Managing Digital Feedback

Your leadership team just got some brutal survey feedback and now wants to "stop all this surveying nonsense." Sound familiar? Here's the thing: When feedback stings, the instinct is to shut down the channel. But that's like unplugging the smoke detector because you don't like the beeping. The real issue (most often) isn't the feedback—it's that your leaders weren't prepared to handle it constructively. Here's how to fix this without killing your feedback culture: Only ask what you're willing to act on. If there's absolutely no willingness to change regardless of feedback, don't ask about it. For example, if raises are not happening due to budget constraints, don't ask employees if they want them. You're just creating false hope and inevitable disappointment. Create structured feedback channels with guardrails. Set up something like a Lattice Q&A board with clear submission standards: questions must be business-focused, assume positive intent, and be constructive rather than personal attacks. Have pre-written responses for why questions get deleted and a resubmission process. Equip leaders to handle tough, but fair, feedback. Leaders signed up for roles where they'll face heightened emotions and difficult conversations. Help them build emotional regulation skills through in-house or outsourced management training, referrals to executive coaching, and healthcare options that support access to mental health therapy. Be selective about whose opinions you let affect your decisions and emotional state. Pay attention to constructive feedback from people with positive intent showing up day in and day out to do similar or related, important work. And, let it be okay to ignore the opinions of anonymous dissenters who are not engaging in conversations on how to improve the situation or who have little to no context on similar challenges. Don't let one bad survey experience kill your entire feedback infrastructure. I've seen companies go silent for months or years after tough feedback, only to face bigger culture crises later because issues went underground. Here’s a little insider secret: The issues are still there. People just aren’t talking about them with you, the leaders, anymore. Leaders have a right to a harassment-free workplace, but they also choose roles that require engaging with difficult emotions and perspectives. The solution isn't silence—it's better preparation on how to respond when things get tough. __ 👋 I'm Melissa Theiss , 4x Head of People and Business Operations and advisor for bootstrapped and VC-backed SaaS companies. 🗞️ In my newsletter, “The Business of People,” I share tips and tricks that help People leaders think like business leaders.

The Rollout Is Just the Starting Line. Now Listen, Learn, and Adapt Rolling out new technology isn’t a finish line; it’s where the real work begins. The first few weeks post-launch are critical. That’s when friction points surface, shortcuts emerge, and usage patterns reveal what’s working (and what’s not). That’s why smart leaders build robust feedback loops from day one, not as an afterthought. 📢 Create clear, no-hassle ways for employees to share real-time feedback (on usability, integration gaps, or where they’re getting stuck). 🔁 Commit to action: Based on that input, adjust workflows, refine dashboards, or tweak configurations. Even small changes show you’re listening. 🎯 Provide targeted follow-up training, focused on what people need help with, not what the vendor’s onboarding assumed. This isn’t about perfection on day one, it’s about building a system that adapts quickly and aligns with real user experience. Because when employees feel heard and supported, adoption doesn’t just stick, it accelerates. How are you closing the loop between user feedback and system evolution? If you need help, you can always talk to Digital Transformation Strategist.

