Description
Competency
In this project, you will demonstrate your mastery of the following competency:
Integrate feedback from stakeholders into decision making
Scenario
You work for Firm X, a department store chain that targets a consumer demographic of shoppers under the age of 35. The store offers clothes, technology, electronics, and home furnishings and has recently begun to sell groceries and other household goods. In addition to selling brand name items, Firm X makes its own line of high-quality products.
You work for the product development team that designs and sources these products. The team recently delivered a presentation to the organization’s leadership and some select customers. The presentation introduced new designs for Home X, a new line of diverse household products, including bedsheets, blankets, linens, office chairs, desks, curtains, towels, cabinets, and more. The presentation went well, but as with any workplace project, you will need to respond to and implement feedback from stakeholders throughout the organization.
Directions
Part 1: Stakeholder and Peer Feedback
The day after the Home X presentation, you check your email to find your inbox flooded with messages, many of which contain feedback from stakeholders and peers at different levels of the organization. Receiving feedback is a sometimes uncomfortable, but necessary, part of professional life. In almost any job, you will work closely with others, and feedback is an integral part of any collaborative work and decision making. Your first step is to carefully review the messages you’ve received.
To read through the feedback, review the “Stakeholder and Peer Feedback Emails” document in Supporting Materials. Read each of the four email messages in this document carefully, and consider how you should respond to each. As you read, think about ways you could implement the feedback to inform future decisions for the product development team. Also consider what decisions you can make to improve group dynamics among team members.
Once you have read through all of the feedback, you will have to make some tough decisions. Some of the feedback you received is positive, some negative, and, to make things more complicated, there are some conflicting opinions from one message to another. In workplace situations, there is rarely one clearly “correct” path—decisions need to be made by weighing the options and considering what is best for the team and the organization.
Compose written responses to each stakeholder and peer that sent you feedback. Each response should be about 100 to 200 words. In each response, you should do the following:
Use polite, respectful language, regardless of the content of each response.
Respond to the praise or criticism appropriately, using the best practices for responding to feedback from the learning resources.
Explain any decisions you are making related to each specific piece of feedback. Explain to each stakeholder how their feedback will impact decisions for the team moving forward. Be sure to explain which specific part of their feedback you plan to use, as well as any parts you will not use, and explain why you made those choices. As you write your responses, consider the following:
How will you balance conflicting feedback you have received from customers versus Firm X management?
How will you manage differences in opinion between team members about how the team should handle presentations in the future?
How will you ensure that your supervisor knows you are taking her feedback seriously, even if you do not agree with all of it or intend to incorporate all of it?
Include at least two clarifying questions in each response that can help you gain a better understanding of the feedback.
Employees providing feedback to each other.
Part 2: Feedback Strategies Notes
After responding to the feedback, you notice one more email in your inbox from your supervisor, Maria Gonzalez:
Good afternoon,
I just wanted to check in to see how things are going in your role as the head of the product development team. I know that you have been receiving a lot of feedback during this project, and I have to say that I have been really impressed with how well you have managed that. I think your team has done an excellent job of responding to feedback and implementing changes throughout this project.
I would like to use you as an example for other teams in the Firm X organization to learn how to effectively respond to feedback and criticism. As you know, it’s not always easy to do this! Could you please email me back with some strategies you have been using to manage that feedback and make decisions for the team?
Thanks again for all your hard work on this project!
All the best,
Maria
To respond to Maria’s email, you have decided to compile some notes on your strategies for receiving and implementing feedback as part of a team. Answer each of the questions in the “Feedback Strategies Notes” document in the Deliverables section of this project. Your answers to these questions will help inform how Maria trains other teams within the organization in the future.
What to Submit
Every project has a deliverable or deliverables, which are the files that must be submitted before your project can be assessed. For this project, you must submit the following:
Stakeholder and Peer Feedback Emails (100-200 words per response)
Write responses to each of the emails in this document. Each response should be around 100 to 200 words in length. Submit this document as a deliverable for this project.
Feedback Strategies Notes
Answer the questions in this document about strategies for receiving and implementing feedback, and submit the document as one of the deliverables for this project.
