How to Ask for Advice

Have you ever received "feedback" that’s useless and annoying? Instead of asking for feedback, try asking for advice. 

Feedback is backward looking. It is anchored in past behavior. Writing in the Harvard Business Review, Dr. Amantha Imber, author of Time Wise and host of the podcast How To Work, suggests asking for advice instead. Advice-giving is a form of guidance that leads to thinking about future actions.                                                                                              

Imber offers 4 steps to getting advice that will really help you improve:

1. Be specific about the type of advice you are seeking. Specifying the category of advice you want will ensure it is most useful.  Ask yourself, “What will really help me get better at solving this problem?” Then, instead of asking, “What do you think of my quarterly numbers?” you could say, “I’ve tried X and Y but I haven’t been able to meet my goal. How do you think I should approach this?”
2. Show them the way. If you ask people to think about what could help you in the future, the advice you will receive will be more actionable. So, for example, after you give a presentation — even a good one — you could ask, “What changes could I make to improve next time?” 
3. Give a little nudge.  If someone gives you vague feedback such as “You did great” or “You could do better,” prod further and extract the advice you need. You could say, “What specifically did I do well that I should repeat next time?” or “What is one thing I can do better next time?” 
4. Ask the right person. You may think that the more points of view you receive, the better. But research shows that an excess of advice from many sources can be confusing. Think hard about the problem or topic you are seeking guidance on and consider who is best placed to give you advice on it.

When was the last time you asked for advice, and how did you do it? To join the conversation, click "comments" below.

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