How to give feedback: 9 rules
Studies have shown that when employees receive a constructive feedback, they work better. If there is no feedback, stress arises: it is difficult to understand whether you are doing well and where to move on. There is a "crisis of recognition" - and there is not around the corner and burnout .
Detailed feedback should be given to the employee at least once every six months. It is worth approaching it responsibly - in order not to discourage the desire to work, but to help solve problems, and even stimulate new achievements. We figured out what rules to follow when giving feedback.
Think in advance what, how and in what sequence you want to tell the employee. If you are afraid to miss something during the conversation, make a short feedback plan.
Perhaps you are worried that you will fall for an employee, because recently he worked poorly, and you were nervous a lot. Consider the wording in advance so as not to offend the person during the feedback. Still, the purpose of the feedback is not to criticize, but to show mistakes and help prevent them.
Request employee feedback from colleagues with whom he worked closely. Find out how they evaluate his professional qualities, ability to solve problems. This will help to better understand how a person copes with the work.
Imagine: you just tuned in to work, focused, and suddenly you are asked to go to the boss’s office. An urgent task is on, an hour later an important meeting. The time for feedback, to put it mildly, is not the best.
Employees regard the environment where feedback may lie in wait at any time as dangerous: it is not clear whether the day will go according to plan , whether there will be stress out of nowhere.
Therefore, in advance, warn the person that you want to give feedback. The employee will plan the day and will be less nervous. In addition, he will reflect, think about his mistakes and successes - this will be useful for conversation. A person will perceive feedback more easily, because he will be prepared for it.
You've probably heard about this rule: "Scold personally, praise publicly." And if everything is clear with the first part - criticism in front of the team will cause great stress for the employee and only alienate him from colleagues, then the second can be argued. Someone's public praise will make me nervous a lot.
Give one-on-one feedback, not a group of people, even if you are going to say only good. The point here is not only that everyone perceives public praise in their own way, but also that the employee also needs to speak out during feedback. Talking about your problems, asking for advice, asking questions in public is much more difficult than talking face to face.
Conventionally, people have three “sections” of the brain : “reptilian”, “emotional” and “logical”. The first one exists the longest, the last one is the youngest, and it has the battery that runs most quickly. According to the researchers, it cannot function continuously, and most of the time at the helm are the “reptilian” and “emotional” sections of the brain. Through them, in the first place, everything that a person hears, sees, feels, passes.
If you start criticizing an employee from the threshold, he will perceive your speech as an attack, and will begin to defend himself - this will happen instinctively. Even if you make good arguments, the employee will not take your words the way you want: he will have stress.
Therefore, it is important to present feedback so that it is not perceived as an act of aggression. At the beginning of the conversation, tell the employee something neutral, for example, what has happened or will happen in the team. If you have a difficult project, say that you can finally exhale. So you will create a friendly, trusting atmosphere, and the employee will be ready to calmly and thoughtfully take your words, including criticism.
A quality feedback is a listing of facts, but not your personal assessment of what happened. Just tell the employee how you see his actions on his part, how they influenced you, the work of the team, the product. And what to do with this information, let the employee decide.
Be invaluable: the “reptilian” section of the employee’s brain will not find cause for concern and will feel safe. Only in this state can one calmly consider the facts and understand what to work on further.
Share with the person exactly what actions led to the success of the project or failure. If you do not explain this, it will be difficult for him to correct mistakes or repeat an excellent result. So during the feedback - you criticize or praise - be specific and do not spare time for clarification.
Let the employee know that mistakes are normal and can be fixed. Do not say that its failures led to terrible consequences. If so, the employee himself understands everything. It is important to understand what to do next and what not to repeat.
The words “you made a lot of mistakes this quarter, because of which the project suffered” will not help to improve and grow, people will only blame themselves more diligently. And wordings like “we tried until it worked out, but we have everything ahead” help calm down and concentrate on how to correct mistakes.
You need to speak not only to you, but also to the interlocutor - let him give you feedback too: share your feelings, reveal your point of view, ask for advice or even argue with you. Maybe you don’t know something, you have incomplete or erroneous data. It is important to have a dialogue in order to better understand each other.
If an employee made mistakes, do not throw him over with your guesses, but first ask what, in the person’s opinion, the failure had reasons. Ask questions: they will help both you and the employee to understand the problem.
Ask the person to share their thoughts on the job: what he wants, why he is worried. You will begin to better understand the employee and find out what is needed so that his interest in the work does not disappear .
Having figured out what the problems are, do not rush to offer your solutions and do not give direct instructions. Let the person himself think what is best to do and take responsibility. Implementing decisions that have not been imposed is easier and more enjoyable.
If an employee cannot understand how to cope with a problem, help him: suggest several options, tell us what you would do in his place. Don’t give tips like “pump up and be proactive”: they won’t help. Offer to perform specific actions: “learn to work with such and such a framework”, “an idea will appear - tell me about it, and if all is well - to the project customer”. The main thing here is not to push.
Having drawn up an action plan, be sure to understand each other correctly. You can even fix the agreement in writing so as not to forget about them.
