Giving Feedback

Why is GIving Feedback important and how to Do it?

Treeplanting - Circa 2016

Treeplanting - Circa 2016

Hello Mr Dayhob, 

As always, thank you for the opportunity to treeplant for you! Although I didn’t take as long as I would have liked to reflect on my season, I do have a few pieces of feedback to pass along.

Firstly, have you considered hiring a secretary for the Supervisors? I don’t know enough about the role of a Supervisor, but I see Phil as the hardest working man in our camp. As the season progressed, I feel I could have really benefited from more of his wisdom and leadership on the block. It frustrated me when I had questions, but he wasn’t there because he had to do random admin work or drive into town on fuel runs … I am wondering if a secretary could offload some of this work and free up more of his time for leading us? 

Hello Reader,

We are all giving Feedback whether we intend to or not. Our boss ruefully shakes her head after we finish a client call. A friend rolls their eyes when we say we are tired and don’t want to go out. Our teacher says ‘great question’ to his favourite, again. Regardless of whether we say something verbally or not, we are providing feedback. 

For me, giving good feedback is about actively and thoughtfully providing information that can benefit the recipient.


WHY IS GIVING FEEDBACK IMPORTANT?

  1. Help Others - our experiences and reactions provide insight to the people we are sharing them with. The lessons we have learned from our experience can help others become more effective, or ease their burden, in some way. Also, our reactions to the work, actions or ideas of others is valuable information which they won’t receive if we don’t share.

  2. Clarity - remember, we are giving feedback whether we like it or not; by actively providing feedback, we clarify our message. We remove the ambiguity of interpretation so that the recipient has a clear understanding of our thoughts.

  3. Perspective - ‘you have spinach in your teeth.’ A classic example that demonstrates how we see the world from our viewpoint and are not always capable of seeing the full picture. Giving feedback provides a different perspective which the recipient can use to make more informed decisions. 


HOW TO GIVE FEEDBACK?

My most effective feedback includes the checklist:

1. MINDSET CHECK-IN

“Reader, are you in the right mindset to receive feedback?’ 

  • Receiving unexpected feedback can put people into a defensive mindset, so asking them if they are open to receiving your thoughts will give them the opportunity to get ready.*

2. CONTEXT REMINDER

‘I know we want to have the best friendship possible ...’ or ‘In light of our goal to launch the new website by Friday …’ 

  • Establishing the context helps the recipient understand the reason we are giving feedback. This helps them see the learning in light of the bigger picture.

3. SPECIFIC

‘Yesterday, when you were 30 minutes late for our lunch, which is the third time this has happened, …’

  • The best feedback we can give is something that is actionable; something that can be increased or decreased. The blurrier we make our feedback, the harder it is for the person to understand and implement. Saying ‘Good Job!’ does not indicate what the good job was for, we need more nuance! Be specific so that the other person has a clear understanding of our feedback.

4. CONSEQUENCES

‘... I felt lonely and frustrated, sitting at the table waiting for you. It makes me hesitant to organise lunches with you because I don’t know when you will show up.’

  • Communicating the reactions, experiences, emotions, ideas, etc. which we have as a result of their actions helps the person understand the consequences. 

5. CLARIFICATION

‘Does that all make sense? 

  • It is important we ensure our feedback was understood. 

6. NEXT STEPS

‘Is there anything we can do off the back of this?’

  • Check-in to determine the next steps. Note, we include ourselves in this conversation, this is not about blame or accusation, but an opportunity to work together.

*Regular Feedback Sessions - I have found the best way to help people get in the right mindset for feedback is to organise regular conversations (I prefer a fortnightly routine). The defined space means that we can prepare ourselves to give / receive feedback, as well as makes the conversation routine. I supplement my feedback ad-hoc as needed. 

MYTH OF THE SANDWICH MODEL

A final point I wanted to mention was the sandwich model of feedback, which I am sure you have come across. It goes like this: 

Positive Feedback

Negative Feedback

Positive Feedback

This model is well intentioned, but flawed because we never hear the final piece of positive feedback. When we receive negative feedback, our tendency is to exclusively focus on that, which undermines our ability to take in the rest of the positive information.

The solution here is to continuously give feedback. Praise, praise, praise whenever it is relevant. Provide critical feedback when it is merited. Give it authentically, tie it into the context, listen to their perspective and then together, close the loop in order to figure out new actions.

YABADABADOO!!

Reader, well done! You now know a lot more about giving feedback; why it is important, common barriers to good feedback, my mindset for approaching the conversation and a checklist for giving feedback.

Wishing you enthusiasm and joy!

Helping Young Professionals & Postgraduate Students Improve