“Employees are more likely to learn and grow when they receive immediate feedback that is specific, targeted at their development and able to be put into practice right away.”
– Gallup’s 2017 State of the American Workplace report
Giving feedback – be it good or bad – can be very challenging. If we put ourselves in a real situation, imagine a person at work who is facing a hard time figuring out his/ her work and despite all the effort, he/ she is unable to attend to a task effectively. What if you can get involved in this situation and advise him/ her on better options to help figure out where he/ she got it wrong? What is keeping you from doing that? Are you worried that this will demotivate the employee or this will hurt his/ her self-esteem? Then, you are in need of some tips.
How do we do this?
- It is always good to have an in-person, private conversation.
- Do not make it personal (especially in the business context, you have to address professional concerns without dragging in personal matters).
- Do not cloud your message with contradictory statements.
- Your tone matters, a LOT, especially when delivering a negative message.
When do we do this?
- Make sure you give feedback relating to a given observation as soon as possible relative to the observation, given that you have the emotional capacity to be ‘constructive’ with empathy (if you are furious about something that has happened, it is not the best time to give feedback – anger may cloud your judgment).
- Feedback on ongoing work can and should be given regularly (there is no rule – unless you make one – stating that feedback can only be given at formal appraisal discussions).
- Feedback can be given not only when things are going wrong. People love to hear encouraging, constructive feedback on what they did well, regardless of the feedback being business critical or not (try praising some of the smaller things people do, and keep an eye out for impact on morale and performance).
You need to be very clear that giving feedback is a very sensitive topic. You should have a clear understanding on your expectations from giving feedback. When it comes to the feedback you are giving, it needs to be fact-based and helpful for both you (to realize your expectations) and the receiver (to correct a weak point or to further develop himself/ herself). You should also take your feedback as seriously as much as you want the receiver to take it seriously.
Keep your feedback specific and actionable – and concise. Don’t go on rambling, perhaps even about events that may have taken place before even the last time you gave feedback. When you are giving feedback to someone (especially if you expect disagreement or emotion, invite feedback from him/ her as well, since your decisions might not be accurate or unbiased without knowing his/ her story. Be open to suggestions and even to receive critical feedback about yourself. Further, assure him/ her that you will be supporting him/ her with everything that is in your capacity. Draw from specific events or real life examples (maybe of your own) if you need to prove a point but make sure that you do not let him/ her feel that you are trying to forcibly convince him/ her.
Keep the feedback as balanced as possible – and lead with the positives. Building on the earlier point about conciseness, try to limit the feedback to the most important two positive and two “delta” (areas for improvement) topics if it is a formal feedback session. Always talk about and suggest what actions can be taken to do better next time, rather than dwelling on the negatives as if nothing more can be done about them.
Try to follow all these steps to make sure that you do not negatively affect their performance or discourage them. On top of everything, remember that you are dealing with humans with emotions. Well-chosen feedback given at the right time can tremendously improve performance and strengthen the cohesion and the motivation of your team.