Detailed feedback should be given to the employee at least once every six months. It is worth approaching it responsibly - in order not to discourage the desire to work, but to help solve problems, and even stimulate new achievements. We figured out what rules to follow when giving feedback.
1. Consider the content of the conversation
Think in advance what, how and in what sequence you want to tell the employee. If you are afraid to miss something during the conversation, make a short feedback plan.
Perhaps you are worried that you will fall for an employee, because recently he worked poorly, and you were nervous a lot. Consider the wording in advance so as not to offend the person during the feedback. Still, the purpose of the feedback is not to criticize, but to show mistakes and help prevent them.
Request employee feedback from colleagues with whom he worked closely. Find out how they evaluate his professional qualities, ability to solve problems. This will help to better understand how a person copes with the work.
2. Warn the employee in advance about feedback
Imagine: you just tuned in to work, focused, and suddenly you are asked to go to the boss’s office. An urgent task is on, an hour later an important meeting. The time for feedback, to put it mildly, is not the best.
Employees regard the environment where feedback may lie in wait at any time as dangerous: it is not clear whether the day will go according to plan , whether there will be stress out of nowhere.
Therefore, in advance, warn the person that you want to give feedback. The employee will plan the day and will be less nervous. In addition, he will reflect, think about his mistakes and successes - this will be useful for conversation. A person will perceive feedback more easily, because he will be prepared for it.
3. Give feedback in person
You've probably heard about this rule: "Scold personally, praise publicly." And if everything is clear with the first part - criticism in front of the team will cause great stress for the employee and only alienate him from colleagues, then the second can be argued. Someone's public praise will make me nervous a lot.
Give one-on-one feedback, not a group of people, even if you are going to say only good. The point here is not only that everyone perceives public praise in their own way, but also that the employee also needs to speak out during feedback. Talking about your problems, asking for advice, asking questions in public is much more difficult than talking face to face.
4. Do not attack
Conventionally, people have three “sections” of the brain : “reptilian”, “emotional” and “logical”. The first one exists the longest, the last one is the youngest, and it has the battery that runs most quickly. According to the researchers, it cannot function continuously, and most of the time at the helm are the “reptilian” and “emotional” sections of the brain. Through them, in the first place, everything that a person hears, sees, feels, passes.
If you start criticizing an employee from the threshold, he will perceive your speech as an attack, and will begin to defend himself - this will happen instinctively. Even if you make good arguments, the employee will not take your words the way you want: he will have stress.
Therefore, it is important to present feedback so that it is not perceived as an act of aggression. At the beginning of the conversation, tell the employee something neutral, for example, what has happened or will happen in the team. If you have a difficult project, say that you can finally exhale. So you will create a friendly, trusting atmosphere, and the employee will be ready to calmly and thoughtfully take your words, including criticism.
5. Do not rate
A quality feedback is a listing of facts, but not your personal assessment of what happened. Just tell the employee how you see his actions on his part, how they influenced you, the work of the team, the product. And what to do with this information, let the employee decide.
Be invaluable: the “reptilian” section of the employee’s brain will not find cause for concern and will feel safe. Only in this state can one calmly consider the facts and understand what to work on further.
6. Be specific
Share with the person exactly what actions led to the success of the project or failure. If you do not explain this, it will be difficult for him to correct mistakes or repeat an excellent result. So during the feedback - you criticize or praise - be specific and do not spare time for clarification.
7. Show that the errors are fixable
Let the employee know that mistakes are normal and can be fixed. Do not say that its failures led to terrible consequences. If so, the employee himself understands everything. It is important to understand what to do next and what not to repeat.
The words “you made a lot of mistakes this quarter, because of which the project suffered” will not help to improve and grow, people will only blame themselves more diligently. And wordings like “we tried until it worked out, but we have everything ahead” help calm down and concentrate on how to correct mistakes.
8. Ask and listen to the interlocutor
You need to speak not only to you, but also to the interlocutor - let him give you feedback too: share your feelings, reveal your point of view, ask for advice or even argue with you. Maybe you don’t know something, you have incomplete or erroneous data. It is important to have a dialogue in order to better understand each other.
If an employee made mistakes, do not throw him over with your guesses, but first ask what, in the person’s opinion, the failure had reasons. Ask questions: they will help both you and the employee to understand the problem.
Ask the person to share their thoughts on the job: what he wants, why he is worried. You will begin to better understand the employee and find out what is needed so that his interest in the work does not disappear .
9. Find solutions to problems together
Having figured out what the problems are, do not rush to offer your solutions and do not give direct instructions. Let the person himself think what is best to do and take responsibility. Implementing decisions that have not been imposed is easier and more enjoyable.
If an employee cannot understand how to cope with a problem, help him: suggest several options, tell us what you would do in his place. Don’t give tips like “pump up and be proactive”: they won’t help. Offer to perform specific actions: “learn to work with such and such a framework”, “an idea will appear - tell me about it, and if all is well - to the project customer”. The main thing here is not to push.
Having drawn up an action plan, be sure to understand each other correctly. You can even fix the agreement in writing so as not to forget about them.