You want to improve your work performance. How can you get your colleagues to help you?

1 Why feedback matters

Feedback is essential for learning and growth. It can help you identify your strengths and weaknesses, correct your mistakes, and improve your performance. Feedback can also help you build trust and rapport with your colleagues, supervisors, and clients. By giving and receiving feedback, you can demonstrate your professionalism, communication skills, and willingness to learn. Feedback can also help you align your work with the expectations and objectives of your organization.

2 How to give feedback

Giving feedback is a skill that requires tact, empathy, and clarity. To give feedback effectively, be specific and objective, focusing on the facts. Provide feedback as soon as possible after the event or situation. Be constructive and positive, offering suggestions and solutions that are realistic and actionable. Acknowledge and praise the person's achievements and strengths. Speak in a polite and friendly tone, expressing your feedback as your opinion or observation. Invite the person to share their perspective and listen to their response. Show that you care about their success and development. Following these guidelines can help you give feedback that is timely, relevant, respectful, and supportive.

3 How to receive feedback

Receiving feedback can be difficult, especially if it is negative or unexpected. You may feel defensive, angry, or hurt. However, you can also use feedback as an opportunity to learn and grow. To make the most of feedback, be open and receptive; don't dismiss or ignore it. Don't interrupt or argue with the person giving the feedback, and don't make excuses or blame others. Show that you appreciate and value the feedback by thanking them for their time and effort. Ask questions to clarify and understand the feedback; request examples and evidence to support it. Seek suggestions and recommendations on how to improve. Reflect on the feedback and how it relates to your goals and performance. Take action on the feedback that you agree with; implement changes or improvements, monitor your progress, and measure your results. Finally, seek feedback again to check your improvement, then share your successes and challenges with the person who gave you the feedback.

4 How to use feedback tools

Feedback tools are applications or platforms that can streamline and automate the feedback process, as well as improve the quantity and quality of feedback. SurveyMonkey is a tool that allows you to create and distribute online surveys and polls, which can be used to measure satisfaction, engagement, performance, or other metrics. Slack is a tool for communicating and collaborating with team members in real time, as well as sharing feedback, updates, files, and messages. It can be integrated with other feedback tools such as FeedbackFruits, which helps create and manage peer feedback activities for learning and development. This includes assigning and reviewing feedback tasks, setting criteria and deadlines, and monitoring feedback quality and progress.

5 How to create a feedback culture

Creating a feedback culture in your organization is essential for improving work performance, fostering collaboration, and building trust. As a network administrator, you can set the tone and standards for feedback by leading by example and acting on feedback from colleagues, supervisors, and clients. You can also establish feedback norms and expectations by defining the purpose, frequency, format, and criteria of feedback. Additionally, it's important to create feedback opportunities and channels by using feedback tools such as surveys or polls, as well as creating feedback forums such as meetings or online platforms. Ultimately, feedback is a powerful tool that can help you improve your skills, knowledge, and reputation while achieving your professional goals.

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?