Read This Before You Deliver Feedback in Your Workplace

Feedback is one of the most vital things you can do to help your employees grow. When you deliver feedback to employees, they can adjust their behavior and work styles to improve their performance.

Consider this: how can you improve if you don’t know how you’re doing? How can anything be fixed if you don’t know what you’re doing wrong? And if you don’t know whether your work is effective, how can you figure out what you should change or improve?

The problem is that managers and leaders are sometimes clueless on how to deliver feedback effectively, especially if you’re not sure how your feedback should sound or look. Giving feedback to your employees should be done in a way that shows them that you care about their development as individuals and as members of your team. It can also help you strengthen your relationships with one another. 

The best way to make sure you’re giving effective feedback is by being clear about your intentions and following some simple tips:

1. Keep feedback specific and actionable

Be specific. If you’ve got a lot of comments about one thing, make sure they’re all related to that subject—you don’t want to overwhelm your employee with too much information at once.

Giving examples of how to make adjustments to produce better results is also helpful. For example: “In our last meeting, I asked whether we had any plans for updating our website, and you said yes but didn’t give any details about the kind of changes.” It gives more context to why someone might have answered without realizing what was being asked.

2. Don’t Make it Personal

When you deliver feedback to your employees, remember that they are human beings; they may not be perfect and may have good intentions when they make mistakes. Avoid making harsh comments no matter the gravity of the wrong action. You might think that a little roughing will push your staff to do better, but studies show that negative feedback rarely leads to employee improvement. 

You should focus on the specific actions or behaviors that led to the outcome you’re discussing, not your employee’s identity or character as a person. Instead of saying, “You didn’t do this,” say something like: “I noticed during our last meeting you did not follow up with me on this project.”

3. Make sure you’re calm when delivering feedback

Giving feedback in the workplace requires you to be in a mindset that allows you to concentrate on the conversation. It can mean putting it off or even walking away from your desk for a few minutes. If possible, try to avoid giving feedback in front of others unless they are part of the conversation.

When giving negative feedback, please don’t give it in front of anyone who might feel negatively affected by what they hear; instead, wait until later and ensure that everyone has left before delivering any criticism or suggestions. 

4. Be ready to listen

Most people think that giving feedback is a one-way communication thing, and it’s not. As the one to deliver feedback, you must also be ready to listen to the one receiving feedback as well. Research shows that the more employees feel heard, the more they will likely take your feedback positively. 

Listening means that you are interested in what your employee says and trying to understand their point of view. Don’t interrupt while they’re talking; let them finish their sentence or thought before responding. Never assume what someone else is trying to say by saying something like, “I don’t get it.” Try asking questions instead—you’ll learn so much more from getting clarification from someone else than just guessing at the meaning behind a phrase. 

We hope you learned a few pointers on how to give constructive feedback at work. Here are a few more giving and receiving feedback examples that you can check out and learn from!