Knowing how to effectively navigate the feedback process is an essential part of being a manager. You might think that employees only want to hear positive feedback, but most employees want to and expect to receive both positive and negative feedback at work. In fact, a survey revealed that 92% of respondents agreed that “Negative (redirecting) feedback, if delivered appropriately, is effective at improving performance.”.
Providing positive performance feedback to your employees should be fairly simple, but effectively providing the negative, or constructive, feedback might require more consideration and effort. It’s crucial for managers to carefully frame their constructive feedback so it does not unintentionally come across as harsh criticism.
The end of the year is right around the corner, which means it’s time to start thinking about your employees’ year-end reviews if you manage a team. Nearly every employee can improve their performance in some way, so now is the time to prepare your professional approach for these conversations. Keep reading to unlock several tips to master the constructive feedback process to help your employees improve their performances at work and thrive.
Tips to Effectively Deliver Constructive Feedback
1. Determine a Structure
The first step is to determine how you want to approach these conversations. Will you share your feedback in weekly catch-up calls with your employees, or will you schedule a formal quarterly meeting to review their performance instead? Will your employees receive feedback better face-to-face or through a video call? Face-to-face is often the recommended method to avoid any misinterpretation. You should also decide if you want to work off a rating scale template to evaluate their performances. Predetermining these factors will improve the effectiveness of the feedback you distribute.
2. Set Expectations
When an employee starts their job, their manager should set clear performance expectations. Sharing your expectations early on will set you up for effective feedback discussions as your employees progress in their roles. They deserve to know what’s expected of them so they have a fair chance of succeeding and are not blindsided by constructive feedback down the road.
3. Pinpoint Actionable Improvements
Constructive feedback can be useless if you don’t provide the recipient with actionable takeaways – you should offer specific strategies and examples of how they can improve their performance. Sharing vague feedback is a waste of time. If you are specific, however, employees will be more likely to see your perspective and be eager to change their workplace behaviors. Pinpointing specific performance-improving actions also makes it easier to re-evaluate their performance in the future to see if your constructive feedback made a difference.
4. Facts Not Feelings
It’s best to put your feelings aside when you deliver constructive feedback. Remaining objective when analyzing your employees’ performances will ensure that you aren’t asking them to change something unnecessary that only bothers you and doesn’t have a negative impact on their performance at work. Be sure to stay grounded in facts rather than any feelings you have.
5. Master Your Tone
To effectively provide constructive feedback in a professional setting, consider using a thoughtful and slightly delicate tone. Avoid rude or condescending tones because they can quickly be perceived as harsh criticism. Use helpful, practical, and encouraging words throughout the feedback process in place of discouraging and accusatory statements.
6. Be an Active Listener
A key component of successfully giving constructive feedback is listening to what the recipient has to say in response to the feedback. No one wants to hear about what they are doing wrong without having a chance to explain why they might be doing something differently than you expect them to. Employees will be more motivated to improve if you give them a voice throughout the process.
7. Don't Forget the Positives
A good manager will make sure they point out when their employees are doing a good job, too – it can be human nature to focus on the negatives, but that is not a productive way of thinking. Mixing in some positive feedback with the constructive points will ensure that employees don’t become too discouraged.
8. Don't Overdo It
With that said, don’t throw too much feedback at employees at once or your main points could get lost in translation. Focus on big picture items that will significantly improve their performance. If you’re too nitpicky, your employees might get offended and think they are being micromanaged. It’s all about finding a healthy balance!
9. Determine a Solution Together
Once you offer constructive feedback, the next step is to establish common ground and collaborate with the employee to determine a solution together to help them excel in their role. When you work together to figure out how your concerns can be alleviated and what the best path toward success is, the employee will be more motivated to make a change since you are establishing trust and giving them a say in the process.
10. Follow Up
Don’t forget to have a follow-up conversation after you offer constructive feedback. Allow some time for the changes to set in then take time to recognize their performance improvements, or lack thereof, once the time is right. It’s best to keep a continuous feedback loop open so you and your employees feel comfortable sharing feedback whenever the need arises.
Why Does This Matter?
So, why should you care about mastering the constructive feedback process? First, as a manager, you should genuinely want to help your employees grow professionally. Second, you should want to remove any performance roadblocks and enhance your team’s performance in order to reach the goals that have been set for your team.
Your goal in giving constructive feedback should never be to discourage your employees – it should be to inform them how they can exceed in their role and become a better asset to your team, and this is unlikely to happen if a trusted leader is not pointing out their strengths and weaknesses. Lastly, you should strive to show your employees that you are noticing what they are doing (both good and bad) to order to foster a culture of continuous improvement, motivate your employees to succeed, and strengthen professional relationships.
With end of year reviews around the corner, it’s important to keep these tips in mind when you approach constructive feedback conversations. But don’t forget to have these conversations regularly throughout the year so your employees have some insight into how they are performing at all times – it can be ineffective to only provide this feedback once a year. Once you master the constructive feedback process, you will watch your team improve in no time.
