Providing feedback is very important but sensitive task. When done well, it provides valuable insight into how work can be improved. However, in some cases, giving honest feedback might hurt someone’s feelings and make them resistant to positive changes. As someone who gives feedback regularly, I use the following strategies to ensure that critiques are well received.
- Always focus on the performance, not the person.
- Begin with the positive things. This helps put the person at ease, and to see what success looks like.
- Language is crucially important. You must use appropriate language to identify specific challenges. Avoid negative words that don’t offer some way forward.
- Feedback must be about things that are possible to change.
- Provide specific suggestions and examples.
- When necessary, give feedback in private to avoid an embarrassing situation.
And finally, be sure to improve your own performance! Giving feedback is a skill that requires experience and practice to perfect. You can evaluate whether you have been successful by observing the reaction to your feedback, and noticing whether the desired behavioral and performance changes have been made. If you don’t find the outcomes you were hoping for, then you must take responsibility and adjust your techniques for giving feedback.
About the author
Hussein Jasim Mohammad hopes to build long-term partnerships through the Junior Officer Program. He is based in Iraq and holds a degree in engineering, with leadership experience in capacity development. He has also worked as an M&E specialist, a researcher, and a data analyst.
