How can I help?

Take a breath. Ask “how can I help?” when your stuck not knowing how to give good feedback.

This is a pomodoro timer that my wife gave me a few years back. It’s great for a lot of productivity hacks. One being, what to do when you need to give feedback but are frustrated and don’t know what to say. hit the 3 minute side and breath.

I just had an employee who wasn’t performing to, what I felt, was their best. I started typing out something towards feedback with them. I couldn’t find the words that would give them the appropriate feedback while also helping them see I was on their side after several retypes. Hit the pomodoro timer and stop. I really only needed 30 seconds. Rephrased the thing with an ending statement like this: “I need you to be able to _________. Is there anything I can do to help you ______________?”

Stop. Take a breath. If you can end the statement with the phrase above, you’re probably in the right ballpark.