Daksha School - Talk on Goal Setting and Importance of Feedback

 While discussing the importance of learning the art of giving and receiving feedback as a tool for constant improvement with Anita, we decided to do a short intervention of both goal setting and the importance of feedback for the teachers. There were about 40 of them, many of whom had taught Anjali when she was a student of the school - Sarita, Rohini, Sirisha, Sangeeta, Kamakshi and so on. It was good to meet them. While introducing me Anita reminded me of the time when we sat on the terrace of their house and thought up names for the school - 20 years ago - just before she launched the school. We started with Dakshata and then shortened it to Daksha. And then Anjali studied in the same school as well. Time flies!

Talking to the teachers at Daksha

Anyway I gave the teachers an introduction to the golden circle - the Why, How and What - and said we would be doing some small segments of the entire workshop that I do. We decided to work on everybody's Why - their purpose which would give them greater commitment and motivation when they work. To do the best for students, bring the best out of them to build great leaders, build a wonderful society and world were some of the options thrown up as a purpose to their work which is otherwise very fulfilling. I wish I could have dwelt longer but I had little time so we moved on.

Feedback exercise

The next topic was goal setting and I told them about the importance of writing goals - that it gives clarity, something for our subconscious to aim for, something for us to prepare proactively for. I explained the concept of SMART goals and took a few examples while they all wrote down a 20 year list of goals on career, finance, relationships, material wealth and spiritual growth. the idea was to write down 10 year goals, 5 year goals, 1 year goals so they have a complete map ahead. I urged them to dream big and work for it and not go for small goals. The examples gave some clarity on how one must see a picture, a name, have a number or a visual. I told them to diligently do the work on the other time frames later.

We then moved on to discussing the importance of giving and taking feedback and how it helps the student and teacher to grow. Even teachers should have a system of feedback from students, peers and other stakeholders so they can be ranked and rated too. I told them to keep feedback focused on its purpose which is to make the person aware of the issue and work on improvement. I explained that it cannot be dumped as a one off but couched in the entire context of the effort that the person is putting in and then delivered so they receive it well - they know you are not criticising them but are coming from a place of understanding their journey and will work on it. I also suggested that they end their feedback by setting a high expectation which the student will try to achieve.

About when to praise and when to give negative feedback I suggested that they look at the person and their stage - if the person is not confident and doe snot know the process its best to give only positive reinforcement. Praise only progress and leave out the negatives. That way the person will try to repeat the positive behaviors and will improve. Once a person reaches a stage where they are confident and know the process, then, if they are erring or not giving their best, they can be given feedback to improve.

A lovely gift - Daksha elephant with a green message

I made them do a feedback exercise where everyone gave one person good feedback in terms of three nice things. The room was up and buzzing with a lot of energy. Good stuff.

Anita gave me chai and a lovely gift, a Daksha elephant (their logo) with a plant, and a box of brownies. We discussed topics such as Mindset which would help and thought we could plan them sometime later. Very satisfying. I asked for some feedback and will post the same when I get it.