I love Domino’s Pizza tracker. Seriously.
It’s Real Time
Many times people provide feedback as though they were a philosophy professor writing a treatise–the feedback is abstract because the experiences from which they are drawing are often 3, 6, or even 12 months old. Since they do not have the original feelings from their experiences with the person to draw on reviewers can often times let their current emotional state factor too much into the process.
It’s Focused
“Too much garlic.” Often times when I provide feedback I experience frustration because I have no idea if the feedback I’m providing will be helpful or matches the needs and goals of the leader. I have many things to work on in my development, but I only have a limited amount of resources. Out of 10 critical areas of growth I can only focus on 2-3 (more like 1-2) at a time. Providing me with feedback on the 8 things that I’m aware of but not focused on is not helpful.
It’s Beneficial to Both Sides
The employee benefits because there is still some emotional connection to the experience–even if it’s just a pizza. “You made a bad pizza last week” is much different than “You used too much garlic on the last pizza you made.” The customer benefits from knowing his/her feedback will be received immediately and directly. Often times those providing the feedback do not experience the same value as the one being reviewed since they are rarely thanked or appraised of the changes that have been made as a result of the feedback.
As a ministry leader you cannot set up Pizza Tracker but you can work on getting more real time and focused feedback, and can take steps to follow up with those who provide feedback in your life with updates and gratitude.