Apparently, we humans are genetically preprogrammed to learn from real-time feedback. Of course, this makes perfect sense: the lessons of the natural world, which conditioned our evolution over the course of the last few million years, are generally fairly immediate in character. Man sticks hand into wasp nest, man gets stung, man learns connection between nest, wasps and pain and wises up. If it took six months for the pain to come through, it would make it a lot harder to make that mental connection.
But this isn’t true only for negative actions. The temporal separation of cause and consequence makes it a lot harder for the mind to form useful and constructive connections between positive behaviour and actions and their successful outcomes. Logically, the longer the time period that passes between action and outcome, the harder it will be for us to relate the success to the behaviour that seeded it in the first place.
Positive and immediate feedback is not only essential for reinforcing positive actions, it’s also incredibly motivating. Waiting a long time for someone to say something nice about something you did is OK if you’ve got the patience of a saint, but in reality, we like to hear that we’ve done well soon after completing a task – if not, we forget about it and move on, and in the process lose the opportunity for a healthy dose of motivation that might provide a boost for the next project. We’re raised on this ‘praise mentality’ at school, but in the tough world of work and business, encouragement can be hard to come by.
If you’re used to seeking and obtaining praise, positive feedback might be your primary mechanism for motivating yourself to continually achieve excellence. If you’re unused to being praised, perhaps it’s time to experiment with the power of positive external feedback. It doesn’t take much, but the odd gesture, or even sign of approval can enhance your mood and desire to continue excelling.
Of course, praise comes in many forms, but often it will be a superior or colleague giving you a deserved pat on the back. For those that work solo, mood-enhancing approval can be harder to come by, but is just as necessary. My advice is to leverage the power of the net, and the hundreds of possible channels for feedback, for your daily ‘pat on the back’.
Talk to Customers
That's our product in there. And somebody bothered to take a picture of it and post it on our Facebook page. That makes me happy.
Whatever business you’re in, it goes without saying that you should be listening to your customers. But it doesn’t have to be motivated solely by profit or business development motives. If you’re passionate about what you do, a warm ‘thank you’ from a customer can lift your day. Social media is a great way to interact – ask customers what they think of your products, talk to them about orders they’ve placed etc. I have customers who have posted pictures of sandwiches they’ve made with ingredients they’ve bought from us. That’s incredibly uplifting (as well as hunger inducing).
I also highly recommend installing a feedback or review collection system and soliciting reviews from customers (I use TrustPilot). If you’re involved in any other marketplaces, like Amazon or eBay, then you’re probably already getting feedback. If you’re doing things right, you’re likely to get a lot of positive feedback, which will really help deepen your sense of satisfaction.
Be warned though, you are going to get the odd kick in the teeth and it won’t always be fair. You have to learn to filter out negativity if it’s unjustified, or learn from your mistakes when you make them. If you’re on the right track though, your feedback will reflect that and you’ll benefit from it.
Devote a little time each day to monitoring your direct customer feedback and it should motivate you to produce even better results for them.
Network
If you’ve got no immediate superior or colleagues to give your spirits a lift, why not participate in online forums and networks for professionals. As well as LinkedIn, there are thousands of subject specific chat forums where strangers will offer a helping hand when needed, or words of praise when things go right. Obviously, the more you take part in these communities, the more benefit you will derive from them (as well as being able to contribute more, and hey, what goes around comes around, right?).
Enjoy Your Business Metrics and KPIs
OK, so numbers are important – a boost in sales or web traffic can really get you psyched up and pumped to push even harder. But metrics are normally periodic and detached from your daily workflow, and almost always dull. The secret is in making the numbers immediate and exciting, which is surprisingly possible with the current crop of tools and web apps. Here are some possibilities:
Monitor your productivity: for example, adopt the Pomodoro technique and count the blocks of work you do. Alternatively, there are a number of apps out there, like RescueTime, that will literally watch what you are doing and track your time for you. Reward your own outstanding productivity.
A successful day at the office!
Track completed tasks: with a To-Do list application, like Remember the Milk, and see what records you can set.
A graph of today's website visitors updated in real time
Watch the world interact with your website: Pulling up a report of monthly web hits every 30 days is dated. See how many people are on your site right now with Clicky. Watch what they’re doing with ClickTale. Even chat with them using LivePerson. Those are real people and potential customers and they’re on your site. Isn’t that motivating? Do what you need to do to get these numbers in your face when it’s most going to help you – perhaps a widget on your iGoogle page, an iPad with a constantly updating scoreboard on your desk or an instant notification when some goal is reached (perhaps with a cash-register-style ‘kerching’ noise).
The run-up to Christmas as seen through a real-time sales graphic on the Netsuite dashboard
Watch your sales like a speedometer: Again, the old fashioned model of tracking sales on a weekly, monthly or quarterly basis is too detached from reality. The best ERP systems (like Netsuite) are real-time and you can watch your sales rack up like the speedo in your car when you hit the gas. Set up a dial or a ticker and watch your sales increase by the hour or even minute. When you get an unexpected sales boost, it’ll be like sitting in the driver’s seat of a Ferrari.
What this all comes back to is the same piece of advice you hear so often you’ve probably become deaf to it already: think positive. What’s in here (points to head), is what manifests out there (points to world). Surround yourself with positive people and reward yourself often with positive feedback and you’re unlikely to go wrong.
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