What are the best practices for giving and receiving feedback in a team?

1 Why feedback matters

Feedback is essential for learning, growth, and improvement. It helps you identify your strengths and weaknesses, celebrate your achievements, and address your challenges. It also helps you align your expectations and goals with those of your team and your organization. Without feedback, you may miss opportunities to improve your skills, correct your mistakes, or resolve conflicts. Feedback also fosters trust, respect, and collaboration among team members, as it shows that you care about each other's success and well-being.

2 How to give feedback effectively

Giving feedback is not only about praising or criticizing someone, but also providing actionable and timely suggestions that can help them develop. To give feedback effectively, you should begin by being clear about your purpose and intention. Choosing the right time and place is also important, as it can affect how the feedback is received. The sandwich method is a popular technique for giving feedback, which starts with a positive comment, then constructive criticism, and ends with another positive comment. Additionally, be specific and factual when giving feedback, using concrete examples and data to illustrate your points. Lastly, focus on behavior rather than personality, avoiding personal attacks or judgments that can trigger defensiveness or resentment.

4 How to facilitate feedback in a team

As a large group facilitator, you have a key role in creating a culture of constructive feedback in your team. To facilitate feedback, it's important to set expectations, norms, and use various methods and tools. You should also provide guidance and support to the feedback givers and receivers. At the end of the session, summarize the main points, acknowledge the participants, and follow up on the progress of the feedback actions. Before starting any feedback session, ensure everyone knows the purpose, goals, and rules of the process. Explain why feedback is important, how it will be given and received, and what are the expected outcomes and actions. Establish some norms for respectful, honest, and constructive feedback, and make sure everyone agrees to them. Depending on the size, composition, and dynamics of your team, you may need to use different methods and tools to facilitate feedback. You can use surveys or polls to collect anonymous or confidential feedback from members. Round-robin or hot seat methods can be used to encourage everyone to participate. Flip charts or sticky notes can be used to record and display feedback. As a facilitator, you should not only moderate the session but also provide guidance on how to give and receive feedback effectively. Monitor the session and intervene when necessary to ensure the feedback is relevant, constructive, and respectful. Summarize key takeaways at the end of the session and celebrate achievements and improvements. Follow up on progress of actions taken after the session is closed.

5 How to overcome feedback challenges

Feedback is not always easy or pleasant, and it can sometimes lead to challenges or conflicts. As a large group facilitator, you should be prepared to deal with some common feedback challenges. For example, some people may resist or deny the feedback and refuse to accept or act on it. To overcome this, try to understand the root cause of their resistance or denial, emphasize the benefits and value of the feedback, and provide positive reinforcement and encouragement. Additionally, some people may react emotionally or negatively to the feedback. To address this challenge, empathize and validate their emotions or reactions, focus on the facts and behaviors, not the personality or intentions, and provide support and resources to cope with the feedback. Finally, some people may not understand or agree with the feedback, leading to confusion or ambiguity. To overcome this challenge, clarify and confirm the feedback, provide specific suggestions, ask for their input and involve them in the action plan.

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?