How to give feedback

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How to give feedback

Essential Guide for Giving and Receiving Feedback

Feedback provides a great opportunity to develop skills and identify areas you need to improve. We’ve highlighted key points to think about when both receiving and giving feedback, which can be applied to a wide range of situations.

Feedback is important for a number of reasons, it allows you to:

Giving and receiving feedback is a powerful process but needs to be handled carefully. Use this guide to help you get the most out of any feedback session.

Humans have been coming up with ways to give constructive criticism for centuries, but somehow we’re still pretty terrible at it. LeeAnn Renniger shares a scientifically proven method for giving effective feedback.

Guide for giving feedback

If you are giving feedback, it needs to:

1. Be specific

To be useful for development you need clear guidance. Often people say things like “you could be a bit more welcoming”. How does this translate into an action? More specific would be “I would have liked it if you had smiled when you welcomed us”.

2. Give evidence

You will be more likely to change your behaviour if you can identify precise aspects of it. Being reminded of the actual words you said or movements you made will make the feedback more effective.

So if your colleague says, “I thought you were a bit aggressive” this is not as clear as “you leant forward and pointed your finger at me when you said ‘I need to see results’ and that was quite aggressive”.

3. Describe any emotional impact

If you are working with a colleague either making a presentation or role-playing a situation, it will be useful for you to know what the impact of your behaviour is on them. “I felt included”, “I felt reassured” and other statements will help you know you are getting the effect you want.

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4. Focus on being constructive

When giving feedback you must always balance what you want to say with what you feel will be useful. Restrict your feedback to three positive points and maybe one or two points for development. There are only so many things you can work on at the same time and it can affect your motivation if you receive a list of “negatives”.

5. Use ‘I’ statements

Try and give feedback from your perspective. This way you avoid labelling the person and it remains your opinion. Say, “I felt that you rushed the part when you explained how the product is used by customers”, instead of “You rushed how your product is being used by customers”.

6. Prioritise areas to focus on

Adults can only focus on and work on a few concepts at a time. Discuss with the participant if there are areas in particular they want feedback on, such as hesitation words or pace of voice for a presentation. This will help you focus in on those areas when providing feedback.

7. Align with goals

Often the feedback that people give is based on the giver’s personal beliefs or preferences, and yet the most useful feedback starts with an understanding of what their goals and objectives are, for example, why are they giving this presentation?

When a feedback giver says “Her jokes were very funny” what they are usually saying is “Her sense of humour matches mine so I enjoy it.” Talk with the participant about their goals to help guide your feedback and give you areas to focus on.

Guide for receiving feedback

If you are receiving feedback, remember:

1. Feedback is impersonal

The feedback given by the observer should be on what they saw in that moment of your behaviour. This is not a comment on you as a person nor is there an implication that you exhibit this behaviour all the time. It is what the observer saw now.

2. Listen and don’t interrupt

Try not to interrupt, contest or explain while you are receiving feedback. Listen with an open mind and make notes of what is said. You may then review and clarify what has been observed. Remember, you may not think you were being evasive, manipulative etc but this may be the effect of your behaviour.

3. Get feedback from junior people

Senior people need to get coaching from junior people

Robert Steven Kaplan explaining the importance of senior people within an organisation getting feedback and coaching from junior people, who know their faults and what they should improve.

4. Put it into action

You must turn the feedback into positive action on your part. Think about what you will change as a result of the feedback you have received. If possible act on it straight away by trying the same situation or presentation again.

5. Follow up

The whole purpose of feedback is to improve performance. You need to measure whether or not that is happening and then make adjustments as you go. It’s a good ideas to use the same person or group of people to practice with, as they’ll be able to tell you what is working and what needs to be modified. Keep a document of your conversations and discuss changes with them.

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Conclusion

In order to give effective feedback, you need to understand how to receive it constructively. Doing this on a regular bases will help you appreciate feedback from the other persons perspective.

