3 Keys to Giving Effective Feedback

Research shows that feedback is important to employee engagement and retention. 

65% of employees desire more feedback.

80% of employees want feedback at the moment rather than delivering aggregated feedback for an annual or bi-annual review.

Follow these guidelines for giving effective feedback.

Be Specific and Objective

Avoid making generalized observations about something. They don’t give any direction for the future.

Focus on factual information with your feedback, particularly if you’re giving negative feedback.

Here is an example:

❎“I don’t like how you handled that call.”

✅“Great job on jumping into that call with a quick response time. It would have been better for you to introduce yourself on that call before you asked the customer how you could help.”

Objective and specific pieces of feedback will help your employees to understand what they’ve done well and where they could improve.

Give Actionable Advice

Avoid only telling someone that you liked or disliked something they did. Give them actionable advice on what to do next.

Here is an example:

❎ “I think you could have done better in that call,”

✅ “That call was very clear and well-spoken, but I think you lost track of our message a few times. Perhaps you could glance down at our sales scripts from time to time just to keep yourself on track?”

Actionable advice is what makes feedback constructive.

Remember to give positive feedback.

Feedback has gotten a negative connotation. If you were to say to someone, “Can I give you some feedback?” they will likely tense and steel themselves against an assault.

You can change the paradigm.

Here is an example:

❎……

✅“That meeting was fantastic. You successfully used your data to drive home your point.”

Constructive feedback is one of the most valuable things a leader can give.