Mastering Feedback: Techniques for Effective Communication and Improvement (Full Transcript)

Speaker 1: Giving and receiving feedback can, on face value, be quite easy, particularly when the level of feedback is to say thank you and well done, but it can be much harder to deal with negative or disruptive behaviour or point out that the task was not done well or to the level required. Generally speaking, feedback is either general or specific, and either positive or developmental. Feedback falls broadly into one of the following categories. General positive feedback. General developmental feedback. Specific positive feedback. Specific developmental feedback. Let's look at each in turn, starting with general positive feedback. This type of feedback could include examples such as, I thought your presentation was great, that meeting went well, I find you very approachable. General positive feedback provides a short term positive boost, but it doesn't tell the person specifically what they have done well. This may make it difficult for them to replicate their behaviour in the future and get the same results. General developmental feedback could include, I was a bit disappointed with your performance in the team meeting today. You need to be more effective. Your objectives are not that smart. This makes the recipient aware they were not doing something, but there's no specific information on what that was or what they could or should be doing, or what is expected of them. Often the initiator of the feedback assumes the other person knows what they are talking about and expects the recipient to know what to do differently. Now that we have looked at the two types of general feedback, let's look at the two types of positive feedback, specific positive and specific developmental. Here's an example of specific positive feedback. I thought your presentation was great, you had a confident tone in your voice and engaged your audience by using good eye contact, open body language and asking lots of open questions. This helped the group relax, which meant they asked good questions and shared their views throughout your presentation. Well done. This type of feedback makes the person aware of the specific things they did that contributed to a successful result. It enables them to repeat these behaviours to get a similar result next time. Whereas specific developmental feedback specifies what the person did and the impact it had. It provides suggested alternative behaviour or action and the positive impact this would have. Here's an example. We agreed that as chairperson you would keep the agenda items to time. I noticed that you allowed items to continue way past their allotted time slots, which meant that the meeting overran and some important agenda items weren't covered off. I suggest you set ground rules at the start of the meeting which would give you licence to cut in and retake control. Can you do that next time? Here are some further tips when giving feedback. Be specific, focus on the behaviour, not the person. Stick with the facts, it's about what they did or said, not who they are. Be timely, give the feedback as soon as convenient after the event as possible. Be concise, the impact of the message will be lost if you pad things out. Be yourself, it's your feedback, use I noticed and I felt, you will be more genuine. Be positive, you have permission to tell the truth and you are demonstrating a number of leadership behaviours, believe they will find your feedback useful. Thank them, saying thanks is a thanks for listening. Also when receiving feedback, here are some further considerations. Be positive, remind yourself the aim or intention behind their feedback is to help. Actively listen, listen with the intent to understand what's being said, avoid reacting, being defensive or interrupting. Acknowledge, the person is giving feedback for a reason, it's not an easy thing to do, they are demonstrating leadership behaviours. Check understanding, if you're not clear, ask for clarification or ask them to be more specific then acknowledge. Chosen response, don't react but respond in your own time. You can respond by acting on the feedback. Say thanks, saying thanks lets them know you listened. Remember to apply the structures and plan your feedback. Thanks for listening.