Question

Peter has been with the organisation for about six months, and has been an enthusiastic and quick learner. He started off in another department and then moved to your team four weeks ago.

Peter hasn’t quite settled down with the other members of the team yet – he has been reluctant to contribute and is ‘stand- offish’ with others in the team. You’ve overheard one of the guys complaining that that they think Peter is ‘stuck up’. You have also noticed that Peter tends to do his own thing rather than cooperate with team members.

The types of material your team produces is almost always a team effort – at the very least, two or three of the team have input in all communications. Certainly nobody sends off a paper, memo or communication without having at least run it past a few others in the team.

For example, twice Peter has completed a piece of work without any consultation with any of the team. On these occasions, Peter sent out minutes of a meeting that included some decisions made at the meeting – and the way Peter has written them up has led to misinterpretation. Peter has detailed the conversations that took place at the meetings – not just the outcomes of the discussions – and there has been some backlash from some more senior people who were at the meetings, who have complained,‘that’s not what we said at all!’

You have decided to have a chat with Peter – you would like him to fit into the team, and you feel you need to give some feedback. You also need to talk to him about your team’s way of working and deal with the issues that have occurred so far.

Write a feedback message for Peter that demonstrates the characteristics of good feedback.

Answer 1

Peter, we're pleased with how quickly you are learning things in the organization. We've noticed that you are enthusiastic and working on your own. We would love to see your enthusiasm with the team in all activities. We believe you have potential and the recent minutes of the meeting made by you can be much better when consulting your team members. Since every member in the meeting perceives the message differently, consulting your team members on these matters will give you the right sentences to describe the decisions taken in the meeting. We appreciate your efforts so far and to reach your potential in this organization, you need to make use of the help that your team members will provide.

Characteristics of the above feedback:

The message is positive and encouraging towards Peter. The goal of the feedback is not to make Peter feel bad but reinforce his will to collaborate with his teammates. The message is also specific about the minutes sent by Peter to know what he could have done better.