The Art of Feedback

Giving feedback means providing an interpretation of an experience without being critical. The eight steps of bold feedback coincide with the four bold principles. I call it The Art of Feedback

Principle 1: Assume Innocence

1. Make your feedback sincere. Feedback must come from a desire to improve performance.

2. Make your feedback timely. Offer it as soon as appropriately possible.

3. Choose a comfortable place. Always deliver in private feedback that is not positive. Consider a private setting for even positive feedback.

Principle 2: Build a Bridge

4. Preface your request with feedback. Before requesting someone to change their behavior, a leader should provide specific feedback first to support that request. Make sure to ask the listener for permission before delivering feedback. If the feedback is obligatory, ask when the listener would like to hear it.

Principle 3: Speak Your Truth

5. Be specific and objective. Avoid interpreting behaviors; instead, simply note specific behaviors. Refrain from unspecific labels (e.g. enthused, bad attitude). Focus on what behaviors happened, not what should have happened or could in the future.

6. Make it relevant to the organization. Draw connections between feedback and organization’s goals and statistics. Note how the behavior affected the organization.

Principle 4: Invite Dialogue

7. Make this a discussion. Always ask for the listener’s response after giving feedback. Listen openly, paraphrase the response, and reply to the teammate’s reaction.

8. Make the discussion a start, not an end. Offer advice and encouragement, and leave the door for communication open.

Positive feedback should be as specific as constructive feedback.

The Art of Feedback

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About the Author

abhishekshah

Proactive, diligent and target oriented professional with accomplished experience of 11+ years across Banking & Finance Services handling Sales & Marketing, Clients Acquisition, Corporate Sales, Business Development & Relationship Management. In his last assignment he served as Vice President & Head Acquisitions at Edelweiss Capital , where he was responsible for the overall strategy and execution of Edelweiss partnerships - indirect channels and direct channel client acquisition activities. He has worked with HSBC Group as Head of Sales for their NBFC, Zonal Manager with ABN AMRO & with ICICI Bank in various capacities. He loves Technology & calls Social Media as his first love. He Loves writing!!! He holds a bachelor's degree in commerce from Delhi University and is a MBA from Institute of Management Technology, Ghaziabad. He lives in New Delhi India with his proud family and spends his free time pursuing one of his many interests, which include tinkering with gadgets & hardware, playing with his little tiger Aarav!! He calls Appitive.com as the daily Social Media Appetizer!