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Last week, we discussed giving our managers feedback to change their behavior by supplying evidence and gauging their response. This week, we will review giving our managers feedback to change their business decisions. Showing our managers that we can improve upon critical decisions, while balancing their ego, will improve the business and advance our careers.
In 2018, whereas most companies look at sales on a quarterly or yearly basis, while I was working in ecommerce, we targeted to grow sales month on month. Alternatively phrased, each month's sales should be XX% higher than the previous month's sales. One aspect of accomplishing this goal was asking sellers on the platform to purchase advertisements. In the beginning, one of the business leaders was pushing for sellers to sponsor billboards for us. We have already ran a few campaigns with billboards, which have not historically under performed in driving additional sales compared to online advertisements (e.g., social media ads). At this point, I knew the company's management was making the incorrect strategic choice, so I decided to give upward business feedback to them.
Providing our managers business feedback can be broken into two cases, scenarios where they have made up their mind already and scenarios where they have yet to make up their mind.
Decided
In the event our manager has made up their mind, but we disagree with the business decision, we fall into this pathway. We can tell a manager has made up their mind if they are directing our actions (i.e., providing instructions).
If they have already decided on a path, which we believe to be sub-optimal, we should supply supporting data first and then ask for the manager's opinion on the supporting data. When our manager has made a decision, specifically one that we disagree with, providing data first is more likely to convince them to change their mind. Next, we ask for the manager's opinion, before supplying our own, because we want our manager to feel like they came up with our desired solution themselves. The psychology behind this is that most individuals do not like to be told that they are wrong. Therefore, providing the data and allowing them to come to the conclusion themselves will be more effective.
In the event they have not arrived at our solution, our goal should be to understand their logic. If we agree with their logic, we should look to remember the train of thought for subsequent similar decisions. If we disagree with their logic, but have not convinced them to change their mind, we should find and provide additional data that supports our decision until we have convinced them or until we agree with their logic.
In the initial example, my previous manager decided that billboards were the best choice for our sellers to invest their marketing dollars. At this point, I knew that stating my opinion, "online ads will generate more sales on a per dollar basis" would not convince my manager to change their decision. Instead, I gathered relevant data to prove my point, which has resulted in the organization no longer spending marketing dollars on billboards.
Undecided
In the event our manager has not made up their mind and we want to influence their opinion, we can follow this pathway. We can tell a manager has not made up their mind if they have asked for input or opinions from others.
If our manager is undecided, but perhaps leaning in the wrong direction based on our understanding, we should provide our opinion first and then provide supporting data. In this case, our opinion should come first because it will serve as a base for our manager to formulate their own opinion. The psychology here is that individuals that have not made up their opinion, need a basis to compare and consider against. So if we provide this basis and can back it up with sufficient evidence, we are more likely to convince our manager to move forward with our suggestion.
If we change the initial example to the manager mentioning, "I think we should spend on Billboards. What do you think?", as opposed to directly pushing billboards, this shifts to a case where our manager is undecided. In which case, we can provide our opinion first, "online ads will generate more sales on a per dollar basis", and then support it with data in order to orient our manager towards our solution.
Closing Remarks
Giving our manager business feedback demonstrates that we can think critically and solve their problems. Our approach for providing feedback should depend on our whether our manager has made up their mind on the particular issue. If they made a decision, we should provide data first, then ask for their opinion, which plants an idea in their brain and makes them feel like they own the idea. Alternatively, if they are undecided, we should provide our opinion first, and then support with data, which will orient their decision making.
Also, in case you missed it, The Morale Mindset Podcast, which discusses leveraging people dynamics to drive results, is now live on Spotify, Apple, and Google!
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