How to Interpret Feedback
We've already talked about the importance of soliciting useful feedback , now let's take a look at how to dissect what they tell you. The biggest challenge when faced with a lot of feedback is figuring out who to listen to. Let's take a look at four different personality types and the kind of feedback you're likely to garner from each one.
Role Player - This team member wants the project to succeed and might be someone who can be your advocate, so look to leverage his positive attitude. He may soften his feedback to the point that his ideas become almost passive, so be on the lookout for subtle thoughts, ideas, and "off the record" answers.
Loud Mouth - She's full of thoughts and wants to be heard. Going against her ideas may bring yours into sharper focus, or her ideas may be ignored by the team altogether. Acknowledge the feedback this type of personality offers— even if you think you won't need to act on any of it in the end.
Devil's Advocate - This team member challenges every idea on the table. He might be just looking for better answers, or he may actually just be difficult to work with. Look at where he exposes the holes in your logic, however, and make sure you're not overlooking valuable feedback just you're dealing with a blowhard.
Corporate Climber - She's got an agenda and plans to move on it. Look closely at what her agenda is and try to read her goals. The goals of corporate climbers are often closely aligned with corporate strategy and therefore makes their advice worth listening to.
There's no magic eight ball when it comes to dealing with the different personality types that hand you feedback on a design. The best approach is to step back and consider each person's goals and agenda before discarding or acting on the advice they give.
Do you have a team member pegged?
Shraddha says
I find that these personality types often match their respective "actual" role in their organization? For e.g. I see that "Corporate Climber" matches most Product Managers in an organization, "Role Player" matches most developers in the same organization, etc. I'd be interested in knowing your take on this.
Also, I assume that you are talking about feedback within your own organization and not referring to feedback from external users (outside the organization) in which case this may not hold true.
Bryan (ZURB) says
Shraddha, I agree. Many positions in a company map back to personality types, which will influence how they give feedback. Also keep in mind that switching roles from project to project can be effective for helping move the team along. A product manager sometimes needs to be a role player.
This post is more geared towards your internal team- but it also works for clients as well.
Roeland (ZURB) says
One of the trickiest archetypes to manage in the feedback process is a person carrying a hidden agenda. Their feedback might not be useful, but it will need to be diffused. Perhaps the best approach in managing their feedback is persistent questioning about "why?"
Elizabeth (ZURB) says
Devil's Advocate types can be the most interesting to work with. You just have to look through the negativity and not take anything personally. Sometimes they can actually reinforce how confident you feel about something - you may not have realized how sure you were of a point until you heard the voice of opposition.
Matt (ZURB) says
Don't forget the silent partner.
He knows the most about the project but is either dominated or intentionally shielded by a loud mouth or over protective parent type. If you feel like the people giving you feedback have no idea what they are taking about, try to find and connect with the silent partner.