When done correctly, feedback is a powerful means of personal development and shouldn’t be a negative or resentful process – remember that the more practice you get the better you will become at it.

Acting on feedback will make future presentations more effective, improve personal development and help with career progression.

Giving Feedback

To understand how the process of giving feedback works let us use the analogy of how a self-guided torpedo operates. A self-guided torpedo has a target it is trying to hit, it’s goal. The torpedo has a propulsion mechanism to push it through the water. It also has sensors, such as sonar and radar, to let it know if it is traveling in the right direction. When the torpedo receives positive feedback from its sensors it just keeps doing what it’s doing. When negative feedback informs the torpedo that it is off-course, this feedback will cause the rudder to adjust.

If the rudder is adjusted too much or too little then more negative feedback will again be received by the torpedo and a further rudder adjustment will be made. The torpedo ultimately reaches its goal by propelling itself forward, making course errors, and then continually correcting them.

If done right, feedback can increase self-awareness, encourage self-development, and provided much-needed guidance. This is why it is important to both give and receive feedback.

Just like with our torpedo, your objective when giving feedback is to either support existing behavior or help guide someone back on track by giving feedback that is constructive.

Giving Feedback Tips

Giving feedback is a skill. The person you are giving the feedback to may disagree and try to argue with you. Focus on remaining neutral and do not allow yourself to be drawn into an argument, but equally don’t shy away from the points you’re trying to make. Essentially, your feedback must be balanced but accurate so as not to allow them to under-correct their behavior, but also not to push them to overcorrect. Fortunately, there are some general principles for giving constructive feedback which can help you in this regard.

1. Start with a positive

Most people like to hear what they have done well. If we rush to criticize people we run the risk of leaving them crushed, which isn’t want we want, we simply want them to make a course correction. By starting with a positive, the person receiving the feedback is more likely to take it on board and make the necessary corrective.

This is a simplification of the classic Feedback Sandwich, so called because your feedback is between an opening and closing. With a feedback sandwich, you start with a positive, then provide the area for improvement, and finally finish on a positive. You might simply finish by reiterating the positive feedback you gave at the start of the meeting.

“Your presentation pack looked great and you did a great job of delivering the presentation. However, I was disappointed to see the key metric has dropped below the threshold value we agreed. I want this rectified immediately. But overall, great job on the presentation.”

2. Focus on the behavior, not the individual

Make sure your feedback is always about the behavior you’d like to change. You are simply providing feedback on how they behaved, not providing feedback on them as a person. This can sometimes be a subtle distinction.

Effectively by doing this, we are focusing on the description of what is wrong rather than the inference from what is wrong.

Notice how “the presentation wasn’t great”, is a lot less personal and therefore better than “your presentation wasn’t great.”, and also how “You’re not meeting the dress code” is less effective than “Those clothes don’t meet the dress code”.

3. Be Specific and clear

General feedback is not that useful when it comes to understanding exactly what has to be improved. General statements are also more likely to elicit an emotional response.

Consider the difference between, “we can’t give this presentation – it’s full of mistakes”, and “there are grammatical mistakes we need to resolve before we give the presentation”.

4. Own the feedback

Begin your feedback with “I” to show that both your thoughts and feelings are your own.

“I am concerned about progress on this project. It would really help if you could explain to me how you see progress so I can get your perspective.”

5. Focus on finding solutions

Think upfront about why you are giving the feedback. Its to correct-course and improve performance. It will be a far more positive and energizing conversation if you focus on finding solutions rather than calling out issues.

Consider the difference between “if we don’t get our website compliant with the law we will be shut down”, versus, “what steps do we need to take to make the website compliant”.

6. Be Timely

It is best to address issues or give praise as close to the event as possible. Don’t let the moment pass and have the feedback come as a bit of a shock to the person receiving it.

The exception to this rule is when the situation is serious and emotional. It’s obviously more challenging to accept feedback in this circumstance, and you don’t want to risk either party saying something they later regret.

