Career Development: How to Give Effective Feedback

Feedback makes all the difference in performance improvement, but giving constructive feedback can be difficult. Many managers have a tendency to give feedback that makes the employee feel good instead of helping the employee to improve. So, how can we give honest feedback in a way that doesn’t defeat an employee’s efforts but helps them improve?

Research has found that giving feedback to help people see their progress toward their goals is one way to give effective feedback and stay neutral. It is not necessary to highlight what is “good” or “bad” but simply examine the employee’s road map to the goal, and determine how to help them get there efficiently. Employees are often frustrated by professional goals because they know the goals they’ve set, but are unsure of what progress is being made, if any, or what specific actions can be taken to get them there.

This was one tip of four that I learned by reading Time Ideas “Four Ways to Give Good Feedback.” Check out the other three tips here:

http://ideas.time.com/2013/03/18/four-ways-to-give-good-feedback/