A Framework for Providing Feedback
Providing feedback isn’t easy, especially if it is corrective. It’s a complex skill that requires patience and practice. The following process provides a framework for providing corrective feedback.
Preparing the Feedback
When you’re preparing to deliver corrective feedback, you’ll want to consider how open the feedback recipient will be to receiving feedback from you. To increase the odds that a recipient will accept and act upon the feedback you deliver, think about the following potential barriers you may encounter and the kinds of adjustments you’ll need to make:
What’s your intent in providing feedback?
Ensure that the feedback you provide has a positive intent. If the recipient doubts or mistrusts your motives, demonstrate that you’re genuinely interested in helping and developing him by acknowledging his perspective and clearly affirming your positive intent.
What’s the content of the feedback?
If the feedback is related to a core duty or something that the recipient takes pride in, it is more likely to harm his self-esteem and result in resistant behaviors. In such cases, it will be especially important to frame the message in a positive and supportive manner.
Are you a credible source?
If you believe your credibility may be an issue, make sure you have plenty of objective and specific examples to support your feedback.
What’s your working relationship like?
People are willing to accept feedback more readily from someone with whom they have a good working relationship. If you don’t have a good working relationship with the recipient, you may need to work on reestablishing the relationship by developing rapport, mutual respect, and trust with the recipient. When your feedback is urgent, you may not have time to wait for your relationship to improve, so it’ll be particularly important to frame your message in a positive way that highlights benefits to the recipient.
What’s your status relative to the recipient?
In a hierarchical environment, it is often difficult to give feedback to a peer or a superior. If you are presenting feedback to a peer or a superior, present plenty of objective and specific examples to establish your credibility and remember to present your comments as supportive rather than critical.
What’s the feedback recipient’s likely reaction?
After repeated feedback sessions with the same person, you may find that they often tend to respond in a certain way. Some people are generally more sensitive to corrective feedback while others are more likely to welcome information about how they can improve. Try to tailor your message to what you think will work best for the recipient.
Delivering the Feedback
The next step in the feedback giving process is actually delivering the feedback. The following steps provide a framework for delivering corrective feedback and flow in a logical sequence:
1. Confirm the Situation
Start by orienting the recipient’s attention to the situation you’ve observed. This information will help the recipient recall the situation and the circumstances surrounding it.
2. Ask for a Self-Assessment
Ask the recipient for a self-assessment of the situation and his actions. Focus your questioning on his behaviors and performance during the given event or situation. The recipient’s response should match your assessments. If it does not, ask more specific questions.
3. Clarify and Come to an Agreement
Either confirm or continue probing until the recipient verbalizes your assessment of the situation. Come to an agreement on the linkage of actions and consequences.
4. Add Your Observations
Include your observations, which the recipient may be unaware of. Build on what the recipient has already said to increase his self-awareness. Include specific behaviors that had an impact on the consequence or outcome.
5. Engage and Expand
Raise questions that will prompt the recipient to think about how to act or respond in the future. Ask for a recommendation about how to improve the recipient’s behavior in the future, how to avoid problems, and how to take advantage of an opportunity. Action may be taken by the recipient, you (the feedback giver), or both parties, including taking steps to improve or change the recipient’s behavior, providing more support or guidance (you), clarifying expectations (both), and developing abilities and skills (both).
6. Reinforce
Reinforce something the recipient is doing correctly (i.e., validate a strength). Once you and the recipient are in agreement on the behaviors that contributed to a consequence and a recommendation for the future, provide reinforcement on what he’s doing correctly.
Following Up on Feedback
After the feedback session, make sure to follow up to ensure corrective action is being taken based on the feedback. To effectively follow up on feedback, consider the following tips:
- Allow the recipient time and space to adjust his actions and behaviors.
- Observe for a change in the recipient actions and behaviors.
- Give brief verbal and nonverbal reinforcements when changes in actions and behaviors are observed.
- Observe for changes in outcomes and consequences.
- Bring the recipient’s attention to changes in outcomes and consequences – reinforce success.