7. Follow up

If you reach any agreements, write them down and send them to the person concerned. Going forward, remember to look for opportunities to commend the person as their performance improves on the tasks in question.

A 7-Step Feedback Process

Now that we’ve covered the general guidelines, here is a simple 7-step process for giving feedback:

1. State Your Purpose

State the reason why you are giving feedback and why it is important. Where you’re initiating feedback this will prevent nervousness and guesswork by the recipient. If you’re responding to a feedback request then it enables you to clarify and agree exactly what is to be covered.

2. Describe What You Personally Observed

Stick with what you personally have observed and stick to specific events.

3. Describe How You Felt

Describe how you reacted when you witnessed the event outlined in step 2. By describing how you felt after observing the behavior you will help the other person to understand the impact that their actions are having on others.

4. Remain Silent

In this step, you give the other person the opportunity to respond. If the person doesn’t respond, then ask “what’s your view on the situation?”. As mentioned previously, the skill here is to avoid getting drawn into an argument.

5. Focus on Solutions

Move away from the problem quickly to focus on finding a solution. You may already have a solution in mind, but it can be productive for both of you to work collaboratively to generate a solution to the problem.

6. Summarize

Now that you’ve identified the solution, summarize the action points you have agreed, and identify when you will next meet to discuss progress towards rectifying the problem. There’s no need to summarize the problem again, just focus on the solution. Agree that you will email the action steps to the person after the meeting. Summarizing allows you to ensure that there are no misunderstandings before both of you leave the room.

7. Express Confidence

End the meeting by reassuring the recipient that you have confidence in their ability to implement the action steps and rectify the problem. If appropriate, let them know your door is open should they encounter any problems.

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Constructive feedback

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The aim of this article is to provide you with a clear idea of what constructive feedback is and how it fits into the workplace.

Constructive feedback is a useful tool that managers and employees can engage in to improve the standard of work. There is a right way to give good constructive feedback which you will learn by the end of this page.

By engaging your employees with constructive feedback you create an atmosphere that nurtures support and growth.

Proper feedback has a knock-on effect on loyalty, work ethic, performance, and growth for individuals and teams.

Feedback can be given in multiple ways so take a look at our guide “types of feedback.” You can learn how to take negative feedback and turn it into engaging positive feedforward.

Employees respond better to constructive and positive feedback rather than negative feedback which can make them feel unappreciated and under-supported.

What is constructive feedback?

is the type of feedback aimed at achieving a positive outcome by providing someone with comments, advice, or suggestions that are useful for their work or their future.

The outcome can be faster processes, improving behaviors, identifying weaknesses, or providing new perspectives.

The feedback can be given in different forms; both praise and criticism can play a role in constructive feedback.

Good constructive feedback should focus on the work rather than being a personal negative attack against an individual.

Let’s take a look at how praise and criticism work:

Praise

Praise is where you show appreciation to your employees for the work they have done.

If an employee has done exemplary work or gone above and beyond to help someone, a thank you and congratulations can go a long way.

By acknowledging their work and showing your appreciation you can help to reinforce these positive behaviors.

Additionally, you can use praise as part of a larger feedback session. By highlighting the things an employee does well your message carries extra weight.

Your employees feel appreciated and any advice shared as part of the feedback will feel positive.

Criticism

When critiquing an employee’s work it is imperative to try and make it not personal.

Criticism plays an important role in helping people avoid negative behaviors and grow from their mistakes.

Proper criticism should be sincere and caring whilst also containing a level of importance.

Do not let your emotions get the better of you as criticism levied while you are angry, disappointed, or frustrated may lose its message.

“Excellent work on the project. That was a really tricky one but you were able to dig deep and figure it out. I appreciate that you were able to figure out the problems on your own without pulling other team members in to help. We’re so busy at the moment it’s hard to spare the manpower. Thank you!’

