Mobility Mentors: using Five Star Feedback

Mobility Mentors sometimes tell us that delivering the skills check part of the Healthy Feet Programme is the bit they feel most daunted about. To help, Nick, Sara and Owen recently held a webinar which covered different aspects of the skills check. Here, Owen Atkinson summarises the section of the webinar on delivering Five Star Feedback - something which you might find useful in other aspects of your work too.

Not many of us like to feel someone’s critical eyes hovering over our shoulder when trimming cows’ feet.

It is one of the reasons why conducting the skills check during the first longer visit of the Healthy Feet Programme can feel uncomfortable for Mobility Mentors: we want to encourage farmers with their hoof care confidence, not put them off.

Yet, we’d be doing a disservice if we noticed things which were being done incorrectly, and not bringing them to our clients’ attention. How do you do that constructively?

Here is where using the Five Star Feedback method can help. The model can be used for any kind of feedback, including:

• Giving a compliment
• Giving advice
• When you want to say “no” to someone
• When you want to apologise (“rupture repair”)

Central to the model are the following five steps:

• Context: show you understand the situation
• Specifics: be clear on what; be objective; don't personalise it
• Impact: be clear on why it matters
• Reinforce identity: ensure it is not seen as a personal attack; encourgae a person to think positively about themselves
• Solutions: seek solutions together; ask other person for solutions first; some suggestions may help; or the actual apology or compliment etc

So, if we try and put these into context with an example, where you find that the toes are trimmed too short for instance, the conversation might go something like this:

“Is it OK to chat about what I observed about that hoof trim? (context). I noticed that, at the end, the toe length on the lateral claw was a little short (specifics). That makes it more likely the sole thickness has been taken too thin, which is a risk for sole bruising (impact). I know that getting this right is important to you, and that you like to make a good job when you trim (reinforce identity). How do you think you could approach that trim step differently to ensure the toe lengths are correct? (solutions).”

Communication models are all well and good - but they can be difficult to remember when you are put on the spot.

So there is some more simple stuff (foundations) to go alongside the Five Star Feedback model. In fact, I believe your foundation is more important than remembering the five elements of the feedback model.

When delivering feedback, it is very important that it comes from the right place. Building rapport and trust beforehand is vital. Some tips for this are:

• Come from a place of curiosity: find out why someone does things the way they do (ask!)
• Have judgment but don’t be judgemental
• Develop your listening skills - reflect what you hear and aim to do less than 50% of the talking
• Eye contact - look at people when they speak to you and when you speak to them
• Mirroring: pay attention to body language; words; pace; breathing; volume
• Set the tone: be calm
• Be “centred”

That last one, “being centred”, warrants a bit of elaborating on. There are a few different ways to define being centred, but “accepting of your path” is one I like. This means, remaining open-minded and emptying your mind of pre-conceived ideas.

It also means ensuring you are there for the other person’s benefit: I sometimes give myself a little talking to beforehand to help with this, maybe along the lines of:

“This person is a good person. They might feel a bit nervous about me watching their trimming. They’d like me to be helpful so I must remember to keep checking in with them to ensure what I’m showing them is useful for them.”

Sounds weird to give yourself a pep talk? Well I am a bit!

Above all else, remember to pay compliments. As a rule of thumb, we should aim to pay around seven compliments for every piece of criticism/ negative feedback.

Even so, humans being human, you might imagine that at the end of the day, it will be the criticism which will be remembered. For that reason, a compliment needs to land well.

The Five Star Feedback model can be used again.

For example, you might like to compliment the way a block has been put on. You could say “Nice blocking”, but it would be far more impactful if you said:

“The way you positioned that block (context), you placed it very carefully, 5mm back from the toe end and took account of where the glue would put pressure too (specifics). That means it has less risk of putting strain on the flexor tendons and less chance of the glue causing sole bruising too (impact). It’s a good example of the care I have seen you take this morning with your work (reinforce identity). Well done - that was a great bit of blocking (the actual compliment).”

One final thing: what if you are having difficulty in finding things to compliment? This can be a common problem for very high achievers (perfectionism!).

If this sounds familiar, ask yourself how harsh are you on yourself too? Practice giving compliments. It is a great skill in itself and is one of the secrets of good leadership and fulfilling relationships.

PS - it’ll also bring you greater success when delivering the Healthy Feet Programme. Don’t let perfect be the enemy of good!