How do you test that your message hits the spot?
How do you test that your message is clear and hits the mark with your audience?
I’m quite a fan of Master Chef and it’s obvious that most of the contestants spend a lot of time experimenting with their dishes and get friends and family to try out menu ideas before they go on the show. There must be times where they get some pretty tough feedback, but I’m pretty sure that when they have to cook under pressure with the cameras bearing down on them, the result will taste much better if they have tested the dish beforehand.
In a business context I’ve often been puzzled by how reluctant people are to seek feedback on an important presentation or proposal - why don’t they want colleagues to have a taste of their menu and make sure it is as delicious as possible? How do you know if your message is clear and hitting the mark with your audience?
When I’ve asked people to share an early draft of a document that they are working on they quite often say - ‘I can't, it's not finished yet’. We all have a minimum standard of quality that we want to achieve before ‘exposing’ our work to other people - but surely there are huge benefits of having ‘tasters’ who will help you improve your document. It made me wonder what drives the ‘feedback-reluctance’ muscle.
I’ve come up with a few possible reasons:
the author thinks that their audience will assume the document is finished and will be over-judgmental in their feedback
people have had a bad experience of getting feedback - if they have it’s no wonder they don’t want to expose themselves to more criticism
as soon as something is written down and shared, it is out there and real with your name on it - that can be a scary
if I only submit the finished article near the deadline, there won’t be enough time for more iterations - that will save me work with re-drafting
are there others I haven’t thought of?
I’m a shameless exploiter of my friends and colleagues to feedback early when I’m creating an important document or proposal. And with the wealth of really good collaboration tools out there it has saved me time and effort. The benefits I’ve found are:
By giving people a chance to review and input to a document you are already getting buy-in and engagement
It can speed up decisions because the sign-off is a quick process rather than the start of your reviewers looking at your work
It saves a whole load of time if you use collaboration tools like sharepoint, slack and google drive because you always know you are looking at the latest version and it’s easy for people to add comments
Here is one health warning… there can a bit of downside if you get into too many loops and iterations with too many people. As the author, you need to be open but remain clear about the purpose of the document and who your audience is so you don’t get blown off course. You always have a choice whether or not to use the feedback.
Here are a few tips:
As an author:
be brave and try a bit of early collaboration the next time you have to write a document or presentation. If your reviewers think the document needs more salt and pepper - they are probably right
try not to be defensive - you’ve asked for feedback and someone has taken time to give you their views
As a reviewer
be kind and constructive. The author has probably spent a lot of time and effort putting their ideas together
if you don’t have anything to add or don’t want to review - still reply to the author and let them know - silence is not helpful
Please do get in touch if you want help with solving business problems and managing change: [email protected]
