
Creating a Winning Management Style
36
Giving Situation-Specific Feedback
It’s not enough to say, “You’re doing a great job, Bill!”
Think about it: What does “great” mean? Practically noth-
ing—or almost anything. Generally, employees understand
the comment to mean that Bill is not giving the manager any
trouble. He keeps his mouth shut and does what he’s sup-
posed to do. The manager could make that comment without
ever observing Bill’s performance, so is it really feedback?
What Bill wants and what every other employee wants as
well is to be recognized for really good performance, and to
be acknowledged for the specific things they do t ...