It has often been said that feedback is a gift. However, it's fair to say it does not always feel that way. If you've ever received well-meaning but misplaced feedback, you might know the frustrating feeling that can ensue. Sending a document out for review only to be told that you've used a comma in the wrong place can feel disheartening, particularly if the feedback was sought for the substance and not the grammar!  

It's easy to become jaded when feedback is received that does not meet expectations, and over time it might become tempting to simply ignore most or all feedback. Yet without feedback it's virtually impossible to improve, and those who do not embrace feedback are likely to stagnate or even slip backwards in their capability and career.  

Feedback - when properly considered and embraced by both giver and recipient—leads to useful growth and development. However, for feedback to be useful expectations need to clearly be set on both sides. It's important for the giver and receiver to have a 'feedback mindset'. In this article, we'll consider the feedback mindset of the recipient. 

Soliciting Feedback with a Feedback Mindset 

BAs solicit feedback all the time. Getting a document or user story reviewed is a way of soliciting feedback, albeit at a very specific micro-level. Feedback is also sought by those wanting to progress in their careers, with organisations often encouraging colleagues to give each other feedback at the end of each year. While end of year feedback is a useful starting point, those serious about their development will typically seek feedback far more regularly and less formally than this. After all, the quicker constructive feedback is received, the quicker they can make any changes that are necessary.   

Whether the feedback being sought is project or career based, there are three key factors that should be kept in mind: 

1. Request feedback clearly. If an analyst asks for a requirements artefact to be reviewed, they make it clear to the recipients the type of feedback being requested and the parts of the document each recipient is expected to review. This rule is equally true when soliciting other types of feedback. If an analyst wants to know how a workshop went and whether the recipients have any suggestions on how it might have been improved, it is important to ask a specific and clear set of questions for the areas where feedback is particularly sought. For example, the analyst might want to know if a sufficient range of techniques were used to suit introverts and extroverts, or they might want to know whether sufficient information was provided in advance. The best way to find out is to ask these very questions, remembering to also ask "is there anything else that worked particularly well or that could be improved?".  
2. Consider who to ask (and who to value). If an analyst sends a document for review, they keep in mind who the ultimate authority is (typically the person who confirms sign-off). There might be other opinions given, but ultimately it is the authority that really matters. Not all feedback is equally actionable and the same is true of other types of non-project related feedback too. Imagine a stakeholder tells you they think you should wear formal business attire on video calls, however you deliberately choose not to as the majority of your stakeholders don't (and you want to make them feel at ease). In this case, the feedback is valid from that particular stakeholder's perspective, but there is a specific reason not to action it. 
3. Consider when to ask. Generally speaking, feedback is most useful shortly after the particular event or piece of work has taken place. This is why end of year feedback is not always as useful as it first appears. If someone gives feedback to a colleague in December indicating that a workshop delivered in February was tedious and badly facilitated, that colleague may have been inadvertently subjecting many other attendees to poor workshops throughout the year! Seeking formal and informal feedback on a regular basis is crucial.  

Learning and Growth comes from a Feedback Mindset 

Feedback is a key component of learning and growth, so it's important to adopt and maintain a feedback mindset. This involves regularly soliciting feedback in the ways mentioned above, but also looking out for subtle feedback signals throughout the working day. People give all sorts of subtle (and not so subtle) feedback throughout the working day. A stakeholder who regularly declines meetings is giving a form of feedback: "this isn't a priority for me" or "I don't understand why this is important". This might indicate that stakeholder communications and engagement have not been well-planned, which might lead to some changes being made. 

Hearing feedback might not always be easy and might even sometimes feel painful. Yet completely disregarding feedback is likely to be much more painful in the long run. 

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