Making feedback a positive experience
For a lot of people, giving and receiving feedback can feel uncomfortable. This might be for a number of reasons, perhaps they’ve been given negative feedback which was hurtful, or somebody has responded aggressively when they have been trying to help them.
Feedback – whether you are the giver of receiver – can frequently be seen as something to fear or be anxious about. However, the process is important to help you and your team develop, build good relationships, and improve.
In this blog we look at some tips on how to make feedback a positive experience for both the giver and receiver.
What are the 3 main types of feedback?
Appreciation
This type of feedback recognises the great work somebody is doing and rewards them for their efforts. It helps encourage and motivate them.
Coaching
This type of feedback involves developing a person’s knowledge, skills, and capability so that they can improve their work next time. It can often involve tackling a person’s emotions which if done successfully can build strong relationships.
Evaluation
This helps outline what a person should be benchmarking themselves against and what is expected of them. It helps make key decisions if somebody needs further training or progression opportunities.
So how can we give better feedback?
Understanding the three types of feedback will help us understand what feedback we should give where. If somebody has a genuine problem and is worried about what they are doing, giving them some appreciative feedback won’t necessarily help. Whereas a coaching approach would be much more beneficial.
When thinking about giving feedback, think of the acronym FAIR.
- Focussed – highlight one or two key points
- Accurate – based on specific direct and observational feedback
- Informative – being clear about achievements and priorities for improvement
- Recent – give feedback in a timely manner so events are easily recalled and can be acted on
When giving feedback avoid a dump truck of information. Try to give positive feedback alongside things that could be worked on.
How can we get better at receiving feedback?
When hearing feedback we can often have a trigger response, such as “that’s not true”. Take a moment to think about your initial response and try to open the dialogue up with that person instead. Feedback is there to help us identify our blind spots which we all have. Be inquisitive, phrases such as “why do you think that” or “tell me more” may help you in this situation.
Remember that when receiving feedback, this is opinion not the truth. So, try and right-size what you are hearing to avoid being emotional or defensive. This will help you avoid having trigger responses.
We are always learning, and challenge is the fastest track to growth.
Below is our bitesize video about giving and receiving feedback which you may find useful to watch or share with your team. If you have any questions or would like to find out more about the Flow Coaching Academy training programme, contact us
