1. Diagnostic Information
Feeding Back
Diagnostic Information

2. Possible Effects of Feedback
Feedback occurs No
Change NO
Is the energy created
by the feedback?
YES
Energy to use
data to identify and
solve problems
What is the direction of the feedback?
Energy
to deny or
fight data
Do structures and
processes turn energy
into action?
Failure,
frustration,
no change NO
Anxiety,
resistance,
no change
YES
Change

3. Determining the Content of Feedback
Relevant
Understandable
Descriptive
Verifiable
Timely
Limited
Significant
Comparative
Unfinalized

4. Relevant
Organization members are likely to use feedback data for problem solving when they find the information meaningful. Including managers and employees in the initial data collection activities can increase the relevance of the data.

5. Understandable
Data must be presented to organization members in a form that is readily interpreted. Statistical data, for instance, can be made understandable through the use of graphs and charts.

6. Descriptive
Feedback data need to be linked to real organizational behaviors if they are to arouse and direct energy. The use of examples and detailed illustrations can help employees gain a better feel for the data.

7. Verifiable
Feedback data should be valid and accurate if they are to guide action. Thus, information should allow organization members to verify whether the findings really describe the organization.

8. Timely
Data should be fed back to members as quickly as possible after being collected and analyzed. This will help ensure that the information is still valid and is linked to members’ motivations to examine it.

9. Limited
Because people can easily become overloaded with too much information, feedback data should be limited to what employees can realistically process at one time.

10. Significant
Feedback should be limited to those problems that organization members can do something about because it will energize them and help direct their efforts toward realistic changes.

11. Comparative
Feedback data can be ambiguous without some benchmark as a reference. Whenever possible, data from comparative groups should be provided to give organization members a better idea of how their group fits into a broader context.

12. Unfinalized
Feedback is primarily a stimulus for action and thus should spur further diagnosis and problem solving. Members should be encouraged, for instance, to use the data as a starting point for more in-depth discussion of organizational issues.

13. Effective Feedback Meetings
People are motivated to work with the data
The meeting is appropriately structured
The right people are in attendance
knowledge
power and influence
interest
The meeting is facilitated

14. Survey Feedback Process
Members involved in designing the survey
The survey is administered to the organization
The data is analyzed and summarized
The data is presented to the stakeholders
The stakeholders work with the data to solve problems or achieve vision

15. Limitations of Survey Feedback
Ambiguity of Purpose
Distrust
Unacceptable Topics
Organizational Disturbances

16. Ambiguity of Purpose
Managers and staff groups responsible for the survey-feedback process may have difficulty reaching sufficient consensus about the purposes of the survey, its content, and how it will be fed back to participants. Such confusion can lead to considerable disagreement over the data collected and paralysis about doing anything with them.

17. Distrust
High levels of distrust in the organization can render the survey feedback ineffective. Employees need to trust that their responses will remain anonymous and that management is serious about sharing the data and solving problems jointly.

18. Unacceptable Topics
Most organizations have certain topics that they do not want examined. This can severely constrain the scope of the survey process, particularly if the neglected topics are important to employees.

19. Organizational Disturbance
The survey-feedback process can unduly disturb organizational functioning. Data collection and feed back typically infringe on employee work time. Moreover, administration of a survey can call attention to issues with which management is unwilling to deal, and can create unrealistic expectations about organizational improvement.