How to Give Feedback: Strategies and Framework for Communication
Feedback is essential to learning. It is imperative that managers and leaders learn how to give feedback in the workplace to foster employee growth and development.
The issue, however, is that providing feedback can be challenging. After all, if delivered incorrectly, feedback may lead to conflict rather than improved performance. Giving feedback effectively is a skill that can take leaders years to hone.
So, in today’s article, we’re guiding you through the best strategies and frameworks for providing feedback. We’re giving you the best tips and approaches to help you establish a healthy feedback culture in your workplace.
How to give effective feedback
Let’s be honest. Giving constructive criticism makes most of us feel uneasy. After all, nitpicking the work of others can result in uncomfortable conversations — or worse, conflict.
Providing feedback is a skill that requires a balanced approach.
If you rely on negative feedback alone, it can dampen morale or motivationOpens in a new tab for the person receiving it. And you don’t want to have a demoralized and unmotivated team.
Conversely, positive feedback may improve morale, confidence, and job satisfaction. But this, too, has its issues, including fostering complacency and reduced effortOpens in a new tab.
So, how do you give effective feedback to your employees?
Five steps to giving effective feedback
Remember, the goal of every feedback session is to help your employees grow. Feedback should start an empathetic conversation oriented towards improvement rather than diminish their motivation. When they feel inspired to perform better, rather than reprimanded, employees are more likely to act on the feedback.
Here are five steps to provide meaningful feedback to your team members:
Step 1: Prepare the recipient
Timely delivery is crucial, especially for companies without an established feedback culture. So, avoid interrupting and catching them off guard or when they're in the wrong headspace.
However, don’t wait too long to give your thoughts about their work either. The earlier you address the issue, the quicker the recipient can pause, reflect, and correct their behavior. These conversations shouldn’t just be saved for quarterly performance reviews or other infrequent meetings.
Here’s a tip:
To prepare the person, ask them if they’re okay with discussing the situation first. Then, help them understand the reason behind the conversation, including its benefits.
Step 2: Describe the situation
Clarity is essential to providing useful feedback. So, when describing the situation to your employees, don’t forget the “who,” “what,” “when,” “where,” and “how.”
For example, if you inform someone that they acted unprofessionally, what does that mean exactly? Were they too casual, too friendly, or too loud? Be specific.
Vague feedbackOpens in a new tab can lead to all sorts of problems. It can result in more unanswered questions for the recipient, which doesn’t help them.
It’s also important to focus your talk on the situation rather than the individual. This approach shows that you’re more concerned about fixing the problem than criticizing the recipient.
Step 3: Share your perspective
The next step is to share your take on the situation. It’s crucial to do this from your perspective, using “I” statements such as “I noticed,” “I’d like,” or “I wonder.”
So, say, “I noticed you’re submitting your projects late for the past few weeks. I wonder if you can help me understand the reasons for your delays and if there’s anything I can do to help you meet your deadlines.”
Notice how this approach points out the issue without being standoffish. It’s also emphatic, which opens up a space for a solution-oriented conversation.
That said, try to avoid accusatory statements that can put the recipient on the defensive. Don’t use exaggerated words like “never,” “always,” and “all” as well.
Step 4: Offer actionable recommendations
The message should convey that you care and want to help the person develop and grow. However, you should also provide actionable suggestions to improve the situation.
Effective feedback involves clear goals and tangible resultsOpens in a new tab. Thus, saying “Good job!” or “You got this part of the project wrong,” doesn’t really count as meaningful feedback.
You want to provide your employees with something they can put into practice.
For instance, instead of commenting, “You need to improve your presentation skills.” you can say: “You can improve your presentation by providing more statistical data. Also, you can try incorporating more confident body language, like eye contact or hand gestures while presenting.”
Step 5: Foster a conversation
One important goal of giving feedback is to allow self-awareness and reflection.Opens in a new tab As such, you should avoid turning the conversation into a one-way lecture. Instead, foster a dialogue where you give and receive feedback in return.
For example, instead of pinpointing the faults in their work, you can ask them what they think they did well or poorly. From there, you can contribute by adding other aspects you found impressive or needing improvement.
