How much praise is needed to build an effective team?

It’s free, takes little time and is transformative for staff and teams. Why then is it missing so often in our teams?

Praise is more important than we realise and so is constructive feedback – feedback is how we learn and develop. It is important for all managers to be skilled in giving constructive and effective feedback which includes offering praise, identifying areas for performance improvement and providing support to build new competency. In teams it also matters how we communicate with each other. It’s the contrast between ways that are positive and constructive or that are negative and destructive.

Research1 into teams who were effective (linked to business outcomes) found that the greatest difference between the most and least effective teams was the ratio of positive comments (‘I agree with that’, ‘that’s a great idea’) to negative comments (‘I don’t agree with you’, ‘we wouldn’t even consider doing that’). As well as outright negative comments, this includes sarcasm, aggressive and passive/aggressive behaviour).

6 to 1 is important!
The highest performing teams had 6 positive comments for every negative one. This means that overwhelmingly the communication between team members is constructive and positive. It doesn’t mean people don’t disagree with one another. It means there is a substantially positive tone in most interactions and disagreements are civil and courteous.

  • What is communication like in your team and in the teams around you?
  • Do people speak constructively and positively to each other?

2 to 1 gives only medium performance
The teams with medium performance had 2 positive comments for every negative one. Without the research to challenge our assumptions, many of us might have thought that twice as many positive as negative comments might be a good ratio; but research shows that it isn’t nearly enough.

  • If you already have a fairly positive team, how can you increase the ratio of positive to negative comments?

1 to .36 gives low performance
In a low performance environment there are almost 3 negative comments for every positive one. It seems clear that this ratio would produce this low performance result.

  • Are you working in a negative comment environment?
  • How do you change the team to ensure that positivity is the standard?

When conducting workshops designed to build skills for giving praise and constructive feedback, it can be hard to convince managers to provide constructive feedback, give praise and encourage others even though the benefits in terms of the impact on people and on team performance is clear. The research reinforces the need for managers and leaders to understand the value of positivity and to lead by example in their communication.

  • What positive to negative ratio are you modelling to your team?

We can help you turn a challenging team environment around. If you would like to discuss this further, you can contact us at robyn.mercer@rmhrc.com.au.

 

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1The Ideal Praise to Criticism Ratio in Harvard Business Review, 15 March 2013

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