Give positive or negative feedback Is to use communication methods to transmit and receive information about the adequacy or inadequacy of our work.
In a first approach to this concept, you may think that these are negative aspects that bosses communicate to employees of a company.
However the concept of labor feedback is much more extensive, being positive or negative, and addressing an employee, boss or co-worker.
As Farr (1993) states, in the work environment there is much information that tells us how we are doing our job. However, it is necessary to make sense of this information, in order to achieve our goals and objectives. Among other things, work feedback will allow you to:
- Correct your performance errors.
- Reduce your uncertainty about the adequacy of your work.
- Know how others perceive you and evaluate you.
In addition, some of the advantages that you will get when making a constructive feedback in your work environment will be:
- Avoid conflicts with colleagues, employees or bosses.
- Have greater satisfaction in the workplace.
- Enhance teamwork and be more effective.
- To have feelings of self-competence at work.
When it comes to driving a boat, the pilot's function is to correct the"natural tendency of the boat"to deviate from the established course of travel.
The wind, the waves, the currents of the ocean and the defects of the hull of the boat contribute to make it deviate from the course that should have. The pilot uses various instruments and resources: port aids, compasses and satellite tracking, which allow him to re-establish the course.
The relationship between forces that deflect the ship and those that keep it in the established course is what we call feedback. - Ignacio Bossi.
9 Steps to give positive or negative feedback
To put it into practice effectively, we describe 9 steps that you must take into account to develop this method of communication:
1 - Choose the time and place well before giving feedback
You should start by asking the other person if it is available at that time. If you are busy, you should try to start the conversation later.
In this way, the person to whom you give feedback will give you the attention you need to communicate effectively.
On the other hand, to choose the scenario, you have to consider the type of information you are going to provide:
When it comes to positive feedback, you should choose to do it in public, so that the person has even more social recognition of the adequacy of their work.
In case you want to communicate some negative aspects, choose a private site so that the worker does not perceive that he is being embarrassed in front of his colleagues.
2 - Do not wait too long to provide your opinion
If there is something about which you want to give feedback to a colleague, employee or boss, do not wait too long. Otherwise, the person will not remember very well what it is.
For example, if you tell someone that the behavior they had 3 months ago was not appropriate, the person probably does not contextualise what happened, so your feedback will not have the desired effect.
However, if you talk about a positive or negative aspect about something that you have done during the last few days, you can take your opinion into account and rectify it, if necessary, since you have not yet deviated too much from your goal.
In addition, this point is especially important in relation to negative feedback, since if you do not give your opinion immediately, you will accumulate complaints towards a person and may one day be overwhelmed and communicate everything that bothers you with an aggressive attitude.
This is common in any type of relationship - friends, partners, parents, etc. - If you do not tell the other person what bothers you, it will hardly change their behavior.
3 - Shows an empathic attitude
Put yourself in the other's place with empathy And think how you would like information about your work and performance to be brought to you.
Surely you would like the person who is going to comment on some aspect of your work to be empathetic, trying not to damage your feelings when it comes to negative information.
If your work has affected yours in any way, try not to lose your temper and explain how you feel.
4 - Listen to the other and be flexible
In this communication process, you should have the ability to listen actively - and not just talk.
This includes giving the opportunity to the other to tell us the difficulties he encountered in his way in relation to that task.
Attend to the reasons that led the other person to act that way. Maybe when you know your circumstances, you understand that you acted the best way possible.
Have the ability to rectify if you think you have made a mistake. After all, the feedback you give is based on your personal opinion, it is not an absolute truth.
5 - Do not use general and unspecific comments
It is important that you be concrete with your comments, rather than giving feedback with vague and general information.
It is not the same to say"good work"that"your last report gathers very precise information about the company's progress".
With the second comment, the other person will feel more valued and have a greater knowledge of their effectiveness at work.
The more specific and specific the information you provide, the better the consequences will be on the other person's performance - just as the more accurate a compass is, the easier it is for us to steer a boat.
6 - Use the"Sandwich Technique"
This technique consists of providing:
- - A positive criticism, about the aspects that he is doing properly or about the effort he is making to achieve the objective.
- - A negative review, about what you think should be improved to perform effective work.
- - A positive criticism, about its general adequacy.
In this way, you avoid the initial discomfort of starting with a negative comment, so the person will be more receptive to your opinion.
In addition, you can leave a good taste in the mouth culminating the conversation with another positive aspect.
The person receiving the feedback will not feel questioned, but will accept it more positively and will be willing to change the negative aspect you have mentioned.
An example of this technique would be to say to a co-worker:
"Your exposure on recent sales has provided me with valuable information. It's been a bit long, but very interesting."
7 - Use feedback focusing on behavior, not the person
It is very important that you choose well the words that you are going to use, not to criticize the person in question but the conduct that has carried out in a certain moment.
To understand it better, it is not the same to say"the project was not delivered in time"to say"always deliver the projects late".
In the second case, the person may feel that he is being labeled as irresponsible and will create an uncomfortable and unpleasant situation.
Focus also on isolated behaviors, so that behaviors are not generalized. Let's look at an example in relation to this aspect:
It is better to say:"this morning you have arrived 15 minutes late, I would like to know if you had any problems"that:"you are very unpunctual".
As you can see, the first example focuses on the behavior of being late - as well as showing an empathic attitude about it.
In the second sentence, on the contrary, it is aggressive, cataloging the person based on some facts that sometimes constitute the exception, not the norm.
8 - In negative feedback, it gives options of how the task could be performed better
When your feedback is negative, add comments aimed at improving the work.
This will help the other person know how he / she should carry out his / her work in a productive way.
For example, if you did not like the way a worker handled a customer, you might say something like,"This morning I noticed that the customer has been dissatisfied with your explanation of payment through financing. On another occasion, you can give him an explanatory booklet so he can understand it better."
9 - Encourage others to give you their opinions about your work
Especially if you are an employee of yours, you should encourage this dynamic and exchange of information, so that you can also benefit from the advantages of having immediate and concrete information of your work.
Knowing the opinions of the workers around you will help you to direct your own boat, as we discussed at the beginning of this article.
We hope that all these tips will help you improve your communication with your colleagues and get a higher job satisfaction.
And you, what other tips for positive or negative feedback would you add?
References
- Ana I. García Álvarez and Anastasio Ovejero Bernal. The Measure of Job Feedback in Organizations: Adaptation of the Job Feedback Survey questionnaire. Psicothema, 1998. Vol. 10, no. 2, pp. 241-257.
- Carlos Eduardo Román Maldonado. About feedback or feedback in online higher education. "Virtual Magazine Universidad Católica del Norte". No.26, (February - May 2009, Colombia).
- Ignacio Boss. Why Feedback? How to do it effectively? (2001) CEMA University.
- M. I. Ferrero and M. Martín. The importance of constructive Feedback in the Evaluation of Group musical performances.
- Sherry E. Moss, Enzo R. Valenzi, William Taggart. Are You Hiding From Your Boss? The Development of a Taxonomy and Instrument to Assess the Feedback Management Behaviors of Good and Bad Performers. Journal of Management (2003).
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