Give Effective Feedback by Focusing on Positive
Constructive criticism can be poisonous in the workplace. It is difficult to give without forcing the recipient to defend themselves. (This is also difficult to accept.) This does not mean that we should never talk about each other’s actions; refusing to discuss how we are doing will lead to a stagnant environment in which employees don’t learn, grow, or improve.
But perhaps “feedback” should not be the same as “criticism.” In fact, Markus Buckingham, head of human resources and performance research at ADP Research Institute, and Ashley Goodall, senior vice president of leadership and team analysis at Cisco Systems, write for Harvard Business Review that the secret to effective feedback is focus. completely positive.
Start by remembering that your opinion is just YOUR opinion
You might think that someone has made a dynamic presentation; I might think that this was overkill. What you call “boring” I can call “brooding.” Interpreting another person’s performance in the workplace is almost always purely an opinion, a point of view colored by our own expectations, personalities, and experiences.
Even if measurable results – like the number of sales – show that the person is not living up to expectations, the reasons for the failure vary depending on who you ask. Buckingham and Goodall put it this way :
All we can do – and this is not a trifle – is to share our own feelings and experiences, our own reactions. This way we can tell someone if his voice annoys us ; will he convince us; whether his presentation is boring to us . We may not be able to tell him where he is, but we can tell him where he is with us. These are our truths, not his. This is a more modest statement, but at least it is true.
This is why much of the criticism is actually not that constructive; this is just your opinion and you are not necessarily right.
Get rid of the negativity
Of course, you can eat the old compliment sandwich if you like. You know when you give a positive result, and then there is something that can be improved, complemented by another positive point. But we all kind of see right through, right? We know it’s about the meat in the middle.
Buckingham and Goodall argue that we receive more from compliments than ever from criticism. That we actually learn more when others point out our strengths than when they point out our weaknesses. In fact, they take it a step further and say that focusing people’s attention on their flaws actually interferes with learning.
Learning happens when we see how we could do something better by adding new nuances or additions to our own understanding. Learning is based on our understanding of what we do well, not on what we do badly, and certainly not on someone else’s understanding of what we do wrong. Second, we learn the most when someone pays attention to what is working within us and asks us to develop it intelligently. … It is clear that most of all we learn in our comfort zones, because this is where our neural pathways are most concentrated. This is where we are most open to opportunity, most creative, discerning and productive. This is where feedback needs to meet us – in moments of flow.
Point out these “moments of the flow”
We do this with children. When we catch them with good manners or put away toys without our request, we will definitely point it out at the moment and praise them for it. Praise does more than punishment for improving a child’s behavior. They naturally want to prosper and delight us, so when we know when they’re doing well, they have a way to do it even better in the future.
Why should things be different for adults?
When someone at work closes a sale, reaches a goal, or creates particularly creative or meaningful material, cheer them up. And take it one step further to not just say good job. To help them learn and grow from their success, Buckingham and Goodall suggest sharing your reactions to their good work.
Describe what you experienced when her moment of perfection caught your attention. There is nothing more believable and authoritative than sharing what you saw from her and how it made you feel. Use phrases such as “This is how it came to my mind,” or “This is what got me thinking,” or even just, “Did you see what you were doing there?” These are your reactions – this is your truth – and when you convey them in concrete detail, you do not condemn, evaluate or fix it; you are simply reflecting to her the unique “dent” she just left in the world, as seen with your eyes.
So instead of telling someone that you thought the energy of their presentation was lagging behind in certain places, tell them which parts really told you and gave free rein to your own creativity. Point out the good, so they know what it looks like from the outside.