Three tips for giving feedback to colleagues

It’s hard to improve at anything without help from others. Often, that help comes in the form of feedback—that we need to change something we’re doing, or do it differently, or stop doing something. But for many of us, this kind feedback can be fraught with tension and stress.

Maybe I’ll tackle how to more gracefully receive feedback in a future post. For now, though, I’d like to talk about how to be a better giver of feedback, especially when you’re dealing with peers and colleagues. Because there’s a real art to giving feedback.

Here are three tips I hope you’ll find useful:

Imagine you have something important to say to a loved one in your personal life. Do you send an email? Shoot off a text? I can tell you that if I ever tried to tell my wife something important in an email, I’d probably arrive home to find my stuff piled up in the street!

Seriously, though, it’s always best to give feedback face to face. If speaking in person isn’t an option, videoconferencing is the next best thing.

Many times, we’re called to provide feedback when someone is engaged in a big challenge: maybe a new job, a new project, or a new set of responsibilities.

Recognize that your suggestions for improvement—which is what all your feedback should ultimately aim to provide—will land in the middle of an ongoing, often complex, context for the person you’re addressing. And realize that this person is unlikely to master all their responsibilities, or implement all your feedback, overnight.

Provide plenty of encouragement, also known as positive feedback, before and after any suggestions for corrections, changes, or other so-called negative feedback. Aim for a ratio of six to seven encouraging things for every bit of tougher feedback.

People are much more likely to receive, absorb, and act on feedback from people who they believe care about them. The best way to show you care about someone is to listen to them. I don’t mean just nod appreciatively or go through the motions of listening. I mean really listen.

Turn the giving of feedback into an opportunity to open a rich conversation with the recipient of your feedback. Not only will the experience be more pleasant for both of you, but your feedback is much more likely to take hold and be put into action.

Now, I’d like to turn the tables: What feedback do you have for me about the art of giving feedback? What are some tips or approaches that have worked for you in the past? Or do you have entertaining stories of any epic feedback fails? Reach out to me (brad.anderson@netapp.com)