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No,
that's not the way to give feedback (even if it's how you really feel).
Your
supervisor asks for your feedback on a presentation, and, unfortunately, it
really needs a lot of work. Your subordinate shows you a report-in-process, and
it is far from what you need. How can you give
constructive feedback without demotivating or alienating the speaker or writer?
Most
people enjoy giving feedback if it’s positive and complimentary. People like to
get compliments, and you are probably glad to dispense positive comments that
make others feel good.
On the
other hand,
if you only offer positive feedback and ignore or dilute any negative comments,
you are cheating everyone. The speaker or writer will miss the opportunity to
learn something about the way the message came across to you. You, as an
evaluator, will miss the opportunity to learn from recognizing your own
shortcomings that you may see in someone else’s work. Without this information,
communicators will never know if what the receivers heard or read mirrors what
they meant to say as speakers or writers.
The
most useful feedback points out a need for improvement and offers suggestions
for how to make that improvement without discouraging the message sender. How
this feedback is given will largely determine whether the receiver will use the
feedback. Obviously, tact and clarity are helpful. Truly useful feedback is that
which first acknowledges excellence, then points out a need for improvement, and
finally offers a suggestion for how to make that improvement without
de-motivating the speaker or writer. Here are some basic guidelines for giving
good feedback.
·
Describe
something positive, but be sure that your first statement is not misleading or
does not misrepresent your overall intention (such as, “Your letter made a lot
of good points . . .” or “I can tell how hard you have worked on this project .
. .”).
·
Include a
transition (such as, “However, . . .” or--my favorite-- “At the same time, . .
.”).
·
Express
constructive criticism in terms of “I” (such as, “I got lost when you were
talking about . . .” or “I had difficulty understanding your information about .
. .”).
·
Give a
specific example (such as, “For example, I couldn’t see the connection between
your description of the market and your solution . . .” or “I didn’t understand
what you meant by . . .”).
·
Offer an
option for a solution (such as, “Perhaps if you could show me that information
on a chart . . .” or “It would help me if you’d define some key terms . . .”).
Applying these guidelines might sound something like this:
“Julie, your attention
grabber was really clever. That was a perfect story to introduce the need for
improvement in the team. (Positive
opening) At the same time (Transition),
I didn’t understand the explanation of the change in the cost of raw materials.
(Constructive criticism in terms of “I”)
Maybe a graph or an illustration of some kind would have made it clearer for me.
(Option for solution) Since you
tell such good stories, I know you can even make the numbers simple and
interesting for us non-numbers types. (Positive,
motivating close)”
With this organizational pattern, both the giver
and the receiver tend to be more comfortable with the feedback process. If
you are giving feedback, you should be less reticent to offer constructive
feedback because you are also recognizing positive aspects. The person
receiving feedback should be less defensive about criticism because he/she is
also receiving praise.
Sherron Bienvenu, PhD
Communication Solutions Newsletter
October 2003
Adapted from:
The Presentation Skills Workshop (AMACOM Books) and
Business Communication: Discovering Strategy, Developing Skills, with Paul Timm
(Prentice Hall). See Dr. Bienvenu's Books and Videos.
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