Unformatted Attachment Preview
Stakeholder and Peer Feedback Emails
Type your name here:
Feedback Message One: Maria Gonzalez, your supervisor
Good morning,
I just wanted to reach out to say that your team did a great job in your presentation yesterday! I wanted
to pass along some feedback that I am hearing from stakeholders since that meeting. Please take a look
at the bulleted list below, and feel free to let me know if you have any questions.
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•
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Your team talked a lot about the appearance of new products in the Home X line, but not much
was said about how these products will perform compared to competing brands. In the future,
could you be sure to explain more about this?
We noticed that a couple members of your team, Tina and Anne, didn’t really say much during
the presentation. It might be good to hear more from them in future presentations. After all, the
product developments here at Firm X have always been a team effort! We want to make sure
that comes across in presentations to leadership.
The stakeholders seemed to enjoy seeing images of the prototype designs as part of the slide
show. Next time, could we see some actual prototypes so that members of the leadership team
could see them in person?
In the presentation, you showed products with both yellow and black Home X logos. I know your
team expressed excitement over using both logos on different products, but the leadership
team thinks we should really stick with just one logo color on these products. They feel that the
black logo design shows up more clearly. For now, let’s focus on just the black design.
The fonts and colors you used in the slide show presentation were a little hard to read for
people in the back of the room. In the future, could you use larger fonts with darker colors?
Looking forward to the next presentation! Again, reach out if you have any questions or concerns.
Thanks again,
Maria
Type your response here:
Feedback Message Two: Tina, a teammate on your product development team
Hey,
Honestly, I’m feeling pretty upset. I told you that I wanted to help you lead yesterday’s presentation,
and I felt that you did not give me a chance to talk at all during the meeting. You dominated the
presentation and barely mentioned any of my contributions to the project! I feel like you just wanted to
take all the credit for the project. I don’t want the leadership team to have the impression that I was not
involved in the development of these products.
Frankly, I’m not sure you should be the leader of our team if you’re not going to involve your teammates
in presentations. Let’s meet to talk about this as soon as you have a chance.
Thanks,
Tina
Type your response here:
Feedback Message Three: Anne, a teammate on your development team
Hi,
I wanted to thank you for doing such a great job delivering the presentation yesterday! As you know, I
get really nervous in front of crowds, so I really appreciate you taking the lead on that one.
Also, I think the presentation looked really good. I was worried that the smaller fonts I picked wouldn’t
pop on the big screen, but I thought they looked great! If I had one criticism of the presentation, I think
it was hard for some people in the room to hear you. We should really bring some microphones to the
next presentation.
Thanks again,
Anne
Type your response here:
Feedback Message Four: Terrance, Firm X customer
Good afternoon,
I attended last week’s presentation on the new Home X products. I wanted to reach out to say that I
really like designs with the yellow Home X logo! I thought those looked really cool—much better than
the black logo design, which I thought was sort of bland. I have a graphic design background, and I really
think that the yellow design is impressive.
Thanks for always producing such cool products! Looking forward to seeing more in the future!
Best,
Terrance
Type your response here:
Feedback Strategies Notes
Type your name here:
Consider your responses to each of your peers and stakeholders. Discuss specific methods of responding
to constructive criticism and how you applied them in your responses, citing specific examples. In your
answer, address the following:
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Explain how you used professional, respectful language in your responses to peer and
stakeholder feedback. Include specific examples from your responses.
Why is it important to consider the feelings of those giving you feedback? When replying to
feedback, how did you consider the feelings of your coworkers, manager, and customers?
In responding to feedback, what strategies do you use to balance praise and criticism? What is
the value of receiving both praise and criticism as part of the feedback process? Cite specific
examples from the feedback you received and your responses.
Type your response here:
Consider how the feedback you received influenced your decision making. Discuss how you determined
which pieces of feedback you would implement and which you would not. In your answer, address the
following:
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What feedback did you find particularly helpful?
What feedback did you find not to be helpful?
How did you use clarifying questions in your responses to peer and stakeholder feedback to gain
a better understanding of the feedback? Explain how clarifying questions can be useful when
responding to and integrating feedback.
Type your response here:
What strategies can you use to better prepare yourself and your team for constructive or negative
feedback in the future?
Type your response here:
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