How To Give Constructive Feedback

Giving accurate, constructive, and regular feedback is essential if you want to build a well-functioning team. Everyone needs to know what they’re doing well and what they could improve on in order to progress. As managers, if we’re too blunt, we discourage and demotivate our employees. On the other hand, if we’re too forgiving, nothing will change and they won’t get the opportunity to improve. Perhaps that’s why so many managers and leaders are worried about giving feedback and end up ignoring it. So how do you provide positive constructive feedback?

Use self-evaluation

My first advice is to use the self-evaluation approach, meaning that you can have the team member evaluate their own performance. For example, you can say, “Can we have a conversation about the client meeting we just had? I think it’s important that we’re aligned. What did you notice about your performance in the meeting? What did you like about what you did? If you could do it again, what would you do differently?”

Asking these questions gives the team member a chance to reflect on their behavior. After hearing their response, you will have the opportunity to express your own view at a time when the team member is ready to listen to it.

Be specific with examples

When you do give your feedback, be specific about what you think the team member is doing well and what you would like to see improved. If your feedback is too general, like, “That was great” or “I wouldn’t have done it that way”, there is no room or reason to improve. A more helpful way of providing feedback would be to say, “Your report gives some good facts and figures on page three. I think it would benefit from being more concise, especially in section one. Perhaps it could be accomplished by adding a few graphs and charts.”
 
When talking about specific situations, be as constructive as possible and emphasize what behaviors can be made to improve. Constructive feedback doesn’t have to be done when dealing with undesired situations. You can keep your team members motivated by acknowledging all the things they are doing well. Give positive feedback as often as you can and immediately after you have observed something great is a great way to build teamwork.