Aprendendo a dar feedback: proposta de um programa de ensino para gestores em um órgão público

Abstract

Introduction: Public institutions have been trying to implement more effective people management programs. However, the leadership training area still faces several problems, which could be avoided or minimized by a scientific investigation, for instance: courses without well-established objectives; time and financial resources wasted for not achieving the expected results; organizational prejudices due to ineffective interventions for development of new leadership behaviors. Teaching programming, which falls within the Applied Behavior Analysis in Education, can make important contributions to the area. A public organization from the Judiciary, in this context, made surveys of the organizational climate and the assessment of competences, which generated demands, among them the objective of the present research that is to contribute with the training of its managers by elaborating a contingencies program to develop behaviors from the general class “to give feedback to promote performance”. Approach: It has been adopted a qualitative approach with the typification of bibliographic and applied. Sources: In order to identify the classes of behaviors constituting the investigated general class, it was used one chapter of the book “Performance management: changing behavior that drives to organizational effectiveness” (DANIELS; BAILEY, 2014). In order to constitute the basic materials for the planning of teaching conditions and the development of the instructional material, was also selected the book “Bringing out the best in people: how to apply the astonishing power of positive reinforcement” (DANIELS, 2000). The data collection was carried out by two instruments: Identification, registration and derivation of possible components of classes of behaviors Protocol, and Registration and organization of data for planning teaching conditions Protocol. Data analysis: The first phase of the study was to propose the objective-behaviors for the program and consisted of the procedures: to translate information source; to select and to record parts from the information source; to identify, to highlight and to register parts among the selected ones; to derive and to record possible behavioral components; to nominate and to register possible classes of behaviors; to organize them in a behavioral system; and to select the objective-behaviors of the program. The second phase was to elaborate the teaching conditions of the program and was composed of the procedures: to organize the classes of objective-behaviors in units of learning; to establish sequence for teaching; to plan the contingencies for developing the classes of objective-behaviors; to develop the instructional material; and to develop instruments for the evaluation of the program. Analysis and discussion: The execution of the first phase of the research resulted in the identification of 207 classes of behaviors constituting the general class “to give feedback to promote performance”. In the second phase, the teaching program was structured in units: what is feedback; why to give feedback; how to give feedback. The last unit was subdivided in modules: introduction; feedback on specific performances; immediate feedback; feedback on performance that a person can control; feedback presented by the manager; feedback focused on improvement; easily understandable feedback; combination of feedback with acknowledgment; conclusion. It was opted for the distance mode for enabling access to a larger number of servers and that the learner progress in the course at his on pace. For program evaluation, two surveys were created, one to characterize the participants’ input and output repertoire and other to assess de participants’ satisfaction regarding the teaching program. The execution of the second phase of the research enabled the development, as technical product, of a contingencies program to develop behaviors from the general class “to give feedback to promote performance”