How to Provide Feedback

Keep feedback descriptive and fair rather than judgmental.

Providing regular feedback to your employees will improve their performance. The following methods are effective for providing feedback.

• Talk about the job. Keep feedback job-related. Never make personal judgments, such as "you are stupid and incompetent"
• Give detail. Avoid vague statements such as "you have a bad attitude" Or "I'm impressed with the job you did." The recipient needs to understand exactly what they have or haven't done well.
• Use goals. Keep feedback goal-oriented. It's purpose is not to unload your feelings on someone.
• Make it attainable. When delivering negative feedback, make sure you only criticize shortcomings over which the person has some control.
• Ensure a good fit. Tailor the feedback to fit the person. Consider past performance and future potential in designing the frequency, amount, and content of performance feedback.
• Be non-judgmental. Keep feedback descriptive and fair rather than judgmental.
• Explain your reasons. Explain to the recipient why you are being critical or complimentary about specific aspects of their performance.

ACTION POINT: Use the tips above to provide effective feedback.

Giving Feedback

Most managers will enthusiastically give their employees positive feedback but often avoid or delay giving negative feedback, or substantially distort it, for fear of provoking a defensive reaction. However, improving employees' performance depends on balanced and considered feedback.

Providing regular feedback to your employees will improve their performance. This is because:

• Feedback tells the person how well they are progressing toward those goals. Positive feedback gives reinforcement, while constructive negative feedback can result in increased effort.
• The content of the feedback will suggest ways that the person can improve their performance.
• Providing feedback demonstrates to a person that you care about how they are doing.

As a rule positive feedback is usually accepted readily, while negative feedback often meets resistance. When preparing to deliver negative feedback, first make sure you are aware of any conflict that could arise and think about how to deal with it. Ensure that negative feedback comes from a credible source, that it is objective, and that it is supported by hard data such as quantitative performance indicators and specific examples.

ACTION POINT: Provide feedback, positive and negative as needed to improve your teams performance.