What are the best ways to give respectful and challenging feedback?

Knowing your triggers and understanding your biases is essential for delivering fair, objective, and constructive feedback. Recognizing your triggers enables you to manage emotional reactions during feedback sessions. It improves communication by preventing the escalation of conflicts and allowing for a more constructive and solution-oriented conversation. It contributes to a positive feedback culture, supports diversity and inclusion, and helps build strong, trusting relationships within the workplace. Demonstrating self-awareness and a commitment to addressing biases sets a positive example for others in the organization. It encourages a culture of continuous learning, personal development, and fairness.

Feedback is crucial for growth, and understanding our biases is very important. To be objective, we must challenge assumptions and seek diverse perspectives. By acknowledging different beliefs and values, we can better understand others' behaviour. A 360° process involves gathering input from multiple sources, considering various viewpoints, and reflecting on the situation holistically. Empathy is crucial for constructive feedback. By stepping into someone's shoes, we understand their challenges, motivations, and perspectives. This allows us to provide feedback that is compassionate, specific, and tailored to their needs. Empathy fosters trust, growth, and stronger relationships.

To address you own bias, know your own positionality. Who are you? What are your experiences? These strongly inform your worldview - and its limits. Take a look at yourself and ask yourself what do you believe? And how did you get to believing this? Note that this exercise is not asking for a justification or apology for your beliefs. It is asking for a frank look at the process of how they formed. To echo the age-old maxim, “Know thyself.” Critically ask thyself “what,” “why,” and “how?” These ideas are always important, but they are especially so in a setting like the workplace, where there can easily be tensions and competing egos. Feedback is important but comes with contextual baggage that needs to be addressed to be effective.

Remember that you're on the same team. It's helpful to see the situation as you and your colleague vs. the problem, not you vs. your colleague. We can share hard things in respectful ways. Remember tone, timing, and location can all create the right atmosphere for difficult conversations. Preparation is critical too. Write out key points that you want to make, being concise and clear. Make sure to set the stage for the meeting, providing your colleague a framework for how you'd like the conversation to go and the results you are hoping to see. This will get them thinking about the issue and create a safe space by removing ambiguity, building a foundation for the conversation to be more effective and efficient.

Antes de dar una opinión, debemos ser consciente de las propias suposiciones, preferencias y juicios. Estos pueden influir en la forma en que percibimos, interpretamos y evalúamos el desempe?o o el comportamiento de los demás. Es posible tener sesgos inconscientes basados en estereotipos, experiencias personales o normas culturales. Para evitar que estos sesgos afecten a nuestros comentarios, debemos cuestionar nuestros propios motivos, perspectivas y criterios. Ver la situación desde el punto de vista de la otra persona y reconocer la diversidad de valores, creencias y estilos que existen en el lugar de trabajo.

There are many benefits to asking a person when (and where) they would like to discuss a performance issue. Giving the other person the courtesy of this input can help you avoid a context that creates tension. For example, the person might feel safer being in a public space (e.g. a café or outdoors) where there are other people present, though not in earshot. Reducing the extraneous factors that cause stress will provide for a more productive context for the conversation.

Cuando estés dando retroalimentación, es importante ser consciente del contexto cultural de la otra persona. Si no estás seguro de cómo será recibida la retroalimentación, es mejor ser cauteloso y optar por un enfoque más indirecto y diferido.

I'm actually going to recommend *not* using the sandwich method. We tend to remember the first and last items we hear and forget the stuff in between — which is where you're hiding the constructive part. Do give positive remarks and encouragement, but don't bury the tough part. Be specific — give a recent example and mention the impact of the action (in an objective way). If relevant and not micromanaging, be constructive about what they could do more effectively next time. Show with your manner and tone that you believe in them and know they can do it, but don't stuff the negative feedback in between big fluffy pieces of Wonder bread ;-)

However, if praise is paired with criticism too often, praise itself can become aversive and ineffective. Specific praise should outnumber critique by a significant margin.

Eu n?o aconselho o método sanduíche. Geralmente as pessoas guardam o início e o fim da conversa, e esquecem todo o 'recheio' construtivo. Recomendo pontuar todas as a??es positivas e, depois, tudo aquilo que pode ser melhorado, pontuando de forma clara e afirmativa como pode ser melhorado (porque de nada adianta apontar as falhas e n?o oferecer nenhuma 'luz' sobre como melhorar). é importante lembrar que o exercício do feedback é uma constru??o, ele serve para promover a evolu??o - n?o para desmotivar.

Providing specific and constructive feedback is crucial for professional growth. Timeliness is key, addressing issues while they're fresh ensures clarity and understanding. Using concrete examples of mistakes helps focus on the situation, not the person, avoiding personal attacks or judgments. This approach fosters a safe environment where individuals feel supported, not attacked. Having one-on-one conversations promotes open dialogue and preserves dignity. Effective feedback empowers development!

