Tips, Tools and Techniques for Gathering Feedback
Best Practices for the Feedback Process
Wonder how to get feedback most effectively? Concerns about cost, quality and deadlines frequently cause heated discussions. The ability to handle difficult conversations with team members, sponsors and stakeholders contributes to a project manager’s success. Need to provide feedback to a difficult superior? Find out how to handle the feedback process in a useful, productive manner.
By establishing rules for obtaining constructive feedback in meetings, email and voicemail, the project manager encourages participation in team decision and project management but discourages disruptive interruptions, distractions, discourteous behavior and insubordination. Learn how to get feedback that really helps you manage your projects more effectively
- Best Practices Related to Employee Feedback Program
- Best Practices in Delivering Negative Feedback
- Providing Feedback to Employees
- Giving and Receiving Feedback: 10 Tips for Smoother Communication
- Learn the Questions to Ask Employees to Get Feedback
Improving Organizational Effectiveness with Feedback
Successful project managers recognize that obtaining feedback involves respecting privacy and discretion. They use active listening techniques to gather input and reactions efficiently. By paraphrasing what stakeholders, sponsors, team members and customers say, project managers ensure they show that they understand comments from these critical resources.
Learn how to obtain feedback that allows you to handle business requirements effectively on comprehensive projects. Get tips on avoiding problems related to measuring project team member performance. Learn how improving your communication and listening skills enables you to manage projects more effectively.
- Methods to Improve Organizational Effectiveness
- 10 Essential Business Requirements Gathering Techniques
- Democratic Leadership in Large Companies
- Testing and Evaluation - User Acceptance
- Simple Activities to Improve Listening Skills in the Workplace
- Top 10 Peer-to-Peer Coaching Tips
- Importance of Face-to-Face Communication
Gathering Project Stakeholder Feedback
Gathering stakeholder feedback enables a project manager to keep a project on track. By obtaining timely input on requirements and plans, the project manager ensures the project achieves its strategic goals and objectives. Learn how to increase the effectiveness of employee feedback you receive. Make it work for you!
Successful project managers identify stakeholders and sponsors at the beginning of the project life cycle. They gather feedback and reactions to status reports or other project updates to gauge project acceptance. These activities allow project managers to get the right levels of input as well as accurately assess the needs of people who have influence and power over the project. Learn how to gather feedback from sponsors and stakeholders effectively.
- How to Gather and Control Stakeholder Feedback and Reaction
- What Are the Methods of Measuring Stakeholder Satisfaction?
- Performing a Stakeholder Analysis
- Using Stakeholder Management
- How Effective Are You? Administer a Survey to Your Client to Find Out
- Stakeholder Analysis - Spheres of Influence - Power, Attitude, Interest
- Tips on Gathering Requirements from Different Stakeholders
- Conflicts of Interest Between Different Stakeholders
- Stakeholder Analysis - A Detailed Guide
Managing Online Feedback
Managing feedback typically involves holding regular meetings with people or groups who have influence over project outcomes. Using effective meeting facilitation strategies, such as planning and sticking to an agenda, project managers gather feedback that can be used constructively to allow stakeholders, sponsors and team members to remain invested in the project’s success.
Find out about software systems that help you streamline the process of obtaining feedback from clients, contractors, employees and even Internet websites that provide input about your web presence. Use the reports generated by these systems to manage your project requirements more effectively.
- Top Client Feedback Manager Software
- IDidWork: Work Management on the Web
- 3 Free HTML Email Feedback Forms
Obtaining Customer Feedback
After receiving feedback, project managers have a responsibility to act in a timely manner. Successful project managers respond by generating a comprehensive action plan. Whether feedback is gained through surveys, website forms, personal interviews or other input mechanisms, they use the data to resolve the issues and avoid future risks.
By describing the business impact related to handling project feedback, project managers validate the need to address the issues raised by the input, background information and need to address client concerns. Find out how to obtain feedback from customers to ensure your project outcomes meet their needs.
- Ideas for Creating a Customer Feedback System You Can Use Today
- Using an Independent Customer Feedback Site
- Find Out What Your Customers Want With Direct Mail Feedback
- Creating and Designing a Voice of the Customer Program
- Project Feedback Forms & Templates: What to Include
- Excel Project Feedback Form
Obtaining User Stories
Effective project managers use feedback to generate innovative ideas and make adjustments to business process policies and procedures. They validate and verify all assumptions to avoid conflict and project disruptions.
Need more details about user stories? Find out how although user stories were first used in software development, you can use Agile users stories on any Agile project. Learn how to use user stories to deciphering quickly what users expect of a project.
- What Is an Agile User Story: Do You Need Them From Your Clients?
- Transforming a User Story into a Functional Requirement
- Agile Project Requirements Gathering: Techniques
- How Iteration is Planned in Extreme Programming
- The Best Agile Tools for Project Management Software
- CMMI Versus Agile: How Do They Compare?
- Methodology for Prioritizing Business and Project Requirements
- What Are the Advantages of Extreme Programming?
- How Agile Success Stories Stem From Necessity
Got a question or comment about obtaining project feedback? We’d love to hear your ideas about gathering, analyzing and using project input. Leave a comment on any of the above articles to begin a discussion.
References
- Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons - Grochim
- Saladis, Frank P., PMP, Harold Kerzner, and PhD. “PMI - the World’s Leading Professional Association for Project Management.” PMI - the World’s Leading Professional Association for Project Management. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Oct. 2011. http://www.pmi.org.
- Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons - Laurensvanlieshout
- Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons - Department of Veteran’s Affairs