Communication gaps and weak feedback loops hurt business success. [Client Case Study] A large hospital network noticed declining patient satisfaction scores. Even with state-of-the-art facilities and technology, patients reported feeling unheard, frustrated, and confused about their care plans. The executive team assumed the problem was with staff training or outdated workflows. ‼️ Mistake: Relying on high-level reports and not direct frontline feedback. Nurses, doctors, and administrative staff communicate differently based on their backgrounds, generations, and roles. - Senior physicians prefer face-to-face or email communication - Younger nurses and tech staff rely on instant messaging and digital dashboards - Patients (especially elderly ones) need clear verbal explanations, but many received rushed instructions or digital paperwork ‼️ Mistake: Differences weren't acknowledged and crucial patient information was lost, leading to errors, frustration, and decreased trust. Frontline staff experienced communication challenges daily but lacked a way to share them with leadership in a meaningful way. ❌️ Reporting structures were too slow or ineffective. Feedback was either ignored, filtered through multiple levels of management, or only addressed after major complaints. ❌️ Executives made decisions based on outdated assumptions. They focused on training programs instead of fixing communication systems. ❌️ Systemic decline Employee burnout increased as staff struggled with inefficient systems. Patient satisfaction declined, leading to lower hospital ratings and reimbursement penalties. Staff turnover rose, increasing costs for recruitment and training. 💡 The Solution: A Multi-Channel Communication Strategy & Real-Time Feedback Loop ✅ Physicians, nurses, and patients receive information in ways that align with their preferences (e.g., verbal updates for elderly patients, digital dashboards for younger staff). ✅ Digital tool that allows staff to flag communication issues immediately rather than waiting for annual surveys. ✅ Executives hold regular listening sessions with frontline employees to better understand challenges before making changes. The Result - Patient satisfaction scores improved - Employee engagement increased - Operational efficiency improved Failing to adapt communication strategies and strengthen feedback loops affects reputation, retention, and revenue. (The 3Rs of a successful organization.) Frontline operations directly impact customer and employee experiences. This hospital’s struggle isn’t unique. Every industry faces the risk of misalignment between leadership decisions and frontline realities. Weak feedback loops and outdated communication strategies create costly inefficiencies. If your employees don’t feel heard, your customers won’t feel valued. Business suffers. Are you listening to the voices that matter most in your business? If not, it’s time to start.

User feedback is a barometer of feeling, not a to-do list. Listen to your users with empathy, but innovate with conviction, says Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani. Too often, we treat feedback as direct product advice: Remove this feature. Lower the price. Change the design. But we must understand that users are not product experts. Their feedback usually reflects their own emotions, confusion, or aspirations, rather than the actual solution for the wider user base. Henry Ford’s famously said: “If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses.” Because people didn’t know a car was possible. Their real need was faster travel, not a better horse. This happens all the time in product development. Flipkart found that “cash on delivery is risky” wasn’t about payment method. It was about trust. Fixing policies and transparency increased prepaid orders by over 30 percent in smaller cities according to RedSeer. Zomato heard “your app is too complicated.” The real issue was first-time digital buyers. Adding guided onboarding boosted order completion by 25 percent. A BCG India study showed 72 percent of user feedback is emotional, not actionable without digging deeper. If you take every comment literally, you end up with a bland product nobody loves. But if you treat feedback as a compass, you can build something people didn’t even know how to ask for. Here’s what helps me handle feedback effectively: ✅ Listen for emotion ✅ Ask why multiple times ✅ Find the underlying need ✅ Don’t react blindly ✅ Balance insights with your product vision If you take every comment literally, you’ll end up with a product nobody loves. But if you treat feedback as a compass and a barometer of sentiment, you can build something users didn’t even know how to ask for.

Employee feedback is broken. Here's your blueprint for conversations that count: Only 14% of companies conduct reviews more than once a year. It's time to shift towards more frequent performance feedback. Here's how to make it happen: 🔄 Implement Continuous Feedback: • Move away from annual reviews • Adopt monthly or quarterly check-ins • Use digital tools for real-time feedback 📊 Leverage Data-Driven Insights: • Track key performance metrics consistently • Use AI-powered analytics for personalized insights • Share data transparently with employees 🗣️ Encourage Two-Way Communication: • Train managers in active listening • Create safe spaces for honest dialogue • Act on employee suggestions visibly 🎯 Set Clear, Evolving Goals: • Align individual objectives with company vision • Adjust goals as priorities shift • Celebrate milestones and progress 🧠 Focus on Growth Mindset: • Frame feedback as opportunity for improvement • Provide resources for skill development • Recognize effort and learning, not just results 👥 Peer-to-Peer Recognition: • Implement a digital kudos system • Encourage cross-departmental feedback • Highlight collaborative successes 📈 Measure Feedback Effectiveness: • Survey employees on feedback quality • Track changes in performance post-feedback • Adjust your approach based on results These strategies aren't just about better feedback. They're about building a culture of continuous improvement. By making every conversation count, you're not only boosting performance. You're nurturing a more engaged, responsive, and dynamic team.

