How can you differentiate between formative and summative feedback in a mentoring relationship?

In mentoring, formative feedback guides real-time improvement through ongoing interaction, while summative feedback, provided at milestones or program's end, assesses overall progress. It's like ensuring each brick aligns with the blueprint during house construction, with formative feedback being tips from a mentor and summative feedback akin to a final inspection. Examples include formative feedback encouraging elaboration, collaborative problem-solving, and suggesting alternative approaches. Summative feedback recognizes leadership progress, goal achievement, and program effectiveness. Both are essential for a successful mentoring relationship, fostering continuous learning and growth in a rewarding journey of improvement.

Formative feedback is like a learning buddy. It tells you what's going well and what you can do better while you're still learning. It's ongoing, specific, and helps you improve by giving friendly guidance. Imagine you're teaching a friend to ride a bike – you'd cheer for the good parts, point out where they need practice, and suggest how to get even better. That's what formative feedback does – it's all about making the learning journey easier and more fun.

Formative feedback shares similarities with coaching. While mentoring and coaching are distinct concepts, they often overlap but are different whatsoever. The frequency and focus on specific behaviors, actions, or skills for improvement aligns closely with coaching principles. However, in a view of a total master plan this valuable feedback would be used in mentoring to guide individual through continuous improvement in a broader exposure.

Formative feedback is what you need to hear in the moment. It's the almost real-time exchange when a manager praises you or provides guidance on improvement right as an event unfolds. This immediate and constructive input is essential behaviour to keep you on track, fostering continuous improvement and ensuring alignment with goals.

Distinguishing formative and summative feedback in mentoring involves recognizing that formative feedback is about the journey, while summative feedback focuses on the destination. Formative feedback guides and adjusts the mentee's path, tailored to their immediate needs and actions, fostering growth and learning. Summative feedback assesses overall progress and achievement at a specific point, like a milestone marker. Balancing both types offers a comprehensive perspective on growth and achievement, challenging the typical focus on continuous feedback.

Think of it as stepping back and taking in the entire landscape of the mentee's journey within that timeframe. It's not just about the individual steps taken, but the overall progress made, the patterns that emerge, and the distance covered towards the larger goal.

Summative feedback serves as a comprehensive and reflective evaluation of the mentee's overall progress and achievements at a specific point in time. It considers the broader developmental journey, providing insights and discusses milestones reached during a defined period. In essence, summative feedback in mentoring serves as a powerful tool for both mentors and mentees to assess progress, celebrate achievements, and strategically plan for the future. It adds the REFLECTIVE layer to the mentoring relationship, guiding individuals to sustainable growth and success.

Milestone feedback offers a valuable overview of your journey it sheds light on where you are, what you've achieved, and the path forward. It serves as a complement to formative feedback, providing a more comprehensive understanding of your progress and potential directions for future growth.

Both of these forms of feedback are critical in the learning process. Summative feedback should include a summary of all the formative feedback provided during the learning experience. There should not be surprises in the summative feedback session either. Most importantly, feedback is a two way street. The mentee should be providing feedback to their mentor routinely as well

It’s suggested to choose the right feedback method based on the following three perspectives: 1) Skill: “Do they (your mentees) have relevant capabilities and experiences?” - If no, formative feedback (FF) gives clearer instructions. Otherwise, they might get lost. - If yes, summative feedback (SF) shows your respect and leaves them space to think in a positive way. 2) Will: “Are they eager to get detailed feedback?” - If yes, FF would be welcomed and well received. - If no, SF would be more appreciated by them 3) Must - “Can you fail?” - If no, you must make everything clear with FF to avoid any miscommunications. It’s good for outcome. - If yes, SF allows them to think and even learn from failure. It’s good for development.

Formative feedback is instrumental in the day-to-day improvement and skill development of the mentee, ensuring a dynamic and responsive mentoring environment but should always consider the holistic goals set. Summative feedback adds a reflective layer, allowing for strategic planning, goal alignment, and recognition of achievements. Combined, these feedback approaches create a comprehensive and powerful framework for mentoring, guiding individuals toward continuous growth and long-term success.

Feedback is the compass that guides your journey. Without it, you can't be certain if you're on the right path or if what you did was right. It serves as the essential tool for change, improvement, and navigating towards your desired destination. In essence, feedback is the fuel for growth and the catalyst for progress.

Both formative and summative feedback are essential for the mentoring programs. However, the most common mistake observed is providing mentees with unexpected (good or bad) summative feedback by the end of the module or program while avoiding consistent formative feedback throughout the process. Don't do this.

I use Apps as a metaphor for continuous improvement: we should always be working on our next updated version. When we frame the situation that way, we see formative feedback as a useful tool to become our improved “2.0 version” instead of a criticism that can put us down. Mentors need to give specific feedback with the focus on improvement and the process of learning, instead of perfection. Showing “what great looks like” also can be helpful.

Fostering a culture of open communication is pivotal in utilizing formative feedback effectively. Encouraging a two-way dialogue allows for a deeper understanding of the mentee's perspective, creating a space for mutual reflection and shared insights. As a mentor, actively listening to the mentee's responses to feedback and being receptive to their concerns or questions contributes to a supportive learning environment. In addition, setting clear expectations and goals for improvement based on the formative feedback enhances its effectiveness. Collaboratively establishing achievable milestones and tracking progress together helps to keep both the mentor and mentee accountable.

Mentor input oscillates between helpful nudges and final decisions. Formative feedback is your way coach, whispering tips during practice, congratulating tiny triumphs and recommending sprint alterations. Fast check-ins, casual talks and observations. At the end of the season, summative feedback evaluates progress, highlights strengths and problems and sets goals for the next level. Official reviews, milestone assessments, and make summative feedback actionable. Reference past formative instances to suggest improvements. It's about encouraging progress, not judging. Thread those summative insights into the tapestry of guidance and watch your mentoring relationship blossom into a journey of constant learning and achievement.

Suggestions for Enhancing the Feedback Process in Mentoring: 1. 360-Degree: Seek input from various perspectives 2. Strengths: Emphasize and leverage the mentee's strengths, fostering motivation and self-confidence for overall growth. 3. Narrative: Integrate qualitativefeedback, as stories provide profound insights and context. 4. Encourage Self-Reflection 5. Feedback Follow-Up: Always include debriefing sessions, discussing both successful elements and reasons for any challenges. A comprehensive debrief reflects both the positive aspects and areas for improvement. Additionally, it is imperative to set clear goals upfront, agreed upon by both the mentee and mentor, to guide the mentoring journey effectively.

In my opinion, there is currently a tendency to overly emphasize mechanics and processes in mentoring. While every discipline needs its tools, procedures, and techniques, I feel it is important not to forget the human factor, meaning when and how to communicate depends on the person you're mentoring, the goals the mentee and you set, and the personality of the mentee. So, know your tools, but don't use them based on checklists but on your intuition

??Feedback is inevitable to have on a daily, weekly, monthly and yearly basis. While formative feedback could be "Your efforts are visible" or "Fantastic precision", the summative feedback could more elaborating and detailed. Verbal feedbacks stays for a while, however, a momento or trophy or a written email shall be forever

Don't do this if you're a mentor or manager: avoid or postpone formative feedback regarding the ongoing learning processes only to bombard and trap your mentees/subordinates with summative feedback in the end. For ex. the mentee thought they were pretty good, and you provided zero insights on something that was lacking or poorly performed along the way, then 6 months later you evaluate them within the lowest success rankings which is shocking and painful.

Feedback is imperative. Any leader, manager, teacher, or individual needs and must provide it to those who require feedback to succeed. Without it, you are setting yourself up for failure.