This week’s blog is the second part of my article on Giving Feedback. Last week I talked about understanding the difference between Observations and Impressions (fact vs. feeling). The next point was that when giving feedback, you MUST be sincere. Finally, I touched on how important it is to express appreciation.
This week, I have added some more advice on becoming great at giving Feedback.
Give feedback in person
“How many a dispute could have been deflated into a single paragraph if the disputants had dared to define their terms.”
Aristotle(384 BC – 322 BC)
Sometimes you need to express concern to a team member about their actions or performance. Avoid the temptation of getting it over and done with by writing an email. First of all, how good are you really at expressing yourself in writing? Are you able to convey your objective thoughts in such a way that would not be misconstrued? Consider this about how we receive/convey communication: only 7% of communication is conveyed by words; 55% is expressed via our body language – which is not there in writing – with the final 38% transferred through how we use our voice, i.e. intonation, tone, rhythm, etc.
Second, when giving negative feedback (not to confuse with criticism) in writing, are you able to express the emotion you experience about the situation? Could your words be read as anger, frustration, or worse, sarcasm? Many managers chose writing the email over giving the negative feedback face-to-face because they try to avoid conflict at all cost. But if the reason for giving the negative feedback in the first place was an education process where the desired outcome is an employee better equipped to do his or her job, then it must be given in person. You must deliver your message of concern – be very specific in describing what actions or behaviours you observed – and then follow up with how your team member can avoid a repetition of the behaviour. Ensure the outcome of the meeting is perceived as a positive reflection.
Get to the point
No one wants to be called into the boss’s office to sit visiting and talking about the weather. Good, bad or ugly: get to the point immediately. Say, “John, I want to talk to you about a concern I have regarding you coming into the office late every morning”. Listen to what John has to say about your observation before you jump forward to delivering your remedy. By all means, talk about the weather, the cricket match or whatever, but do that after you are done giving your feedback.
Just like any other skill that can be improved through learning and practice, so can the art of giving Feedback be learned, practiced and honed.