discussion2

Sample 1

1. Reflect on the notion of positive feedback vs. recognition.  Provide a few examples of recognition that you have received and describe how it differs from feedback.
I think this was a really important point in thinking about providing feedback to others. Often times (as was mentioned in the previous class), social workers try to be strength-based however, that can lead to ambiguous feedback, also known as recognition. I know at my previous job, I looked for feedback and my supervisor would tell me I have been doing great, but never actually pinpointed what I did well. I eventually had to tell her to be specific (lol). Whereas other times she would tell me I did a great job creating a safe space for students to attend workshops and participate, or my welcoming vibe showed an increase in attendance, etc. That to me is feedback + recognition.


2. Have you ever received feedback from someone using a framework like the CONNECT framework?  (this book was recently published, so I wouldn't expect that anyone used the exact CONNECT framework, but a process that was similar to CONNECT.) Describe how it went.
I am not 100% sure I have had a CONNECT framework experience when getting feedback. Maybe just at my high school job when I worked at the movie theaters. They would warn us in advance that the upcoming weeks were our evaluations, they would be done at work, they would provide context, go over each item one at a time, would mention what they observed about or work, gave us room to respond or ask questions, and overall there was trust established already. 


3. What do you need to do to be ready to give feedback using the CONNECT framework?  To make it even more concrete, what if I ask you to give feedback to someone in your group using the CONNECT framework before the end of the semester...what comes up for you in reading that?
I think something I can do to be ready to give feedback using the CONNECT framework is to consider the technological implications during this time. How can I make the person feel most comfortable? How can I clearly communicate my thoughts over the phone vs video call? Also, how can I ensure to build trust with this person prior to giving feedback (assuming feedback is inevitable)?






Sample 2






1. Chandler and Grealish (2019) distinguish positive feedback from recognition as “specific” and “actionable.”  In considering this, I realized that much of the informal feedback I’ve received in the workplace has taken the form of recognition.  Meanwhile, feedback I’ve received in formal evaluation settings aligns with the “specific” and “actionable” (Chandler and Grealish, 2019) definition Chandler and Grealish give for positive feedback.  Part of me wonders if recognition happens out of ease.  It’s much easier to note a supervisee doing well by just saying, “you’re doing great” in passing; however, it gives the supervisee very little to work with in terms of understanding what it is they are doing well.  For example, my former supervisor used to often say to me things like, “This is great, thank you so much,” or “I would not have been able to pull this together on my own.”  This always made me feel like my work was good and that I was helping my supervisor (which was a big part of the job, right?), but it never gave me a concrete definition of what I was doing well.  Perhaps, had my supervisor said, “thank you” in the moment, followed by something more concrete the next day, I would have had a better understanding of how I did the task well and how I could improve or replicate it in the future.  Another way I’ve received recognition was through email.  Sometimes, my former supervisor would send my product to whomever asked for it and credit me in her email.  Though again, I felt accomplished in providing a good work product, I had very little content to identify this as positive feedback.  Having supervisors take time to provide that positive feedback makes a difference and it will be interesting to see how I can distinguish recognition from positive feedback in future careers. 

2. When I was reading about the CONNECT method (Chandler and Grealish, 2019), I was thinking about it from the standpoint of being the feedback receiver.  In my last position, I was promoted from assistant to coordinator, but I had to ask for it and prepare my request with evidence.  I brought it up during my formal evaluation process and brought a typed list of all of my responsibilities and accomplishments in my year being an assistant (similar to the NOTICE portion).  I also noted what my contributions had resulted in (similar to the EFFECT portion).  Lastly, my supervisor and I had a conversation about it, which created a dialogue (similar to the CONVERSATION portion).  She told me that she agreed with my points and that she would need to take the topic up with her supervisor, but that she would do so in a timely manner.  Through this conversation, I used parts of the CONNECT method (Chandler and Grealish, 2019) to convey my message and my supervisor and I built a stronger relationship through our conversation.

3. In order to give feedback (to a group member or someone else) using the CONNECT method(Chandler and Grealish, 2019), I would want to identify a specific task or responsibility that person had that they did well.  Once I identified that item, I’d want to think through why they did it well and what steps I could point to to explain what I saw to them.  I’d also want to think about the impact it had on our project.  Had the person not done that task, what would have happened?  I would also make sure to open up the conversation, so that I wasn’t only speaking to the person, but instead creating a dialogue.  For me, the key to using the CONNECT method (Chandler and Grealish, 2019) is being able to speak about a specific task that the person performed and really hone in on why they did it well. 

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Chandler, M. T., Grealish, L. D. (2019) Chapter 4 A Fresh Start For Feedback. In Feedback (and Other Dirty Words). Berrett-Koehler.

Chandler, M. T., Grealish, L. D. (2019) Chapter 5 The Foundations of Fixing Feedback. In Feedback (and Other Dirty Words). Berrett-Koehler.