In consulting, much of your growth will come from feedback on client projects. How do you accept and implement feedback?
The ability to accept feedback graciously is a highly valued skill, especially in the consulting space, where you are continually putting yourself in vulnerable situations, and your recommendations and findings may not always be welcomed or understood. The interviewer wants to know that you accept feedback well; they also want to know that you see the value of implementing immediate change while effectively representing their brand and retaining their clients' trust and loyalty.
"I ask for feedback every month from one of my toughest-to-please managers. Her feedback is accurate, and I trust it. Once she tells me what I could try doing differently, I will take the time to research and plan how I can implement the change. This practice has helped me grow in my career significantly."
"At the end of every project, I give my clients and their team a survey focused specifically on my service, knowledge base, and if they felt they received the value from me that they expected. The feedback is blind, but I take every bit of it as though it came from the company's CEO. I analyze the comments for common denominators as well. If the feedback is consistent, I will create a learning plan based on that common feedback. The way I look at it, you don't want to be blind to what is working and what isn't."
Here are some of the value propositions they list on their website that speak to their approach regarding feedback.
"We Work Together: We know feedback, collaboration, and diverse perspectives make our work stronger. Collaborate and share relationships, ideas, and knowledge beyond boundaries. Seek and integrate a diverse range of perspectives, people, and ideas. Give and ask for feedback to improve ourselves and others."
"Our development approach emphasizes frequent, informal feedback against these principles to maximize strengths, quickly close gaps and drive learning in real-time throughout the year." "Our development approach emphasizes frequent, informal feedback against these principles to maximize strengths, quickly close gaps and drive learning in real-time throughout the year. It centers on giving our people the skills to deliver the highest technical quality, enhance credibility and forge and sustain high-quality professional relationships."
Community answers are written by other candidates practicing this set. Reading how others frame the same question is one of the fastest ways to sharpen your own.
Anonymous Answer
I will run a retrospective session at the end of every release which helps with getting feedback on what we did well and what we need to improve. This session can be run as a team where with the covid situation have a zoom call or google meet discuss it face to face or depending on who the client is and what they are comfortable with it can also be done through an anonymous feedback session. Review them and work on what needs to be improved and the good points will be used to encourage the team to do better.
Marcie's Feedback
Nice! This sounds like a great idea when it comes to obtaining client feedback. How exactly will you make sure to implement changes based on it, though? You might also talk a bit about positive feedback and how you will use this to boost the morale of your team.
Anonymous Answer
I'm adaptable and see feedback as an opportunity to improve and grow, which I'm always looking to do. So I welcome the feedback. I also see it as a way to really connect and understand what is important to others-- feedback allows me to show my strong deep listening and interpersonal skills. I act to implement it immediately and integrate the feedback into my ongoing considerations of how to adapt plans and actions for success.
Amanda's Feedback
Your answer shows that you value feedback and understand how it can benefit you, others, and your work. You can improve your answer by sharing an example of a time when you received feedback, how you responded, how it improved your work in the future, and what the positive impact was on future projects or relationships. Using an example gives the interviewer greater insight into how you adapt and makes your answer more memorable.
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