Giving Feedback – Top Tips
You will find a post on my blog on receiving feedback, and how I see it as a skill in itself so I have followed this up with a post on my top tips for giving feedback. Giving feedback is a big topic in itself so I will likely do a number of posts over the coming while on this. So if there is anything you would like more information on or if you have a particular area you would like me to focus on do not hesitate to get in touch.
Feedback – the word itself often makes anyone squirm or instantly panic. For the person receiving the feedback they often think …..oh what is coming… what am I going to hear….what have I done… For the person giving the feedback there can be an equal amount of panic and often the thoughts are…. I don’t want to have this difficult conversation…. I will do that conversation another day…. I will just ignore the problem and it will go away.
When you find yourself in a situation that you need to give feedback to someone, as difficult as you may find it, it is better to not avoid it and have the conversation.
Before I give you my tips try and always remember to…..Praise in Public and Reprimand in Private. [As a note of caution – praise and recognition, especially in public can be a bit of a mine field …I will post a blog on this shortly to give you some support and insight].
So for when we find ourselves in a situation when we have to give feedback, my tips for this are:
1. Prepare before you talk to the person – this may be obvious but preparation for any conversation, especially when you are giving feedback to someone is critical. Whether it is simply jotting down your talking points or rehearsing the conversation to yourself, being prepared will help you to be more confident which is key when carrying out a successful conversation.
2. Establish empathy – take a moment to reflect on when you have received feedback yourself – where their times you did not like or appreciate how you were given the feedback? What was it about how you received the feedback that you didn’t like? I often say that the biggest lessons we can learn in the workplace are from the people around us doing things badly (as harsh as that may sound). So try and remember that the feedback you are giving may be hard for the person to hear and an empathetic approach can help what you are saying be received a little better. The idea is to give negative feedback while maintaining the relationship to ensure a positive impact for both.
3. Separate the person from the problem / behaviour – this is key. Your feedback needs to be 100% focused on the problem and not the person. You need to try and make sure your feedback is about the problem and behaviour alone and not make it personal to the individual.
4. Give the person and opportunity to respond and be open minded to new information. When you have given someone feedback there is generally two responses. The first where the person will go quiet and not say much. The second is the person will get very vocal. Try and give the person an opportunity to respond and be listened to, whether it is during the conversation or if they come back to you at a later stage. By keeping an open mind, you may discover something you did not know.
5. Outline the consequences. When we give feedback we can often be so delighted the feedback has been given that we want to quickly get out of the area where the conversation is taking place. If you can instead try and end the conversation with outlining the consequences e.g. outlining the consequences for what the effects will be if their behaviour continues.
I hope that these tips are of some help and as this is a huge topic let me know if there is an area you would like more information on.
As always get in touch to see how I can work with you – I am looking forward to hearing from you.