Use questionsOpens in a new tab to trigger reflection, exploration, and discovery. And always strive to be clear and precise—adding examples to convey your point better.
Here’s an excellent example:
“I found your presentation impressive. Its content was well-researched and highly informative. In your opinion, what parts of your presentation do you think need improvement?”
After getting an answer from your employee, you can then offer some suggestions. This two-way approachOpens in a new tab fosters dialogue while guiding the recipient toward a goal-oriented mindset.
What is a feedback model?
A feedback model is a valuable tool for making effective feedback. It helps you create concise, clear, and functional feedback mechanisms to incorporate into the workplace.
Feedback models reinforce favorable actions in employees. And you can use them to support behavioral changesOpens in a new tab to make your organization more efficient and effective.
Benefits of using a feedback model
There are several benefits to using models in giving performance reviews. Here are some of their advantages:
Improved structure
Utilizing a model can help you connect better with your team. By structuring your approach, uncomfortable conversations about your team members’ areas of improvement become easier.
Improved communication
Another benefit of using a model is that it helps avoid accusatory, vague, or unclear feedback. Instead, you can focus on the facts, the issues, and the steps to resolve them.
Improved confidence
Confidence is a must-have quality in the workplace. Surveys suggestOpens in a new tab that workers who receive frequent performance feedback from their managers feel more confident in their jobs.
Four key features of an effective feedback model
Feedback must be clear, timely, constructive, and collaborative to be effective. Look for these four features in your feedback model.
Clear and specific
Clarity and specificity are the first qualities of an effective feedback model. It means the feedback you’re making should always be actionable and task-specific.
The goal is to make the recipient fully understand what you’re asking them to do. This way, they know what to improve specifically and avoid confusion or defensiveness.
Timely and regular
A good feedback model highlights timeliness. You’d want your input to be as relevant as possible to your coworkers’ performance.
To do this, you should avoid giving your thoughts too late. Moreover, you should provide it frequently to energize your employees and create momentumOpens in a new tab for better performance.
Constructive and developmental
Effective feedback models highlight a constructive approachOpens in a new tab. They provide insightful and practical bits of advice rather than focusing on criticism.
They're also developmentalOpens in a new tab, which means the feedback focuses on areas of improvement for long-term growth. In other words, you emphasize the recipient's potential and inspire continuous improvement.
Collaborative and two-way
If you want behavior change, you’ll need a model stressing collaboration. The idea here is simple: working with your employees to enhance their work performance.
You should acknowledge that your employee understands their situation better and have valuable information about improving their performance.
Good feedback means fostering a two-way dialogueOpens in a new tab between you and the recipient. Ensure that you use a calm, even tone of voice and ask the person you’re speaking to for feedback in return.
Different feedback models
Fortunately, you don’t have to make a feedback model from scratch. Below are some models available and employee feedback examples you can apply in your office.
SBI Feedback Model
SBI stands for Situation, Behavior, and ImpactOpens in a new tab. Feedback using this model revolves around three areas: the situation, the recipient behavior, and the impact of this behavior on you or the team.
Here’s an example you can follow:
“I was impressed by the number of details you included in your presentation with the clients yesterday. You also answered all their questions satisfactorily, helping us land the deal with them.”
Observe how the feedback identified the situation clearly while highlighting the behavior and its impact on the speaker and the clients.
McKinsey Feedback Model
The McKinsey model, also known as the Action Feeling Feedback, is similar to the SBI feedback framework. It’s a constructive approach focusing on facts and actionable solutions.
Feedback using this model has three parts:
- First is the action, which refers to the behavior or event you’d like the recipient to improve or change.
- Second is the feeling, referring to your opinion about the action.
- Third is the feedback, where you recommend actionable steps to the recipient.
SAID Model
Similar to SBI and McKinsey, SAID emphasizes the result of the person’s actions. However, unlike the other two, SAID attempts to soften the blow by mentioning the positive aspects of the behavior.
Here’s an example:
“I often find your work impressive. However, I noticed that your recent submission contains some data errors. So, the clients may need some revisions before they approve it.”
