What does constructive feedback mean

In this example, you learn specific details about the presentation so you can repeat them in the future. You know that:. If the feedback would have been less detailed and specific, you might not know what your strengths during the presentation were or what to continue doing for your next presentation.

Consider this scenario the next time you're in a position to provide positive feedback to your own team or co-workers. While your feedback should be specific to the individual and the situation, there are a few best practices you might consider when preparing your next piece of feedback:. Never save up all your positive feedback for an employee's annual performance review. Both positive feedback and constructive criticism should occur close to when events that elicit the feedback occur.

Giving feedback regularly helps solidify it in the recipient's mind so they always know where they stand. While some individuals thrive on receiving critical feedback, emphasizing only negative, critical feedback can decrease morale, reduce productivity and could potentially leave employees feeling under-appreciated or unsure about their impact on the job.

On the other hand, making positive feedback a regular part of the workplace has many benefits:. Feedback about what people are doing right can result in increased engagement both with their work and their colleagues. Some of the benefits of increased engagement include comfort with sharing new ideas and pointing out problems that need to be addressed. This can help you be successful in your role and clear the way for raises and promotions.

Positive feedback has the ability to improve certain skills and qualities, even if you are already a high performer or in a management position.

Improving performance can increase productivity and translate to gains both for your career and your organization. Developing a supportive, positive environment can both increase productivity and reduce attrition. Together, these add up to cost savings as a result of meaningful, consistent feedback between colleagues and from supervisors to direct reports.

While positive feedback is certainly necessary, it is also important to let others know when they have the opportunity to improve the skills and qualities that will help them succeed in their career.

As opposed to positive feedback, however, it can be difficult to know exactly when and how it is appropriate to offer a healthy critique. Here are a few tips for providing constructive criticism:.

With negative feedback, it's important to be constructive. You can certainly include a positive comment to ensure the recipient knows they are also doing things well, but avoid giving a compliment before and after your critique. Doing so may dilute what could be helpful and important feedback for the audience.

Instead, start the conversation by pointing out what they did right and end with how you think they can improve. Unlike negative feedback, constructive criticism helps an employee see where he or she needs to improve and why it's important to make those improvements.

Constructive criticism presents both a critique and a solution, giving the employee a clear idea of how to improve. For example, if employees consistently send emails with spelling errors , explain why sending an error-free email is important instead of just asking them to stop making mistakes. Provide an example and reiterate why they should consider proofreading before sending communications. Help them come up with a plan to improve their spelling and catch typos. While providing consistent constructive feedback is a healthy and necessary part of a job, contributing to an environment with negativity, complaints and constant criticism can be unhealthy.

One method to avoid this is to offer a compliment or piece of positive feedback for every negative comment you contribute or overhear.

It is a better idea in nearly every instance to offer constructive criticism in person. It's easier for others to misconstrue written communications because they can't hear your tone or read your facial expressions. Constructive criticism should be used only as a method of encouraging others to improve as a means of growing in their career. Such behavior puts their entire reputation at stake. For example: If an employee fails to show up early, then employers should pass feedback regarding the problem rather than talking about their lousy behavior.

Giving feedback via WhatsApp or email might be less time consuming, but one cannot deny the high chances of misinterpretation often noticed on these platforms. In this text, it is not clear as to whether if Chris is a bad worker or Mr. Cole just want to add something more to the presentation.

No matter how good feedback is, bad timing is bad timing, especially when the person of interest is going through a tough period. For example, if you are aware of an employee suffering from major family issues, it is better to approach them after some time.

This is a technique often used by people to make their criticisms much more digestible. This technique involves layering a harsh criticism in between two compliments. Be specific when it comes to constructive feedback. In organizations, the hierarchy might be a concern for feedback givers but one should certainly supersede such obstructions in order to have an honest communication cycle. Did we miss something?

Come on! Tell us what you think about our article on constructive feedback in the comments section. A startup analyst who believes that every big project is the result of numerous small efforts that go into the way. Constructive criticism is clear, to the point and easy to put into action. Constructive criticism can be a part of implementing improvement strategies to help employees set and achieve their work goals.

It can also create a positive atmosphere where the staff is comfortable to ask questions, request assistance and offer their own feedback and ideas. Ultimately, constructive criticism can provide ways for your employees to better understand your expectations and how to meet and even exceed them. Delivering constructive criticism can be an effective starting point for implementing improvement plans, setting objectives for developing skills and increasing overall growth in the workplace.

Consider the following strategies for giving direct and actionable feedback:. The sandwich method delivers constructive criticism in between specific praise statements. With this strategy, an evaluation or employee review is opened with praise for what an employee has done well before discussing which aspects of their performance need improvement.

The critique is then concluded with another specific praise. Using the sandwich strategy can be an effective way to deliver actionable feedback to your employees. Consider approaching your employee review or meeting with the sandwich strategy by opening your conversation with praise about a success, high work ethic or met objective.

Focus on offering productive advice and plans for improvement and offer your assistance before closing your conversation. Tip: Consider writing out your feedback by listing what your positive praise will be, the area of improvement you will focus on and another specific praise for something done well or above expectations. However, the supporting outline of how the KPIs would be tracked seemed to be missing some key information like the target objectives and strategies that would be applied.

If you revise your outline to include one to two specific objectives that the team will set and what strategies they will use to monitor progress, it would help to flesh out your project plan. The overall structure of your argument is strong, though, and by including the information we discussed, I feel like it would be a stronger presentation.

It also reinforces your point of view, letting the other person know how you see the situation. This will make it easier for the other person to separate the criticism from himself and see where you are coming from.

Make sure to include opportunities for improvement and offer your mentorship.