The Art of Giving Effective Feedback

Feedback is vital for growth. Leaders need to understand how others perceive them to create the desired impacts. Leaders need to give feedback effectively to help their teams grow. Leaders who do not provide feedback deny others the opportunity to improve. However, giving feedback effectively can be challenging.

Explore here with Gerrit Pelzer and Martin Aldergard how to master the Art of Giving Effective Feedback to help you and your team grow.

Key Aspects

‘One thing people are never good at is seeing themselves as other people see them’ —Eric Schmidt, former Google CEO

[01:55] If you’re not receiving feedback, you don’t really know how you are doing. Whatever we do is done with the best intentions. At times though, we realise that what we are doing does not have the desired impacts. Feedback is vital for improvement. Successful leaders know how others perceive them, and they know how to manage perception accordingly. They also provide feedback to others regularly to help them improve.

However, giving feedback, especially in a way that is accepted by the receiver, is not easy. Feedback is an art, and to master it requires practice. Attending a one-day feedback training is not enough.

The first thing that gets in the way of giving effective feedback is the mindset: some people distinguish between positive and negative feedback. But there is no such thing as negative feedback: any feedback provides an opportunity to improve, although corrective feedback may not be seen as pleasant initially (by both the receiver and the giver of the feedback). Not giving feedback is denying the other person an opportunity to improve.

A foundation for effective feedback is trust. If I trust you that you have the best intentions (you genuinely want to help me improve) when you give me feedback, it will be much easier for me to accept this feedback.

[15:16] Feedback, be it “reenforcing” or “corrective”, needs to be specific and focus on behaviour (not the person) so that people understand how they can improve. Frameworks like SBI (situation, behaviour, impact) or STAR (situation, task, action, result) can be very helpful, especially for beginners.

As feedback-giver, we need to be aware that we are talking about our perception, not “the truth”, and it helps to express how we feel. Because nobody can argue with our feelings.

Feedback should address behaviour in a specific situation. Feedback is not to be confused with a performance review.

Feedback needs to be adjusted to the cultural context (national and organizational) and the individual.

Focusing on what the person can do better in the future (feed-forward) helps.

[27:40] Many people report that the best feedback they ever received in their lives was the toughest feedback. So don’t shy away from “difficult” feedback.

Reflection Questions for Leaders

How might I keep others from giving me candid feedback?
Where might I not be giving the necessary feedback?
What keeps me from giving that feedback, and what will I do about it?

More info about Martin’s and Gerrit’s work: secondcrackleadership.com
Download Gerrit's complimentary guide The Art of Giving Effective Feedback
Connect with Martin and Gerrit on LinkedIn:
www.linkedin.com/in/martinaldergard
www.linkedin.com/in/gerritpelzer
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