Appropriate negative example

“You’re an incredibly resourceful and intuitive person so next time I’d like to see you work on the issues a little longer before asking for help. Tony has fallen behind in his work now. I’m confident if you’d thought about it a little longer you would have cracked. Do you think you would have got there?”

Inappropriate negative example

How to give constructive feedback

When you decide it’s time to arrange a feedback session, or you have a performance appraisal, with an employee there are a few things to consider to really get this right.

A well-thought-out feedback session can have everyone walking away feeling positive and like they have achieved something.

10 tips to help your feedback make a positive impact

1. Choose the right time and place for feedback

The first thing you want to consider is the location. Small bits of praise and appreciation can be shared among the wider team. On the other hand, criticism that is shared in front of your employee’s peers will be shameful and embarrassing.

Criticism is much better delivered in a one-to-one meeting.

You should consider the timing of the meeting. It is best to give feedback as soon as possible while the reference points are still clear.

Feedback is less constructive the longer you wait to arrange the meeting. As long as you feel like you can provide constructive feedback, then the sooner the better.

2. Set the right tone for the meeting

The next thing to consider is the manner in which you give the feedback.

If you want to arrange a meeting to provide negative feedback try not to do this while tensions are running high. If you feel yourself being too angry and unable to censor yourself properly it may be best to wait until you can have the conversation in a more neutral tone.

At the same time the tone should be professional and you should sound confident.

For positive constructive feedback try to use an inspiring and friendly tone rather than casual and funny as it might decrease the effectiveness of your message.

3. Emotional intelligence is key

Further to the previous point emotions can run high during feedback sessions, particularly where criticism is concerned. Anger can cause you to attack the recipient unfairly and this could have consequences. It won’t make you or the recipient feel better and could bleed into the work environment.

Consider the other person as well, how is the feedback going to affect them? How can you present the information in a way that’s helpful to them?

4. Define what is the purpose of the feedback

When you arrange a meeting with your employee the purpose of that meeting should be clearly defined. You should also share why you feel this is an important meeting to have.

As an example if the purpose of the feedback is to improve employee behaviour or performance, then you should have a clear understanding of what you need to discuss and what solutions you can offer.

If you are unclear of the specifics it will be harder to provide constructive feedback.

5. Content of the feedback

You should be able to clearly identify the areas of discussion. Whether it is praising something positive or criticism about areas of improvement. The content should be focused on the work rather than the individual.

If there is a specific action or situation that needs to be addressed then you can share how exactly it is making you and their colleagues feel.

6. Don’t skirt around the issue

It may not be appropriate to slide your feedback in between more positive conversations. It could lead to your message being diluted or misunderstood. Sometimes will be advantageous for a boss to get straight to the point.

7. Encourage a dialogue

Employees should be given the opportunity to add to the dialogue, this should not be a one-way conversation. Once you have given the purpose, observations, details of situations, and reactions then offer the employee a chance to speak.

This is so important as it allows you to hear about the event in question from a new perspective.

8. Be respectful and stay on point

Since you’re dealing with another person you’ve got to remain respectful during the meeting. Keep on point and avoid using language that would cause the recipient to go defensive.

It would be better to lead with phrases like ‘I’m worried about,’ ‘I’ve observed behaviors’ and ‘I’ve become aware of’ rather than phrases that start with ‘you such as ‘you’re doing things wrong.’

Keep to the point and don’t make the meeting too personal.

9. Give suggestions for improvements

The most important part of the feedback should be working with the employee about improvements. You can share what you would like to see in the future such as improvements to working speed, accuracy, relationships with colleagues, or whatever the situation is.

It may be worth creating an action plan and arranging more meetings in the future to check on performance.

This part of the feedback should be to support the employee in the areas they aren’t performing in and focus on reaching a positive outcome.

10. Recap the most important points

Before you end the meeting it is a good idea to just recap everything you have spoken about. This is a good way to avoid there being any misunderstandings and it provides you with an opportunity to check that the constructive feedback was received and understood.

