You're aiming to enhance your FM skills. How can you harness feedback to pinpoint areas for growth?

1 Embrace Feedback

Embracing feedback is the first step in using it to enhance your FM skills. It's essential to cultivate an open-minded attitude towards feedback, regardless of whether it's positive or negative. Understand that feedback is a valuable source of information that provides insights into how your work is perceived by others. Encourage your colleagues, supervisors, and clients to provide honest feedback on your performance. Listen actively and resist the urge to become defensive; this will help you identify areas that require attention and improvement.

2 Analyze Critically

Once you've gathered feedback, the next step is to analyze it critically. Look for patterns or recurring themes in the comments you receive. Are there specific areas where you consistently receive praise or criticism? Identifying these patterns will help you understand which of your FM skills are strong and which might need more work. It's important to differentiate between constructive criticism that can lead to growth and non-constructive comments that may not be as useful.

3 Set Objectives

After identifying areas for improvement, set clear and achievable objectives. These should be specific goals that address the feedback you've received. For instance, if time management has been highlighted as an area needing improvement, you might set an objective to complete facility inspections within a set timeframe. Objectives give you a targeted focus for your development efforts and provide a way to measure your progress over time.

4 Seek Training

Seeking training is a proactive way to address the areas for growth identified through feedback. Look for courses, workshops, or seminars that are relevant to the specific FM skills you wish to improve. Continuous education not only helps you stay current with industry standards and practices but also shows your commitment to self-improvement. Remember, learning is an ongoing process, and there are always new skills to acquire and refine in the dynamic field of FM.

5 Implement Changes

Implementing changes based on feedback is where the real growth occurs. Take the feedback and the objectives you've set, and put them into action. This might involve changing your approach to certain tasks, improving communication with your team, or adopting new technologies to increase efficiency. It's important to be patient with yourself during this process; change takes time, and it's okay to make mistakes as long as you learn from them.

6 Reflect Regularly

Regular reflection is key to ensuring that the changes you've made are effective. Set aside time periodically to review the feedback you've received and assess your progress towards your objectives. This reflection will help you understand what's working, what isn't, and what adjustments may be necessary. Continuous reflection ensures that you are always moving forward in your FM career and not becoming complacent with your skillset.