How to give feedback to employees

How to give valuable and constructive feedback to employees?.

The main point of management is to help people develop. The most important detail in this process is providing valuable feedback. The way you give feedback has a huge impact on the recipient, whether it's a colleague or your affiliate. Of course, each person must take personal responsibility for their actions.

When we have the right recruitment process, the need for training and feedback is somewhat reduced. But as practice shows, recruitment processes are not perfect, and training is not always effective. This means that it is your job as a leader to intervene and provide feedback when needed so that people can develop.

In this article, we'll look at what the need for feedback is and how to provide it effectively. After reading this training material, you will be more confident in delivering the right information to those who need it.

Feedback Process

Some of you really don't like the idea of ​​feedback. But you will agree that you yourself occasionally need it. So let's look at the feedback process itself.

Step one - stay connected. You need to know enough about how your subordinates are progressing to know when they need feedback. You stay in touch with each employee in a different way, depending on their needs and your time. There are two important points here:

1. Try to see employees in person more often;
2. Use text messages and video calls sparingly. You want a minimal amount of control that will give you the necessary insight into their performance without becoming a micromanager.

Step two is planning. Sometimes you need to speak quickly in the moment. To do this, try to prepare at least one minute in advance - take a couple of notes to fix the main points of the list.

Step three - delivery. The goal here is to ensure efficient delivery and make sure the recipient can actually hear you. You should think about who will provide the feedback. Most of the time it will be you, but sometimes it will be your colleague who is better prepared.

Also consider when to send feedback. As a general rule, the sooner the better. Don't forget to reserve a private office to provide feedback in private. Provide feedback that is specific and detailed, and not overly critical to be helpful.

Step four - keep watching. You cannot assume that you were heard, agreed and began to bring your thoughts to life. Instead, you should stay in touch and correct behavior when necessary.

Feedback types

Feedback is what we tell someone what we think of their work. Sounds simple, but you should be clear about the types of feedback you can use. There are three main types of feedback:

Standard feedback. This is information that allows you to know whether a person met any standard. The downside is that standards-related feedback isn't always as helpful as it could be. Telling a person that they haven't done some work doesn't give them any food for thought that could help them improve their work.

Informational feedback. This type of connection concerns the skills and behaviors underlying the outcome in question. For example, you might say to one of your employees, “Hi, your presentation today was weird. It seemed to me that you were trying to collect too much information. Next time, let's focus on how we're going to handle the issue."

Emotional feedback. You assert your authority, maintain a positive attitude, and then redirect communication in a more productive direction.

It is important to make sure that those receiving feedback hear you, understand you, and feel motivated to use your feedback. Remember that helpful reviews are specific, not general. Being specific helps them hear you and makes your words actionable. Then try to make all reviews descriptive and helpful, not judgmental and punitive. If you are informative and helpful, you move from simple assessment to proper learning.

Good feedback should only come from you. This means that you acknowledge that you are the source of the feedback. You should not say that “the whole team thinks so” or “top management”. Speak only for yourself, for example, "I noticed that ..." "I think that you should do ...". Recognize your words, otherwise you may no longer be respected.

Also, pay attention to problems, not people. If you want to be heard, don't talk about them, talk about important issues. Then, remember to give people the right amount of feedback they can handle in a given amount of time. It is also important to make your feedback a dialogue, not just a conversation. This allows them to open up, which helps you refine your reviews.

Don't forget that effective feedback is tracked, not forgotten. Just because you shared the words does not mean that their effectiveness will improve. This does not mean that you should shadow the person, but it will be useful to check the progress a couple of times a week.

Preparing and providing feedback

One important part of leadership that many underestimate is the art of observation. Think of everything you say and do as a leader, as it should ideally be based on your understanding of your employees. Some of your employee information comes from third parties, but most of it comes from your firsthand observations while interacting with your team.

You have a lot to look at, including a person's personality and relationships, interpersonal skills, technical and business skills, and character. All this can be divided into three categories:

• Positive examples. Good behavior and characteristics that add value and deserve a little praise. As for the task, this might include solving a customer's problem or improving a workflow.
• Negative examples. If you see defective products or even work that is acceptable, but not as good as you think, or if you witness poor interpersonal communication.
• Good behavior we want to see. If a person needs certain qualities for development and he needs to know about it.