In this project, you will demonstrate your mastery of the following competency: Integrate feedback from stakeholders into decision making Scenario You work for Firm X, a department store chain that...

In this project, you will demonstrate your mastery of the following competency:

• Integrate feedback from stakeholders into decision making

Scenario

You work for Firm X, a department store chain that targets a consumer demographic of shoppers under the age of 35. The store offers clothes, technology, electronics, and home furnishings and has recently begun to sell groceries and other household goods. In addition to selling brand name items, Firm X makes its own line of high-quality products.

You work for the product development team that designs and sources these products. The team recently delivered a presentation to the organization’s leadership and some select customers. The presentation introduced new designs for Home X, a new line of diverse household products, including bedsheets, blankets, linens, office chairs, desks, curtains, towels, cabinets, and more. The presentation went well, but as with any workplace project, you will need to respond to and implement feedback from stakeholders throughout the organization.

Directions

Part 1: Stakeholder and Peer Feedback

The day after the Home X presentation, you check your email to find your inbox flooded with messages, many of which contain feedback from stakeholders and peers at different levels of the organization. Receiving feedback is a sometimes uncomfortable, but necessary, part of professional life. In almost any job, you will work closely with others, and feedback is an integral part of any collaborative work and decision making. Your first step is to carefully review the messages you’ve received.

To read through the feedback, review the “Stakeholder and Peer Feedback Emails” document in Supporting Materials. Read each of the four email messages in this document carefully, and consider how you should respond to each. As you read, think about ways you could implement the feedback to inform future decisions for the product development team. Also consider what decisions you can make to improve group dynamics among team members.

Once you have read through all of the feedback, you will have to make some tough decisions. Some of the feedback you received is positive, some negative, and, to make things more complicated, there are some conflicting opinions from one message to another. In workplace situations, there is rarely one clearly “correct” path—decisions need to be made by weighing the options and considering what is best for the team and the organization.

Compose written responses to each stakeholder and peer that sent you feedback. Each response should be about 100 to 200 words. In each response, you should do the following:

• Use polite, respectful language, regardless of the content of each response.


• Respond to the praise or criticism appropriately, using the best practices for responding to feedback from the learning resources.


• Explain any decisions you are making related to each specific piece of feedback. Explain to each stakeholder how their feedback will impact decisions for the team moving forward. Be sure to explain which specific part of their feedback you plan to use, as well as any parts you will not use, and explain why you made those choices. As you write your responses, consider the following:
  
  
  
  
  • How will you balance conflicting feedback you have received from customers versus Firm X management?
  
  
  • How will you manage differences in opinion between team members about how the team should handle presentations in the future?
  
  
  • How will you ensure that your supervisor knows you are taking her feedback seriously, even if you do not agree with all of it or intend to incorporate all of it?
  
  
  
  


• Include at least two clarifying questions in each response that can help you gain a better understanding of the feedback.

Part 2: Feedback Strategies Notes

After responding to the feedback, you notice one more email in your inbox from your supervisor, Maria Gonzalez:

Good afternoon,

I just wanted to check in to see how things are going in your role as the head of the product development team. I know that you have been receiving a lot of feedback during this project, and I have to say that I have been really impressed with how well you have managed that. I think your team has done an excellent job of responding to feedback and implementing changes throughout this project.

I would like to use you as an example for other teams in the Firm X organization to learn how to effectively respond to feedback and criticism. As you know, it’s not always easy to do this! Could you please email me back with some strategies you have been using to manage that feedback and make decisions for the team?

Thanks again for all your hard work on this project!

All the best,
Maria

To respond to Maria’s email, you have decided to compile some notes on your strategies for receiving and implementing feedback as part of a team. Answer each of the questions in the “Feedback Strategies Notes” document in the Deliverables section of this project. Your answers to these questions will help inform how Maria trains other teams within the organization in the future.

What to Submit

Every project has a deliverable or deliverables, which are the files that must be submitted before your project can be assessed. For this project, you must submit the following:

1. 
   
   Stakeholder and Peer Feedback Emails
   
   (100-200 words per response)
   
   Write responses to each of the emails in this document. Each response should be around 100 to 200 words in length. Submit this document as a deliverable for this project.


2. 
   
   Feedback Strategies Notes
   
   
   Answer the questions in this document about strategies for receiving and implementing feedback, and submit the document as one of the deliverables for this project.