The art of giving feedback
The ability to give effective feedback benefits you and others. Whether in professional or personal contexts, positive verbal and nonverbal feedback can boost confidence, and negative feedback, when delivered constructively, can provide important perception checking that leads to improvements. Of course, negative feedback delivered poorly can lead to communication difficulties that affects self-esteem and self-efficacy.
If you need to give feedback to another person in any situation, offer constructive criticism. This involves comments that are specific and descriptive for the receiver to apply them for the purpose of self-improvement.
When giving feedback to others
- Be specific and descriptive: Let’s say someone writes “Eye contact” on a feedback questionnaire. That comment gives no information. A comment like “Good eye contact” or “Not enough eye contact” is a bit more specific, but it’s not descriptive enough to be useful. The best type of comment would be “Good consistent eye contact with the audience during your introduction. Eye contact with the audience diminished when you seemed less confident in what you were presenting in the last 3 slides of your PowerPoint.”
- Be positive: If you are delivering your feedback in writing, write the assessment as if you are speaking directly to that person. Comments such as “Stop fidgeting” or “Get more sources” would sound too harsh if mentioned verbally. Frame comments in a positive manner to avoid defensive behavior or hurt feelings.
- Be constructive: Although we want to give positive feedback, comments such as “Good job” aren’t constructive since the comment isn’t clear. Feedback such as “You were able to explain our company’s new marketing strategy in a way that even I, as an engineer, could understand. The part about our new crisis communication plan wasn’t as clear. Perhaps you could break it down the same way you did the marketing strategy to make it clearer for people like me who are outside the public relations department.” This statement is positively framed, specific, and constructive because the speaker can continue to build on the positively reviewed skill by applying it to another part of the speech that was identified as a place for improvement.
- Be realistic: Comments such as “Don’t be nervous” aren’t constructive or realistic. Instead, you might say, “I know the first speech is tough, but remember that we’re all in the same situation and we’re all here to learn. Try the breathing exercises discussed in the book to help calm your nerves. ”
- Be relevant: Feedback should be relevant to the assignment, task, and/or context. Feedback such as “Rad nail polish” or “Nice smile,” which although meant as compliments are not relevant in formal feedback unless you’re a fashion consultant or a dentist.
