At Hands N Paws, we value giving good feedback and positive reinforcement to team members. For one, we believe that there is NO learning or growth that happens WITHOUT feedback. Likewise, desired behaviors can eventually stop if they are not praised or even recognized. If we are not constantly recognizing strengths and/or areas for improvement, then the team energy and dynamic can easily shift. Especially considering all team members work independently of one another, it’s extra important to keep the culture and communication alive and thriving.
Ways we give feedback
Giving good feedback starts with monitoring and tracking team members’ in their fieldwork and pinpointing the things they do (from simple tasks like following pet profile notes carefully, to navigating more complex situations like pet emergencies).
Feedback is normally given in the form of a Slack message (in #shout-out channel). You’re welcome to structure your feedback-giving (messages) however you wish, though are encouraged to view previous messages in #shout-out for inspiration for future messages/shout-outs.
If you’re giving any areas for improvement to team members, it is best to refrain from giving them in a public channel. We do not like to negatively target individual team members in front of others. Usually, we’ll tend to give constructive feedback via DM in Slack.
Best practices for giving feedback