5 rules of effective feedback

Regardless of the industry and type of assignments, effective feedback is the essence of cooperation. One can say that few spheres of working life can do without an effective flow of information. Find out how to take care about it. 

1.Prepare yourself before giving feedback

Before you give feedback, be aware of your attitude and emotions. A moment of concentration will help you review your conclusions and formulate key elements of what you want to say. Your aim is to facilitate cooperation and reach goals. What you say is supposed to be useful for the recipient and give them an impulse to change.

See also: Effective learning techniques – the key to building knowledge

2.Provide adequate conditions for feedback

Few people care about the comfort of a meeting during which feedback is delivered. Wrong.

– Finding a place for delivering feedback where both parties will feel comfortable is crucial. It is worth taking some more time than you plan and take care about adequate conditions. The most important is to preserve confidentiality, offer a noise-free space without people cutting in. People working in our locations very often use a separated space and praise its good acoustic insulation. When renting an office space, it is worth checking if it will be able to provide such comfort. After all, it is a necessary condition for preserving confidentiality, explains Marta Kamińska from Solutions.rent.

3.Think about the form of your message

• Address the recipient directly, even if the conversation is not held in person. Bear in mind that part of the feedback is passed through body language and facial expressions. It is essential to keep eye contact during online meetings.  
• When delivering feedback, avoid generalizations (e.g. “You are always doing something”) and judging your interlocutor, e.g. “You are ….”. It most often evokes a defense reaction and a factual conversation turns into futile polemics. 
• Use concise and exact messages. Speak about what and how something was carried out. Try not to compare your interlocutor to others, as you don’t know all circumstances.
• Speak only on your own behalf and from your own perspective. If you quote someone, try to be as precise as possible. There is nothing wrong in describing emotions related to words or situations, though feedback should not be based on them.

4.Use the language of benefits

You know that a feedback you are going to deliver will not be received favorably? Try to speak also about what has made a good impression on you. This is the context where the “sandwich” technique is mostly used – it consists in preceding and finishing negative feedback with a positive touch. It is not always possible and can be taken as manipulation. However, it is always worth delivering tough feedback on the background of positive effects of the changes that should follow.

See also: Seven apps that’ll help you shape positive habits

5.Be open to a reaction of your interlocutor

Feedback will not always be taken favorably, so you need to be understanding to your interlocutors’ reactions. When you notice that the feedback is too difficult and emotions prevail, pause for a while. Facilitate rational argumentation, substantive opinions and a proper atmosphere. Very often just a small gesture or a smile will do to carry on with the conversation.

If the hints are to be summed up in a sentence, it would sound like “Feedback should help the person it refers to”. Even if you know that the feedback will not be taken favorably, in addition to preparing the content of the feedback, it is worth taking care of a positive attitude and empathy, as well as form and place of the conversation.

Are you looking for a stylish office space that will provide confidentiality? Click here and check what Solutions.Rent has to offer.