Stanford Method
The Stanford method is a more straightforward approach to giving feedback. It basically cuts straight to the matter using phrases like “I wish,” “I like,” or “What if.”
Here’s what it sounds like:
“I wish you had introduced more factual information in your presentation. What if you provide more statistical data on our next meeting?”
SKS Feedback Model
SKS stands for Stop, Keep, StartOpens in a new tab. This methodology involves three questions you can use for the feedback process.
The questions are simple:
- What should I stop doing?
- What should I keep doing?
- When should I start doing it?
You can apply the SKS regardless of your role. You can even employ the SKS to make leadership feedback examples, which are helpful for reviewing your performance as a leader.
STAR Feedback Model
The STAR is one of the most popular feedback models. It stands for Situation, Task, Action, and Result, which works similarly to the SBI, SAID, and McKinsey models.
One advantage of the STAR framework is that it allows you to focus on the facts and behaviors. It stresses both negative and positiveOpens in a new tab aspects, which is ideal for constructive performance reviews.
CEDAR Feedback Model
Context, Examples, Diagnosis, Action, and Review (CEDAR) is a collaborative feedback approach. It means the conversation happens in a two-way fashion, and not just you lecturing the recipient.
The CEDAR provides a more structured and coaching-type methodology. And it involves a follow-up step, allowing you to monitor progress together.
360-Degree Feedback Model
As the name suggests, the 360-degree model offers an extensive feedback system. Unlike most models, the recipient receives feedback from several sources: their supervisor, coworkers, staff members, and customers.
The advantage of this strategy is that it helps workers understand their strengths and weaknesses from different perspectives. Several studiesOpens in a new tab back the effectiveness of this model in improving engagement, reducing turnover, and enhancing productivity.
How feedback fosters well-being at work
According to surveysOpens in a new tab, 75% of employees believe feedback is valuable in their jobs. However, 65% of the workers think they’re not getting enough feedback.
Zippia reported that four out of tenOpens in a new tab employees feel disengaged from work due to this issue. They also noted that employees who receive little to no recognition are more likely to feel disengaged.
From these statistics, you’ll realize how continuous feedback plays a significant role in promoting worker well-being. And the less they receive it, the more likely they feel unsatisfied with their work and quit.
Remember: employees need both recognition and appreciationOpens in a new tab in the form of feedback. Initiatives like these show that you care and appreciate everyone’s efforts.
Learn how you can help your company build a positive feedback culture and improve the employee experience!
Using feedback models in the workplace
Feedback models allow you to develop better habits for delivering feedback within your workplace. It’s particularly helpful to companies that want to start a healthy feedback culture.
Following a structured and organized strategy, such as the 360-degree model, helps managers establish a robust feedback framework. This, in turn, creates an environment of transparency in the workplace.
That said, implementing these models requires a platform. And doing it with traditional paper and pencils can be time-consuming and inefficient.
Thankfully, assessment and feedback services are now available.
Workhuman'sⓇ Conversations, for instance, offers a space for requesting, sending, and collecting feedback for managers. It’s a valuable tool that can help nourish your company’s feedback culture and employee growth.
FAQs
What are the four steps of giving feedback?
The four-step format of giving feedback involves defining, describing, clarifying, and suggesting. It aims to present a constructive approach to criticism.
It starts by defining the specific situation and describing the behavior in question. You then proceed by clarifying the impact of the behavior before suggesting steps to improve.
What are the five qualities feedback should have?
Feedback needs five essential qualities to be good and meaningful. It should be timely, insightful, constructive, collaborative, and actionable.
These five elements contribute to helping the recipient grow. They steer the conversation away from criticism, preventing confusion, conflict, and other issues.
Conclusion
Understanding how to give useful feedback fosters growth, development, and relationships in the workplace. It makes workers feel relevant and part of something bigger than themselves.
However, it’s important to remember that mere criticism or praise doesn’t constitute good feedback. You’ll want to follow models, such as the SBI, 360-degree, or McKinsey, for your feedback to be effective.
Knowing how to give clear, timely, and constructive feedback makes happier and more engaged workers. Follow these tips, and you might just change your company culture entirely.