I talked with 100+ product over the last months They all had the same set of problems Here's the solution (5 steps) Every product leader told me at least one of the following: "Our feedback is all over the place" "PMs have no single source of truth for feedback" "We'd like to back our prioritization with customer feedback" Here's a step-by-step guide to fix this 1/ Where is your most qualitative feedback coming from? What sources do you need to consolidate? - Make an exhaustive list of your feedback sources - Rank them by quality & importance - Find a way to access that data (API, Zapier, Make, scraping, csv exports, ...) 2/ Route all that feedback to a "database-like" tool, a table of records Multiple options here: Airtable, Notion, Google sheets and of course Cycle App -Tag feedback with their related properties: source, product area customer id or email, etc - Match customer properties to the feedback based on customer unique id or email 3/ Calibrate an AI model Teach the AI the following: - What do you want to extract from your raw feedback? - What type of feedback is the AI looking at and how should it process it? (an NPS survey should be treated differently than a user interview) - What features can be mapped to the relevant quotes inside the raw feedback Typically, this won't work out of the box. You need to give your model enough human-verified examples (calibrate it), so it can actually become accurate in finding the right features/discoveries to map. This part is tricky, but without this you'll never be able to process large volumes of feedback and unstructured data. 4/ Plug a BI tool like Google data studio or other on your feedback database - Start by listing your business questions and build charts answering them - Include customer attributes as filters in the dashboard so you can filter on specific customer segments. Every feedback is not equal. - Make sure these dashboards are shared/accessible to the entire product team 5/ Plug your product delivery on top of this At this point, you have a big database full of customer insights and a customer voice dashboard. But it's not actionable. - You want to convert discoveries into actual Jira epics or Linear projects & issues. - You need to have some notion of "status" sync, otherwise your feedback database won't clean itself and you won't be able to close feedback loops The diagram below gives you a clear overview of how to build your own system. Build or buy? Your choice

70% of restaurant operators say they struggle with managing reviews across multiple platforms. Given the fragmented nature of 3rd party delivery reviews, inconsistent responses, and the challenge of gathering actionable insights, this isn't surprising. The solution? A unified review management platform that centralizes feedback from all channels—third-party platforms, social media, and in-store. By leveraging data, brands can streamline responses, identify key trends, and take proactive actions to enhance guest satisfaction. This consistent, data-driven approach not only boosts customer trust but also elevates the overall dining experience. The restaurants that embrace this strategy will lead the way in turning guest feedback into a competitive advantage.

When users share feedback or request features… • Don't ask them to resubmit it somewhere else. • Don't make them fill out an "official" form. • Don't redirect them to another channel. Their time is valuable - appreciate that they bothered to reach out at all. • Send it to stakeholders or share it with the team. • Ask follow-up questions. • Invite them for an interview to get more feedback. • Prioritize it and keep them updated. Most users stay silent - treat the ones who speak up as gold. Take advantage of this opportunity - your product will get better.

Customers don’t just share feedback; they offer valuable insights. Turning feedback into action is crucial for growth. Listening to your customers can transform your business for the better. Customer feedback is a goldmine. It shows you what’s working and what isn’t. By gathering feedback, you unlock opportunities for improvement. You discover what your customers love and what they dislike. This information is essential for making informed changes. 1️⃣ Start by collecting feedback through surveys and reviews. --> Ask your customers about their experiences. --> Use simple questions to get clear answers. 2️⃣ Once you have their insights, analyse the data. --> Look for patterns and common themes. This helps you understand the bigger picture. 3️⃣ Next, prioritise the feedback. --> Focus on the most pressing issues first. Not all feedback is of equal importance. Some insights may lead to significant changes, while others might be less critical. 4️⃣ Once prioritised, create an action plan. --> Decide which changes to make and how to implement them. --> Involve your team in this process. Their input can help shape effective solutions. 5️⃣ After implementing changes, follow up with your customers. --> Let them know you’ve listened and acted on their feedback. This builds trust and demonstrates that you care. Remember, feedback isn’t just noise. It’s an opportunity to grow and improve. Turning feedback into action can result in better products and happier customers. ✴️ Your business thrives when you listen and take action. Make customer feedback an integral part of your strategy. It will pay off in the long term. ✴️ And if you need help in setting up an effective customer feedback loop - I'm only one DM away 🙂 #LeadershipByAgata