Giving Feedback
Giving effective feedback is an essential part of the modern workplace. Whether it's positive, negative or simply informational, feedback helps people perform at their best.
The Best Feedback Is:
- Selective: Concentrate on the important things. Overlook small problems.
- Specific: Say "Congratulations! Production quotas were 20 percent over standard," rather than "You did very well this week."
- Timely: Give feedback as soon as possible.
- Descriptive: Give facts: "I noticed you've missed our staff meeting three times this month. Three times in one month is not acceptable," not "You're always late. What are you going to do about it?" Provide details.
- Sensitive: Choose an appropriate time and place. Allow for a cooling-off period if either of you is angry, upset or exhausted.
- Helpful: Offer any help the person might need.
When Giving Corrective Feedback
- Get to the point. Clearly describe the problem that needs correcting.
- Ask for a reaction. Listen to the person's explanation.
- Avoid getting into an argument.
- Seek agreement that improvement is needed. "Does this make sense to you?" "Can I count on you for that?"
- Develop a plan. Work together to develop an agreed-upon plan for improvement. Be specific and willing to start with small steps.
- Get a commitment to the plan.
- Summarize the discussion. Make sure you and the other person are on the same page about what went wrong and what you've agreed to do about it.
- Specify consequences if the agreed-upon improvement is not made.
- Follow up. Set a date to review progress together.
Remember, for feedback to be effective, the recipient must:
- Understand what you're saying.
- Accept the information.
- Be able to do something about it.
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