In the previous article on ‘The Smart Intern’, we broadly talked about seeking feedback and working on it fast as the time available during your internship is limited. We also discussed the fine balance that one needs to strike between improving fast and not nagging for feedback. In this article, we will explore how to get the best feedback and implement an improvement strategy.
Let’s look at them one-by-one.
1. Why is feedback important?
According to the Oxford Dictionary, feedback is “information about reactions to a product, a person’s performance of a task, etc. which is used as a basis for improvement”.
Getting feedback is a privilege. It is natural to think that the work you do is the best, but you may just be biased. Social psychologists have identified a phenomenon known as the “mere-exposure effect” whereby people tend to prefer things merely because they are familiar with them. This would include the work you do. However, in the work place, you are not judged by our own standards but by the organization’s standards. So, it is important to know the opinion of your seniors. It is valuable to know other people’s views on your work so that you can reconcile that information with your own perspective.
2. When to seek feedback?
An MBA internship only lasts for eight to twelve weeks. In case things go wrong, it is important to take quick corrective steps rather than letting problems linger. Feedback lets you understand what went wrong.
How often should you seek feedback? There is no real rule of thumb. It depends on the person you are dealing with. However, you do need to strike a fine balance between getting fast feedback (in order to improve quickly) and not trouble people for feedback all the time.
Try to set expectations by talking to your boss. In the first meeting, this is a great time to discuss how and when he or she likes to give feedback. Let your boss know that you would like to maximize your learning during the internship and regular feedback would facilitate that. I found fortnightly meeting very helpful. It’s not too short a period to qualify as nagging, or too long to eat up limited internship time and not leave time for improvement. You may set a different timeline depending on the duration of your internship and the availability of your boss.
Many times, you may feel like requesting feedback the moment that a deliverable is sent to the client. While it is ok to celebrate those moments, asking for feedback right then and there will generally result in an unstructured and unmeasurable response. This kind of feedback is harder to decipher, and so improvement pointers may get lost. It’s better to wait for the next feedback meeting. Just as you prepare for the meeting, so will your boss.
3. How to get feedback?
Getting to the feedback meeting on time with a pen and paper is vital. However, that’s not the only preparation required. As you work on your assignments, keep an eye out for the value that you are adding and the things you are learning. I recommend keeping a separate notepad to record these experiences.
Before diving into the feedback meeting, it is important to go through these records to remind yourself of how well you think you performed in the past two weeks.
It is also important for you to decide on the location for the feedback meeting. It is not necessary for you to keep it very formal and in the office. These meetings are more like conversations and can happen over a cup of coffee. Although I would recommend the first one be kept formal, unless your feedback provider wants to drag you to the new café across the street.
Positive feedback is good. The only next steps involved there is to continue doing what you are doing. When getting improvement feedback, your goal should be to agree with your boss on measurable corrective steps. Pose specific questions in order to understand the problem and identify a way forward. Some questions to ask might include:
- Can you give me some examples of the ideal deliverable?
- Do you have a benchmark in mind?
- Do you have an evaluation rubric that you would use to measure success?
The above questions can help you understand and bridge the gap on measurable terms.
Before the meeting ends, get your boss’ buy-in on the way forward and set expectations on the timeline for when you will make the agreed upon improvements. Your boss may have expected you to take the necessary steps in 2 days, but you know that it will take at least a week for you to improve. Discussing the timeline explicitly will buy you time and eliminate possible confusion.
4. Next steps
Once you come out of the meeting, it is important to take half-an-hour to think about and decide how to incorporate the next steps into your daily work life. It is also a good idea to think about how the improvement steps will get communicated to your boss in order to demonstrate your professional development.
Get yourself working on the feedback and make sure your boss can see the positive results that you are achieving by incorporating their feedback.
Another person working under the same boss could be your best friend here. They may be able to give you some tips on the best ways to make quick improvement and adapt your work style to your boss’ in the shortest time possible.
5. Does feedback come from your boss only?
Feedback can come from several people in the organization. Feedback may come from people more senior in the hierarchy, but also from colleagues and people below you. For example, your colleague who worked with you on that project could be a good source of feedback, given his experience working with the same boss. Feedback is not only related to work but also to your reputation and perception within the firm. At the end of the day, grapevine discussions about you will get back to your boss’ ears.
Conclusion
Seeking feedback is in your best interests. Evaluations and feedback processes are there for a reason. Getting an external perspective on your work will enable you to learn and quickly pivot towards what the organization is looking for. The more quickly you can pivot, the better it will be for your chance of getting that full-time offer.
Good luck getting the best feedback!
Vishal Agarwal is currently undergoing his MBA from Kelley School of Business, Indiana University and is a consulting enthusiast. He interned this summer with EY in their San Jose office. Before Kelley, he was working with EY and he carries 7 years of experience with EY’s International Taxation and Transfer Pricing Consulting practice.
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