As they say, Feedback is a gift. We often receive and give feedback to our colleagues, leaders, juniors, and various other people. It is important to know how feedback is important and can impact someone. What are the advantages of giving it and how it should be given?
What is Feedback ?
It is a process to let someone know how they have done something, what are the areas of improvement, and what they can do better. It is a positive and powerful practice to bring change. Moreover, it is a tool for continuous learning. Continuous learning is the key to improving and doing better.
Photo on Unsplash by Jon Tyson
Types of feedback
Constructive Feedback is something when you talk about improvement areas and not try to blame or discourage someone. The intent is to help and let someone know where they can improve and do better. Opposite to that is negative feedback. It is more like criticizing. Only finding faults and not talking about good things they have done. People may have different hidden agendas to do that. Try to ignore such people while still looking at the improvement areas and whether there is something that can be improved.
Advantages
1. Early feedback Helps in optimizing processes and increasing efficiency before things go out of control and damage. if given timely, it helps in fixing things early and having no surprises later.
2. It increases transparency. People know how they are doing and where things are missing. So there is always an opportunity to improve.
3. It helps in avoiding mistakes repetitively. Sometimes people make mistakes again and again just because they don’t that it is wrong, or they are not doing it right. Maybe here the coach or mentor plays a critical role in pointing out those things and making them aware. So, they stop making the same mistakes again.
4. If it is given in the right spirit and with the right intentions, it helps in improvement. It allows people to evolve and motivate to do better.
How to give Constructive feedback
1. Don’t blame or judge, talk about issues and impacts, less about people.
2. Talk about people’s strengths also, not only about missing things.
3. Try to use data and evidence, to show how changing something can impact something. Try to give examples or analogies to make them understand the big picture.
4. Make sure they understand the feedback, it’s not about bringing consensus forcefully. Be open-minded, and listen to their perspective also.
5. Finally, ask for other’s feedback also, be open to receiving also.
Hope this article helps you understand how feedback is important, how it helps improve things, and how to give it constructively with right spirit and intent.