How can you build confidence when delivering negative feedback?

I believe most of the building confidence work comes from building a good rapport beforehand and establishing a culture where people know you have their best interests at heart. If the culture has been established, it is enough to ask people how they are feeling and if anything is the matter. People tend not to listen to you if you do not show you understanding that you have a person in front of you. The idea is that you notice both the problem and the person and address them both.

It's not just about what you're saying, but how you're saying it. Grounding yourself with an understanding of effective communication techniques can be invaluable. Book Recommendation: "Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes Are High" by Kerry Patterson et al. This book provides techniques to navigate high-stakes conversations with both empathy and clarity.

When delivering negative feedback it is essential that you have done the work to figure out why your agent is failing. Do not call someone out without proper knowledge of why they are doing something. Maybe yes they are intentionally doing it, or maybe you haven’t taught them the right way to do it. An agent underperforming could be a will think or it could be a lack of knowledge. Make sure you find out the root.

Consider the recipient's workload and emotions. You don't want to catch someone off guard when they're already having a stressful day. Book Recommendation: "Thanks for the Feedback: The Science and Art of Receiving Feedback Well" by Douglas Stone and Sheila Heen. It touches on how feedback is received and can guide you on creating the right environment for delivering feedback.

It's essential to ensure that the positive feedback you provide before and after the negative feedback is genuine and relevant. Inauthentic feedback can diminish your message's effectiveness. Book Recommendation: "Radical Candor: Be a Kick-Ass Boss Without Losing Your Humanity" by Kim Scott. This book emphasizes the balance between caring personally and challenging directly.

I totally agree with this. It is important to be inclined towards a constructive criticism rather than it being generic. Also, transparent two-way communication is a must. This would allow the feedback recipient to accept suggestions openly and acknowledge the mistakes, this showing improvements.

Aim for a solution-oriented approach. Instead of just pointing out a problem, provide actionable advice on how to rectify or improve. Book Recommendation: "Feedback That Works: How to Build and Deliver Your Message" by Sloan Weitzel. It offers clear guidelines on crafting feedback that's beneficial to the recipient.

We absolutely should empathize with the feedback receiver, especially, when we need to deliver negative feedback. I know it's popular to use the sandwich technique, but it can seem patronizing. Instead of one positive "layer" we can share some personal experiences when we got negative feedback and how it was useful or beneficial for us and the organization. It's worth investing the time to show that everyone makes mistakes and provide support in order to learn from those mistakes.

Remember that feedback is a two-way street. Allow the recipient to share their perspective, and be open to understanding their viewpoint. Book Recommendation: "Just Listen: Discover the Secret to Getting Through to Absolutely Anyone" by Mark Goulston. This is an insightful read on the power and art of effective listening.