As a manager and a coach, giving feedback is one of the most important parts of your job. Without it, your employees wouldn't know what to improve upon or what they are doing well. The purpose of feedback is for your employees to learn where their actions, behaviors, etc. are in relation to you or your company's desired expectation. Feedback given in the wrong way or at the wrong time can have little to no impact on an employees work or behavior. Here are 7 things to consider when giving feedback:
1. Be specific
If you are not specific enough when giving your feedback, an employee will not know what they did well or what they need to improve upon.
2. About and action or event
Feedback is never about the person, only about what the person did. When feedback is given about your employee, they can become defensive, lose motivation, and it can damage your relationship with them.
3. Ask what and how
When giving feedback, don't focus on why an employee did something, this can cause them to become defensive. Instead, focus on what they did and how they did it.
4. Feedback is not advice
Although sometimes advice is given with feedback, that is not always the most helpful way to improve an employees work. Instead of telling an employee what they should do, give your feedback, then ask them what they think they should do to improve.
5. Make it attainable
Make sure the feedback you give has attainable goals. Asking too much of an employee right away may make them feel defeated and less motivated to improve their skills and behavior. If that employee does need to improve in a big way, try setting little goals for them to accomplish in steps, that way, every time they achieve a goal they feel more empowered and motivated to continue improving.
6. Be helpful
This may seem obvious, but feedback is only meant to be helpful. Never use feedback to criticize or demean the work an employee did.
7. Make sure they understand
After you have given feedback, make sure the employee understands what you said. If they take it in the wrong way, then when they go to improve the behavior or action, they believe they are doing better when they could actually be doing worse.
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By being mindful of these 7 concepts, you can make sure your feedback is producing the desired impact and results in your employees and their work. Good feedback means progress, increased motivation, and happy employees.
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