4 tips to GREAT feedback, removing the stress for you and your team
‘Can I give you some feedback?’.
Ouch! I don’t know about you, but hearing those words makes my blood run ever so slightly cold. What’s coming? What have I done wrong? Have they finally realised I’m no good?
How do those words make you feel?
Imagine if you could take that statement in your stride. Imagine if you said those words to your team members and it was received with a smile and excitement rather than trepidation. That is possible.
And, NEWSFLASH, that’s how it should be! Feedback has a nasty rep of being the bad guy, but feedback done well and given in a timely manner can have significant benefits. To name just a few:
- Increased motivation
- Improved performance
- Continuous learning
- Improved relationships
- Personal growth
- Increased confidence
After all, the definition of feedback is “helpful information or criticism that is given to someone to say what can be done to improve a performance.” The key word for me here is ‘helpful’. Feedback is in service of helping you to be better, to achieve more, to progress, to develop and to reach better outcomes. Not such a bad guy after all, is he?
Giving great feedback
Here’s my top tips for giving great feedback:
- Feedback is positive AND constructive
Remember to acknowledge the great things, the strengths that you see. Positive feedback can be reaffirming and empowering to an individual receiving it. After all, what’s better than hearing someone appreciates you and has seen you do a good job?
- Make it timely
Give the feedback in the moment or as soon as you can after you’ve seen the behaviour you want to feed back on. Saving up feedback for a performance review at the end of the year is so unhelpful. By giving it in a timely manner, the individual can remember the occasion you are talking about (so it is relevant and relatable) and they have a chance to take the feedback on board in their day-to-day work. If this is constructive feedback, the positive change will happen so much sooner. Plus, by making it timely, they’ll be receiving feedback in small, manageable chunks rather than an avalanche at the end of the year. This is so much more motivational and empowering.
- Represent your view and seek their input
The best feedback is based on your own experiences, so try not to represent the views of others. Giving feedback on behalf of other people can be misconstrued, it can lose the nuance of the situation (thereby undermining the validity of the feedback) and it can become a case of he said/she said. By focusing on your own views, you’ll be able to give a really clear, objective message (one of the fundamental principles of great feedback).
As part of the feedback conversation, seek the individual’s opinion: how did they find the situation you’re discussing? What have they learned from the situation? If they had their time again, what would they do differently? What did they notice really worked for them in that moment?
As individuals, we’re often our harshest critics and we self-reflect after the event, so it’s highly likely that they will have their own reflections. If they share them for themselves, there’s nothing more powerful- it will help them feel accountable and take responsibility moving forwards. Plus, they’ll feel heard; which has to be one of the most engaging feelings. Win-win for everyone!
- Use S-B-I
Here’s the model… and it really works! The best feedback is specific, timely, relevant, objective and clear. It’s tangible and can be used to shape a plan moving forwards. So, really, there’s a lot of responsibility on someone who’s giving feedback to make sure that it is useful. Trust me, by using S-B-I it will be more than useful.
S-B-I stands for: Situation-Behaviour-Impact
Situation
By describing the situation, it takes the individual back to the specific moment that you’re referring to- they can visualise exactly what it is you’re talking about.
Behaviour
Be specific about the behaviour you’ve witnessed- in a non-judgemental way, but highlighting specifically what it is that you saw that was good or bad. Saying “well done, that was great” isn’t helpful to an individual. However, being specific will really help: “the way you did x,y,z was great because…” is a much more powerful form of feedback.
Impact
Highlighting the impact takes the heat out of the feedback- it makes it less emotive and personal. It also helps the individual understand and appreciate the consequences.
The example below shows how this might be applied:
SBI is also super quick and simple to remember. It is a small model that will help you to give feedback in a timely manner- even on the way out of the meeting room. This doesn’t have to be a laboured process, but by using this your impact as feedback giver will be significantly enhanced!
Have a go- let me know what you think! And let’s turn the tide on the reputation of feedback!
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