How to Give Constructive Feedback (With Examples)

Giving feedback is one of the most important parts of every manager’s job. Good employees need and want to know how they are doing well and those with blind spots in their performance need and want to know those blind spots and how they can improve.

The purpose of constructive feedback is to reinforce positive behaviors that boost employees’ performance or to do away with negative behaviors that antagonise it but it’s quite easy to get it wrong.

Some managers only focus on the positive and choose to gloss over the negative, hoping that showering their employees with endless praise will magically inspire them to overcome their shortcomings. Others only focus on the negative and never acknowledge when their employees do a great job.

Both of these approaches are misleading to your staff. Employees who receive the first type of feedback never get to know how they can improve and thus can’t achieve their full potential while those in the second group feel overlooked and discriminated against from the lack of recognition.

Constructive feedback is a healthy blend of praise for achievement and suggestions for improvement. In order to give constructive feedback managers have to master the art of having difficult conversations with their employees and offering them meaningful praise in the right measure.

What is constructive feedback?

A manager looking to give constructive feedback needs to know that it should be:

Specific

Get straight to the point and make sure not to drag other semi-related or similar incidents into the conversation. Every conversation should focus on just one incident so it has your full focus.

Sincere

Be it positive or negative, the feedback should be honest and genuine. You don’t want to come off like you are giving praise grudgingly—or worse, that you are being overly harsh about a mistake.

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Timely

Issues should be addressed as soon as they come up, not after negative habits become entrenched and achievements should be appreciated while still fresh in the mind of the employee.

Well prepared

Take the time to prepare for a feedback session as you would any other important meeting. Use facts, examples and statistics to substantiate both your positive and negative comments.

A bit negative

Research has found that while novices prefer positive feedback (in order to boost their confidence), once people become experts in a subject area, they prefer negative feedback ( in order to step up their game). In fact, according to one survey conducted by the Harvard Business Review, 57 percent of employees prefer corrective feedback over straight praise.

Furthermore, according to a Gallup report, employees would prefer to receive negative feedback than no feedback at all. An employee who is ignored by a manager is twice as likely to be actively disengaged at work as an employee whose manager focuses on his or her weaknesses, according to the report.

Gender-neutral

Sexism unfortunately still rears its ugly head in the workplace. Research by Stanford University’s Clayman Institute for Gender Research suggests that men and women are evaluated differently in the workplace.

“Specifically, managers are significantly more likely to critique female employees for coming on too strong, and their accomplishments are more likely than men’s to be seen as the result of team, rather than individual efforts,” the research reported.

Why constructive feedback is best

As a leader, one of best things you can do for your members is to give constructive feedback.

By providing honest and meaningful feedback to employees, managers can:

Furthermore, it is important to keep in mind that feedback is a two-way street. It is not enough to just give constructive feedback. Receiving feedback from employees can be equally valuable for managers, who can gain powerful insights from them and strengthen their performance as leaders.

This can be done by asking, “How can I make your job easier?” or “What type of support could I offer to help you perform your job better?” be it in person or via an anonymous survey (because let’s face it: not many employees would be bold enough to say things as they really are right in front of their boss).

Pause and consider the feedback objectively. Have you received similar feedback from other people? Can you think of instances where this feedback may ring true? If the feedback is negative, how can you use it in a constructive way? Whether you agree with them or not, their feedback is valid and important.

Examples of good and bad feedback

Below are a couple of examples of good and bad feedback and their respective explanations:

Bad: “Your sales numbers are rising, which is great, but we have noticed that you tend to avoid working with the rest of the sales team. That said, you are also very punctual on the job.”

Good: “We would like you to work more with your team. That said, your sales numbers are on the rise and we have also notice that you are very punctual, that’s great. Keep it up.”

The commonly recommended sandwich approach to giving feedback, nestling a negative statement between two positive ones is actually counter-productive. Constructive feedback can easily get suffocated under a mountain of praise or employees may focus on the negative comment only.

