Make your feedback have the impact it deserves by the manner and approach you use to deliver feedback. Your feedback can make a difference to people if you can avoid a defensive response.
Difficulty: Hard
Time Required: Depends on the situation.
Here's How:
- Effective feedback is specific, not general. (Say, "The report you turned in yesterday was well-written, understandable, and made your points about the budget very effectively." Don't say, "good report.")
- Effective feedback always focuses on a specific behavior, not on a person or their intentions. (When you held competing conversations during the meeting, when Mary had the floor, you distracted the people in attendance.)
- The best feedback is sincerely and honestly provided to help. Trust me, people will know if they are receiving it for any other reason.
- Successful feedback describes actions or behavior that the individual can do something about.
- Whenever possible, feedback that is requested is more powerful. Ask permission to provide feedback. Say, "I'd like to give you some feedback about the presentation, is that okay with you?"
- Effective feedback involves the sharing of information and observations. It does not include advice unless you have permission or advice was requested.
- Effective feedback is well timed. Whether the feedback is positive or constructive provide the information as closely tied to the event as possible.
- Effective feedback involves what or how something was done, not why. Asking why is asking people about their motivation and that provokes defensiveness.
- Check to make sure the other person understood what you communicated by using a feedback loop, such as asking a question or observing changed behavior.
- Effective feedback is as consistent as possible. If the actions are great today, they're great tomorrow. If the policy violation merits discipline, it should always merit discipline.
Tips:
- Feedback is communication to a person or a team of people regarding the effect their behavior is having on another person, the organization, the customer, or the team.
- Positive feedback involves telling someone about good performance. Make this feedback timely, specific, and frequent.
- Constructive feedback alerts an individual to an area in which his performance could improve. Constructive feedback is not criticism; it is descriptive and should always be directed to the action, not the person.
- The main purpose of constructive feedback is to help people understand where they stand in relation to expected and/or productive job behavior.
- Recognition for effective performance is a powerful motivator. Most people want to obtain more recognition, so recognition fosters more of the appreciated actions.
