Give Honest Feedback

BursaSnipers

Publish date: Sun, 01 Sep 2019, 12:30 PM

10 Giving feedback to your colleagues can help them unlock their full potential. Honest feedback, both positive and negative, celebrates the best of your coworkers, and helps them find ways to get even better.

Here’s how to boost your skill at giving feedback:

Take An Interest

It’s vital to have frank discussions with people on your team, even though it might seem tough.

“A lot of people are reluctant because they don’t want to hurt someone’s feelings,” says Sarah Wirth, vice president of client service at Lincoln, Neb.-based coaching performance firm EcSell Institute. “But leaders and coaches who are not afraid find it leads to better relationships. People who are willing to have tough conversations are people who care about you the most.”

If you see someone doing something wrong or you know of a better way, you owe it to them to help.

“If someone is doing something poorly, that person wants to know,” Wirth told. “I always say it’s like someone having spinach in their teeth. You have to tell them. Nobody wants to walk around that way.”

Mix It Up

Feedback must include positive comments as well as negative.

“If it’s all negative, you’re not giving somebody the whole picture,” Caroline Stokes, founder of Vancouver, B.C.-based executive headhunting and coaching firm Forward, told.

Don’t just do what Stokes calls “the feedback sandwich,” the typical notion of saying something positive, then criticizing and finishing with a positive comment. Employees will quickly catch on to the pattern and ignore the positive comments.

Instead, give comments — good or bad — in the moment, as things happen, Stokes says.

“People can feel it coming if they know there’s a negative,” said Stokes, who wrote “Elephants Before Unicorns.” “When that happens, you lose credibility and confidence.”

If you see something that isn’t up to par, ask, “What do you think you can improve?” People who are hungry to learn will have an answer.

That full scope of feedback will build trust among your people. Then it becomes far easier to talk about negatives too, Stokes says. Employees know it’s just part of the process.

Change The Look

Leaders need to reframe the discussion in their mind to get over the hump of feeling they’re just being critical, says Wirth, who coauthored “The Coaching Effect.”

“Instead of thinking it’s something negative, think of it as, ‘I’m telling them something to help them because I know something that could make them more effective,’ ” Wirth said. “If you don’t, you could actually hurt them.”

Even in a scenario where you have to fire someone for not doing the job, view it as something constructive.

“If somebody is not the right fit and you don’t tell them that, you’re enabling them to come in every day and be a failure,” Wirth said. “Tell them you want to help them get in a situation where they can use their strengths.”

Build The Environment

Create a culture so everyone feels comfortable speaking openly and is willing to accept honest feedback, Stokes says.

That starts with the leader.

“The CEO has to really believe in it and drive that behavior,” Stokes said.

Hold yourself accountable to make sure you give your people the unvarnished truth. Wirth says she’ll write down the points she wants to make to make sure she hits them all during the discussion. She also asks, “What would you do differently if you had it to do over again?”

“One key to great feedback is creating dialogue,” Wirth said. “You’ll get much better results if the other person realizes they need to improve.”

Honesty is key to delivering and receiving honest feedback.

“It’s all about being as authentic, transparent and trustworthy as possible,” Stokes said. “You have to work at that daily.”

Get used to telling people you like the way they made a presentation, without a “but” attached.

Then you get to where people ask, “What can I do better?” Stokes said. “That’s the magical point.”

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