Bad: “Your presentations are very confusing to us. We need you to write better ones henceforth.”

Good: “Your presentations aren’t as clear as we need them to be. From now on add concrete data to back your points, and use bulleted lists, graphs and other visual aids to make things easier to read.”

You should aim to provide specific examples for improvement, not generalities. Simply telling an employee to do better leaves that person at a loss as to what the best course of action is. Giving them concrete steps to take offers them a place to start and they can build from there on their own.

It is not enough to just give constructive feedback. Receiving feedback from employees can be equally valuable for managers

Constructive feedback examples

Below are a couple of examples of how you can give constructive feedback.

If an employee’s performance has declined, it’s important not to jump to conclusions and to approach the subject with care. Before reprimanding them, first reach out to the employee and try to figure out the reason behind the drop. Offering your genuine support and faith in them is very important.

Here’s what you can say: “I’ve noticed some changes in your work habits and results over the past week or so. I know how productive and results-driven you usually are, so I wanted to check in with you and see if there was anything you were having trouble with that I might be able to help you with.”

If an employee delivers a project ahead of time it is important that you give them the praise due for such an achievement.

Highlight why this is important to you as a manager and the organisation as a whole, motivate them to deliver the same kind of performance on the next project, and ask them for tips and advice on how they pulled it off, you can use these as improvement suggestions for other employees who struggle to deliver their assignments on time.

Here’s what you can say: “I noticed you delivered your project a week ahead of time and I’m delighted by your performance, thank you very much. We now have extra time to make final improvements and tweaks. How did you manage to do it? I implore you to pull this off for the next project too.”

In Summary

When managers give constructive feedback to their employees, both engagement and productivity rise.

During check-ins, try to have a healthy mix of positive and corrective comments with specific ideas on how to improve and also encourage employees to provide their own solutions to problems that arise.

Written by Gerald Ainomugisha

Gerald is a freelance writer with a pen that is keen for entrepreneurship, business and technology. When he isn’t writing insightful articles on employee engagement and corporate culture, Gerald can be found writing for a number of media outlets.

Giving Feedback

Boosting Your People’s Confidence and Ability

«Performance review.» Does the mere mention of this event make your heart sink?

Employees and managers the world over dread this ritual and therein lays the main problem: we have institutionalized the giving and receiving of feedback. We save up our comments and document all the things we note about a person’s performance. And then, like a big cat ready to pounce, the manager brings a hapless employee into the office and springs a year’s worth of «constructive criticism» onto him or her.

No wonder why this process is so unnerving and fear provoking. This is exactly the wrong emotional environment in which to discuss performance, introduce suggestions for improvement, and talk about goals for the future. This is a shame, because giving and receiving feedback is key to engaging your people and keeping them on track.

When done in the right way and with the right intentions, feedback can lead to outstanding performance. Employees have to know what they are doing well and not so well. For them to really hear your thoughts and suggestions on ways to improve, though, that feedback has to be delivered carefully and frequently.

Giving feedback is a skill. And like all skills, it takes practice to get it right. So, in this article and in the video, below, we’ll give some tips on how you can give feedback constructively and effectively.

Click here to view a transcript of this video.

We talk generally about feedback between a manager/supervisor and team member. However, feedback can, and should, be given up, down, and sideways. The same principles apply.

Giving Feedback Effectively

Check Your Motives

Before giving feedback, remind yourself why you are doing it. The purpose of giving feedback is to improve the situation or the person’s performance. You won’t accomplish that by being harsh, critical or offensive.

You’ll likely get much more from people when your approach is positive and focused on improvement. That’s not to say feedback always has to be good, but it should be fair and balanced. Use tools like the Feedback Matrix and the Losada Ratio to help you get the exact balance right. (Note that the statistics behind the Losada Ratio are in doubt but the principle is not.)

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