How to Give Effective Feedback
"We talk about deadwood, but we don't talk to deadwood."
-- Zane Schauer, NOAA
Many managers dread giving feedback to their team members. This is natural among new supervisors who doing it for the first time, but many managers never learn how give feedback effectively. Fortunately, there are simple strategies for giving effective feedback, and using them gets easier with practice. Using these skills regularly sets up a cycle of positive reinforcement because difficult problems with employees often go away if you actually deal with them.
Articles
- Friendly Feedback Tips That Work, by Mike Mears
Offers tips for making feedback easier and more natural. - The Art of Effective Feedback
Highly useful pamphlet produced by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO). - The Engaged Feedback Checklist, by Brené Brown
Great resource for getting in the right frame of mind for giving feedback. - How to Give the Most Effective Feedback
Feedback best practices from the Center for Creative Leadership. - A Guide to Giving and Receiving Feedback
Excellent resource from NASA. - Why Vague Feedback is So Destructive and What to Do About It
Actionable article from GovExec.com. - What's in a Word? by Irv Rubin
It's time to get over the fear of giving and receiving feedback.
- A 3-Step Method for Giving Clear Feedback
Summarizes the Center for Creative Leadership's Situation-Behavior-Impact model.
Books
Feedback that Works: How to Build and Deliver Your Message
Giving Feedback to Subordinates
A companion guide to Feedback that Works, Giving Feedback to Subordinates is packed with actionable advice about giving effective feedback to subordinates, whether it be positive, negative, or developmental. Includes sections on the Situation-Behavior-Impact model, when to give feedback, how to build the feedback relationship, how to structure the feedback session, and how to handle the emotional impact of feedback. Read More...