vs. project managers, project managers vs. project architects, etc. My experience, however, was different. I learned that to cultivate success in feedback, individuals needed to replace the "me vs. them" attitude with a "me and them" approach. We should remember that the persons providing as well as soliciting the feedback are looking to continuously learn and improve, too, and that everyone's individual advancement makes teams stronger.
...to cultivate success in feedback, individuals needed to replace the "me vs. them" attitude with a "me and them" approach.
Jan Harmon of HOK summarizes her view of feedback very effectively: "Feedback shouldn't be a lecture but a conversation." During my research and personal experience, I discovered that successful teams have responsible and experienced leaders who don't claim to know it all. In fact, one essential trait is the curiosity to do better next time. Obtaining feedback is what increases an employee's chances of continuously improving and advancing. Regardless of where it was coming from, feedback is a tool powered by learning and curiosity.
"Despite their close connection," Mackey Mitchell Architects Principal Kyle Wagner points out, "it is important to differentiate between two types of feedback: project performance feedback and career progress feedback." Wagner describes that while project performance feedback is positioned towards a specific project or task, career progress feedback looks at the broader picture of how your career is advancing. "Regardless of whether you are soliciting or providing feedback," Wagner says, "be certain which type of feedback you have in mind so that you and your colleague can have as relevant and constructive a discussion as possible." These two types of feedback will vary in frequency. All the companies I spoke with have at least one career performance review per year and weekly check-ins on project performance.
Feedback shouldn't be a lecture but a conversation.
Kimberly Hughes adds: "Due to fast pace, our project teams do not always make it, but it is their goal to arrange internal project team performance discussions after every project milestone." If someone requires more feedback, all participants in my discussions agreed, they should not hesitate to schedule a meeting, lunch, or a walk together with their feedback provider.
Company leaders also acknowledged that while frustrating situations do occur, one should never stew and feel alone in their turmoil. Human Resources professionals Hughes and Harmon immediately jumped to remind me of their role as mediators and conversation facilitators. "The Human Resources unit is there to help everyone set themselves up for success at their job." If there is no HR unit at an office, Hatmaker suggests to "reach out to your trusted ally and ask for their help in handling your situation, have them tone-proof your e-mail, etc."
Another critical distinction between types of feedback stems from who is providing it: peer feedback and feedback from people who are managing you or are under your management. To get the best results, one needs to be intentional about whether they can ask their peer for feedback or ask someone else. What I learned from my conversations is that peer feedback tends to be about technical issues. At the same time, a project manager, project assistant, or staff member can speak to broader topics such as communication, time management, presentation skills, etc.
"Back in the day, when our company was much smaller," Mackey Mitchell Architects President Steve Emer accounts, "Gene Mackey would invite me to come along with him and present a project to our client. After the presentation, we would sit in his car and drive back to the office. What else was there to talk about other than the presentation we just gave? He would ask me, 'How do you think that went?' This was his way of inviting me into a conversation that was filled with valuable feedback for both of us."
Inviting people to share feedback, whether during project meetings, charettes, work sessions, presentations, or scheduled performance reviews, helps employees improve their skills and projects. It also fosters a culture of inclusivity, diversity, and camaraderie. In other words, when you invite feedback, you start building the bond of trust.
"At HOK," Harmon explains, "employees participate in unconscious bias training in order to raise awareness that anyone can have a valuable contribution." Likewise, at Mackey Mitchell Architects, employees are given to choose a principal with whom they would like to have their quarterly performance review. This gives everyone a chance to have their career trajectory observed and commented on by multiple company leaders. "While giving feedback," Hughes describes, "perspective is the key — being able to put yourself in the shoes of the person who needs your opinion." Being able to do that represents bonded trust between the feedback solicitor and the feedback provider.
While giving feedback, perspective is the key — being able to put yourself in the shoes of the person who needs your opinion.
When someone invites you to comment on their work or progress, they hope for valuable, constructive insights, not rushed, vague, sugar-coated phrases. If you cannot be fully present and intentional with your feedback, it is better to reschedule it or recommend a different feedback provider. It is worth remembering that by giving high-quality feedback, you are also learning the solicitor's priorities, present listening, communication, etc.
Sometimes you may want to give unsolicited feedback. In that situation, what feedback providers at Samsel Architects do is ask: "Are you open to hearing some feedback?" That way, they give the other person space to either welcome feedback or say something along the lines of: "I would love to hear what you have to say, but I am not in the right headspace right now. Can we please touch base later?"
I approached these conversations expecting to see more differences in the way three companies handle internal feedback. Their differences, however, are not many. The strong, overarching idea that they all share is the deep care to improving office culture. Learning is a life-long process, and the need for feedback is common.
Once individuals become their company's go-to person for a particular skill, they can undoubtedly celebrate it during their career performance review. Also, the opportunity to help colleagues improve their skills is a plus — the transition from being a feedback seeker to a feedback provider on that particular topic. Mentorship initiatives, as all participants in my conversations confirmed, are always appreciated. While on the surface, it may seem that individuals are helping someone become better, never underestimate one's own growth as they provide valuable feedback.
I am a young architectural designer working at Porta Corcyrensis, fostering my curiosity and expertise in variety of scales. Among other aspects, I focus on renovations, design development, systems integration, accessibility assessment and code compliance. In addition to pursuing architectural ...
2 Comments
I know it's a photoshoot but little too many cooks in the kitchen in that first picture;))))
I prefer this, even tho Solari anything isn't pc these days and the link is not about him per se. One is a corporate reality and a massive percentage of architectural practice today, the other space is something we should also need to keep alive.
lack of feedback can cause some staff members to be left, in the dark, fail to meet expectations and laid off
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