How to Give Negative or Positive Feedback That Works ... With Examples

Nobody likes performance reviews. Like the rising crescendo of tiny voices in Who-ville, dissenters have spoken and been heard. And the outcome: Somewhere around 70% of multi-national companies no longer use an annual performance review.

But feedback must still happen.

So if your organization has eliminated the annual employee performance review and you’re a manager feeling like a weight (bigger than a dust speck) has been lifted, I’m here to burst your bubble.

Feedback is critical to performance improvement and … makes people more aware. And that’s an area almost everyone struggles with. I just finished an article about the importance of self-awareness … and one startling number struck me: 95% of us think we’re self-aware, but research shows that number is only 10 to 15%. (You know what that means … or do you?)
 

Let’s get better at giving feedback

Giving feedback is at the bottom of the competency list for managers and executives, according to Radical Candor: How to Get What You Want by Saying What You Mean.

And it’s not just negative feedback that stretches managers. Giving sincere, effective praise isn’t really our strength either. 

Let’s look a little deeper into what effective feedback really looks like.

For the sake of this article, let’s agree that effective feedback means feedback that positively influences the behavior of the person receiving it (and doesn’t cause a negative reaction).

• Effective praise - the person believes the feedback is sincere and responds by repeating the desirable behavior.
• Effective corrective feedback - the person believes the criticism is accurate and strives to do better.
   

Learn more about giving feedback by enrolling in our new live, virtual seminar: Motivating, Engaging and Inspiring Employees.

What makes someone accept the feedback we give?

A little digging led me to a study outlining some factors that influence the effectiveness of feedback. Specifically, they identify two major components that play a role in someone’s response to feedback. They suggest that an individual’s acceptance of feedback (and desire to respond) is based on the “belief that the feedback is an accurate portrayal of his or her performance.” This “perceived feedback accuracy” is a function of:

1. A feedback-rich environment. “Recipients perceived feedback as being accurate when it was characterized as specific, frequent and positive.”
2. Credibility of the feedback source. “Employees perceived that their feedback was more accurate when it came from trustworthy and competent managers.”

That means, that for your feedback to be effective — for it to change behavior, without upsetting or causing employees to dismiss your words — the individual must trust you and believe that you know something about the work he or she is doing, and it must be specific, timely and at a regular cadence and preferably tied to some agreed upon targets.
 

Let’s get specific about the good and the bad

• When offering praise, carefully consider what you’re praising. This means paying attention to what your team is working on. Get the facts and be specific. An occasional offhand, vague compliment will fall flat and seem insincere (hurting your credibility).

  “I have been so impressed with your coding on this project. I saw the information you got from the sales team, so I know you had to do a lot of digging to get the information you needed before you could even get started. And then, the way that page works is even better than any of us expected. Nice job.”

  And remember this advice from author Kim Scott: If you’re praising someone in front of a larger audience, think about everyone involved in the project. Leaving people out can make the person on center stage feel bad about being singled out. It also makes you look less credible.

• When offering criticism or “constructive” feedback, be specific and direct, without making it personal. It’s ok to point out the positive aspects of a project as well, but don’t minimize the changes you’d like to see. Don’t sandwich your criticism between positives where it might be missed.  

  “You did an amazing job on the presentation today. I could see by the questions the client asked that they trust you. So you’ve clearly developed a strong relationship with them and a good understanding of the products as well.” “I do think your slide deck needs to be stronger. Have you had much experience using PowerPoint?” “Specifically, I’d suggest shorter bullets, more color and a stronger wrap-up. We’ve got weekly PowerPoint training opportunities and I’d like you to sign up for one. Let me know when your next presentation is and a couple days before it, I’d like to see your slides.”

  Another way to improve the “perceived accuracy” of your feedback is to base it on agreed upon goals.

  And one last bit of advice from Scott, ask other people for feedback on your work. Showing that you’re accepting of feedback models the behavior you’d like to see from others.

The elimination of annual performance reviews doesn’t change the need for well-landed feedback. Feedback is vital in professional growth and development.