What happens if a user frequently answers all the questions in Winningtemp but never receives feedback on how your team is doing? You may eventually stop responding. Even though it only takes about 10 seconds to respond, it can feel like a waste of time and fails to create a forum where you can collectively discuss your team's temperature, what works, and what you would like to improve.
So, it's crucial for you as a manager to inform your employees of the team's temperature and facilitate a discussion about it. But how do you initiate a dialogue and feedback when you're unsure of what to say? This guide provides inspiration and tips on how to conduct successful feedback meetings.
The most common way to convey the temperature and simultaneously open up dialogue is to integrate feedback meetings into your and your employees' regular workday. Use the guide below or our ready-made functionality, Guided Temperature Meeting. Read more here.
It's essential to tailor the structure to what you believe works best for your team, but if you need some guidance, we recommend the following approach:
- Determine which meeting format best suits your team, then allocate 15-20 minutes during an existing monthly meeting or schedule a dedicated feedback session.
- Ensure you and the team are prepared by sharing the meeting agenda and focus areas beforehand.
- Explain the purpose of Winningtemp and pulse surveys so that employees understand why they are answering questions.
- Highlight the categories with the highest and lowest scores. Review the overview in Winningtemp together (for more details, refer to the next chapter).
- Discuss the response rate and express gratitude to those who participated. If the response rate is lower than expected, ask the team for any reasons for non-participation.
By initiating these conversations, you demonstrate the significance of employees' perspectives and showcase collaborative efforts to enhance the group's well-being.
Focus areas
Try to maintain flexibility in your meetings and tailor them to what best suits the team's current needs. Is there a particular focus for the next meeting? Flexibility is key to success.
- Highlight 1-2 areas or issues during each meeting. It's equally important to address both high and low-temperature areas.
- Focus on the trend rather than fixating solely on the numbers.
- Engage the team by asking what they wish to discuss during the meeting.
- Review response contributions and identify any standout issues within each category, whether positive or negative.
- Emphasize the importance of providing comments alongside responses.
- Refer to the team's insights (more details will be provided later in the guide).
Generate PDF summary
Do you need some assistance before the meeting? In Winningtemp, you can generate a ready-made PDF report summarizing the most significant trends per question category, providing a quick overview of your team's performance.
Read more here - Customized manager reporting - Generate PDF Summary
Tips and tricks
Strengths - High temperature
As mentioned earlier, it is crucial to emphasize your team's strengths and identify ways to maintain high morale. The example below shows a very positive response to the question, "Do you feel that going to work is fun?" But how do we address this with the team? Here are some suggested questions to ask during the meeting:
- What does having fun at work mean to you?
- What aspects of our workplace contribute to our enjoyment of coming to work?
- Are there any changes or improvements we should consider?
- How can we collaborate to sustain this positive atmosphere?
Strengths - Insights
You can use your team's insights as a foundation for discussion. For instance, if you notice a strength associated with autonomy, like the example above, a manager needs to grasp the context behind this positive trend. We suggest navigating to the Autonomy category and examining the "Response" page for more information. It will clarify precisely which questions contributed to the positive trend of +12%.
What questions can I ask?
- How can we, as a group, sustain this positive sense of high autonomy?
- What specific activities can we collectively prioritize?
- What specific activities can you, as an individual, continue to emphasize?
End the meeting by highlighting a strength - this will leave the team with a positive feeling that will spread throughout the office.
Development areas - Low temperature
In the scenario above, we observe a relatively low score for the question, "Do you feel that you receive the skills development you expect?". To grasp the underlying reasons for this result, it could be beneficial to begin by discussing what skills development means for your employees.
- For example: What are your expectations regarding skills development?
After addressing the questions above, outline what the company can provide and the internal opportunities available. Additionally, it emphasizes that employees bear responsibility for their skills development and personal growth, extending beyond formal courses or training. Skills development involves sharing ideas, listening to colleagues' perspectives, and fostering collaboration and dialogue. Effective competence development occurs in the context of daily work.
- How can you, as an individual, influence your competence development? What activities can you undertake to enhance your skills and progress in your role? (especially if the company cannot provide what you desire).
- As your manager, how can I support you in this endeavour moving forward?
Development areas - Insights
In this scenario, three employees responded negatively to questions about stress. Here are some suggested questions to ask your team regarding negative stress:
- Have any recent changes affected the stress levels?
- How do you recognize when your colleagues are experiencing stress?
- What collaborative efforts can we implement differently to address stress?
- As an individual, what changes or influences can you make?
- What support or assistance do you require from me as a manager?
Share your experiences
Have you discovered a method of working that effectively engages your team? Don't hesitate to share your experiences with other leaders and teams. Perhaps you've experimented with various approaches and can offer insights into what succeeded and what didn't. Please don't be afraid to ask for help if you encounter challenges.
Best of luck with your feedback meeting!
For more information on feedback meetings, contact your Customer Success Manager for more details.