When a person is struggling and is making errors, it may be because there is contextual information or skills that they are missing. So, in addition to specific, constructive, timely, and kind feedback are essential, understanding the surrounding factors for their behavior is important. As a supervisor, I want to be able to critique and support. I cannot offer the "right" support if I do not know more about the root cause of a person's behavior. In the case of slow email response, perhaps a root cause is not understanding the larger systemic impact of slow response time. Or, perhaps their workload has not been appropriately designed. Take the time to find out the root cause, and then offer critique using best practices.

It is essential not to be transactional-focused when giving feedback. Being transactional-focused in giving feedback implies treating feedback as a mere exchange of information or a transaction rather than a meaningful and relational interaction observed over time. Transactional feedback focuses solely on current performance without considering long-term development. Effective feedback encourages continuous improvement by addressing immediate concerns and guiding future growth. Feedback is a powerful tool for relationship building. A transactional mindset may prioritize the direct exchange of information over the long-term development of a positive and constructive relationship.

"Most people do not listen with the intent to understand; they listen with the intent to reply." - Stephen R. Covey Feedback is a two-way dialogue that requires active listening and effective communication. While we often focus on sharing our own opinions, it's crucial to truly hear and understand the message from the other side. Receiving feedback means checking if we've understood each other correctly, fostering mutual understanding and growth. Feedback is a powerful tool for growth, and it's crucial to remember that listening is even more important than speaking. As humans, we have two ears and one mouth, perhaps indicating that we should listen more and speak less.

I think this one depends on a number of factors: 1. roles of people involved (i.e., is one an administrative supervisor) 2. state and maturity of relationship, 3. overall culture and benefit of doing so... amongst other factors... Context is important; in my experience I have found success in my own self-awareness and humbleness; sometimes staging the dialogue over the course of a few conversations. The storytelling is critical, but it can't be about (just) me... If the relationship has matured it becomes easier to approach. The last piece is asking "permission"; depending on the person; finding a way to ask to provide such.

Effective feedback is a two-way street. Beyond offering insights, it's crucial to create a dialogue. Ask open-ended questions, and actively listen. Instead of “Is there anything specific you think I should do to improve team collaboration?" Try “How do you think our team collaboration could be improved, and what role do you see me playing in that process?" Open-ended questions typically begin with words like "how," "what," "why," or "tell me about." Rather than "is," "are," "do," "did," or "have."

Ask open-ended questions: Encourage the other person to explain their perspective and understand their reasoning behind their actions. This fosters a collaborative discussion. Focus on solutions, not blame: Shift the conversation from identifying problems to finding solutions together. Offer suggestions and support for improvement. Practice active listening: Pay close attention to their verbal and non-verbal cues. Show genuine interest in their understanding and perspective.

In my experience, I’ve learned that people respond differently in their willingness to offer feedback when I’ve asked for it. Gender and culture can play into the responsiveness to a request for suggestions or opinions. Upbringing and prior experiences can also contribute to their openness to input. Being aware of these possibilities and holding your assumptions for reticence at bay will help you build a relationship with the person. With a stronger relationship they may be more willing to engage in feedback in the future.

Simply put: try to put yourself in the position of the person you are talking to. Talk to the person like you want to be talked to. Try to emphasize what the person might be going through right now. At the same time, be honest and fair. Long-term it will not help you to avoid communicating criticism. It will only make the situation between you two worse. Focus on improvement and a constructive exchange. Moments like these can be both a learning and a bonding experience for you and your counterpart.

The right way of giving feedback needs to take culture into perspective. For example, the sandwich method might work in the U.S. But in a country like France - giving 1 negative Feedback between 2 constructive ones might be taken literally: 2 good ones + 1 bad one = Majority good. So a good way of giving feedback in general is how is done in this particular culture.

To provide effective feedback, creating a safe space is crucial: - Encourage embracing mistakes and risks as valuable. - Foster open expression without fear. - Link speaking up to success, e.g. explain why attracting new customers is dependent upon each team member’s bold ideas and different perspectives. - Invite targeted feedback in 1:1s with specific questions. In 1:1s ask: “What should I know — but don’t — right now? - Appreciate feedback. e.g. Thank them — publicly, privately, often, and with sincerity. Implementing these, values each voice, enhancing respectful feedback. This approach promotes open communication and psychological safety, fostering a constructive feedback loop.

Be authentic in your feedback. Authenticity fosters trust between you and the person receiving feedback. When you are genuine and sincere, others will likely trust that your feedback is well-intentioned and honest. Authentic feedback creates an atmosphere of open communication. When people feel that you are being genuine, they are more likely to express their thoughts, concerns, and ideas without fear of judgment. Make Authenticity the cornerstone of effective feedback because it establishes trust, credibility, and open communication.