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Giving and receiving feedback is an important part of working in any environment, from manufacturing to a corporate setting. Giving and receiving feedback is vital for the productivity and continued improvement of a team. Giving feedback takes effort to maintain a balance of constructive criticism while not hurting the feelings of the worker, and receiving feedback with grace and understanding with a mindset of improvement is a critical skill in the workplace.
Giving and receiving feedback is truly an art form. When done well, those involved can offer and accept it without causing negativity in the workplace. It's a very anxiety-inducing process, as this study shows, and we, as living organisms, require constant feedback from our surroundings and other humans to survive.
It's difficult to know where that balance is in your individual circumstance, but with the right understanding and continued practice, you'll learn the art of giving and receiving feedback with the intention of enhancing team dynamics in the workplace.
The Purpose of Feedback in the Workplace
Feedback is a critical step in growing healthy and productive teams. Receiving feedback is a skill that's highly sought after in the workplace. Here are some ways that giving and receiving feedback helps the workplace environment.
Inspiring Growth- Feedback on both ends helps inspire personal growth. By explaining shortcomings in a positive way with a mindset of internalization and improvement, employees are able to understand areas of their work or personality that will be of better use to themselves and the team.
Giving Purpose to Processes- Feedback helps keep team members aligned with their goals and those of the team as a whole. By regularly evaluating a person's process and what could be improved, they can continuously track advancements toward team goals by using team metrics.
Improving Employee Engagement- In an environment where everybody understands how valuable feedback is and how to give and receive it without taking offense, the way the team works together is vastly changed from a team that does not. The team members are able to engage more effectively and comfortably with each other and do not fear stepping on toes.
Nurturing Workplace Relationships- Similarly, feedback helps improve workplace relationships by creating an environment where team members can freely be themselves without the fear of negative criticism. This allows the team to really get to know each other and learn to work well together.
Raise confidence levels- A team that knows that making mistakes is part of the job and that they'll receive corrective advice on any ill-completed task enables the team to make mistakes more freely and confidently. This type of positive engagement helps build a person's internal confidence with external validation.
Feedback Versus Criticism
It's important here to understand the difference between feedback and criticism. Criticism is observation based on personal expectation of another's shortcomings without the intention of improvement. Most people don't even realize that their criticism lacks the necessary parts that would change the conversation into a progressive one. With a small change, criticism can become constructive feedback. Offering ways to improve the way a worker completes a certain task enables the worker to understand ways that they could improve their production in the workplace. Without the key factor of improvement, well-meaning comments can come off as unjustified criticism.
How do You Give Feedback in the Workplace?
- Focus on the positive behaviors you see. Most of the time, feedback is based on what a person sees as wrong and wants to transform it into something that's right. However, that's not always the most effective approach. Wouldn't always hearing about your shortcomings start to get a little discouraging? For that reason, focusing on positive behaviors you see to foster improvement can be a much better tactic for providing feedback.
- Know why you're giving feedback. Have a specific purpose for the feedback, rather than just seeing something you don't like and stating it. We'll discuss this more in-depth when we get to the feedback methods, but for now, suffice it to say that having a clear goal for the feedback itself will make it more effective.
- Ask questions, be specific, and be timely. In order to make the most of an interaction, make sure you have all the details you need to make the conversation better. Perhaps the team member is going through a rough patch in their personal life, or perhaps they were simply unclear of specific instructions given. Knowing all of the facts of the scenario will help you understand the specific feedback required from you personally.
- Read the room. Offering feedback when emotions are high is a tricky thing to navigate. If you can wait to provide feedback, wait. If it would be better to provide feedback privately, do it. If it's necessary, make sure your wording is done in such a way as to keep from needlessly emotionally damaging somebody.
How do You Receive Feedback in the Workplace?
Receiving feedback with a level head is actually a highly sought-after skill in the workplace. Showing that you can internalize and use that feedback to improve the situation gives you an edge as early as the interview process. Here are a few ways to be on the receiving end of constructive criticism.
- Be receptive to constructive feedback and be willing to grow from it. Enough said.
- Request feedback when you know you need it. Don't just wait for your superiors to come to you with feedback. If there's a project you're working on that needs a little direction, or if you're trying to improve your workplace processes, ask. It shows initiative and that you're willing to accept feedback when given.
- Process the feedback for as long as it takes. Criticism can be hard to take. Even when given from a place of growth and positivity, negative feedback is a difficult thing to accept. We tend to shy away from trying to improve our faults, so when others talk about them directly, it can be difficult to handle. When possible, take time to process the comments before reacting negatively to them.
- Learn from your mistakes. Feedback is most often given because of a mistake made. Mistakes are always learning opportunities, and having another person there to offer their perspective on the situation further enables you to initiate and facilitate the feedback process.
- Be thankful for feedback. There is purpose behind the feedback given, and it's important to see it for what it is, even if it's not immediately clear. Oftentimes, even with tactless givers of feedback, the giver is not trying to step on your toes or cause hurt. Show your appreciation for the feedback by saying so.
- Don't feel obligated to implement feedback in its entirety. Sometimes, though given from a perspective of authority, the feedback isn't entirely necessary. Learn how to graciously accept and then forget the feedback if necessary. There are some scenarios in which the giver isn't entirely correct and sometimes doesn't have the entirety of the context necessary to give effective criticism. So, use what you can, show thanks for the feedback, and forget what's not necessary.
Examples of Productive Feedback
Here are two methods of offering feedback that eliminate unnecessary negativity in the feedback process.
The Compliment Sandwich- this one is pretty simple. Offer a compliment- "You're doing well here." Provide feedback, "I'd like to see improvement here." Offer another compliment-
"- but I see you working really hard on this."
The compliment sandwich works really well against people who don't take negative feedback easily.
Rosenberg Nonviolent Communication Method- This method focuses on stating your observation- "I see this working/not working,"- feelings- "This is how I feel based on those observations,"- needs- "This is what I need from you to improve,"- and requests. The request for improvement should be clear and concise, with concrete steps to take without being demanding.
When giving feedback, both of these methods are there to help express feelings and intention using non-escalating conversation methods to show both sides of the conversation their perspective.
Feedback is such a tricky area of a workplace dynamic because it can come from anybody at any time. It doesn't have to come from a boss or team leader. In fact, it could be a person lower on the totem pole than you. However, with the right mindset, you can take the feedback in a positive way and use it to benefit yourself and the team as a whole. Most times, those giving feedback do it from a positive place, and when done right, giving and receiving feedback can drastically improve team dynamics and workplace productivity.
