The ABCs of Giving Effective Constructive Feedback

Constructive feedback is a gift. While it is not always delivered in beautiful wrapping paper and adorned with a big red bow, it is nonetheless a gift. That's because in the majority of instances, the giver of the feedback has positive intent and desires to see the recipient of that feedback be successful.

Giving effective constructive feedback does not have to be difficult if you follow these ABCs:

Appropriate

Behavior-focused

Contextual

Detailed

Examples

Follow-up

Goal-oriented

Helpful

Integrity

Just

Effective constructive feedback is appropriate in time and in place.

Choose an appropriate time and an appropriate location to give your constructive feedback.

Feedback should be given timely, and at an appropriate time. Timely constructive feedback occurs within a few days of the observed behavior. This way, the incident will be fresh in your mind and in the mind of the person with whom you will be speaking. If you wait much longer than a few days, by the time you have the conversation, it's more likely the person will have forgotten about what happened.

Also, the further removed you are from the date of the incident, the more inclined you will be to diminish its impact, e.g., “What Bob did wasn’t really that bad. I was probably just overreacting to the situation.” One of the worst mistakes you can make as a manager is to wait until your employee’s quarterly or annual performance review to address the issue. Not only is this unfair to the blindsided employee, it also casts you in a bad light as your leaders will justifiably question why you neglected to address the issue when it first arose.

Next, you’ll need to arrange an appropriate time to discuss the issue. Depending upon pre-existing commitments, consider whether the conversation would be best held early in the day, in the middle of the day, or at the end of the day. Find sufficient time on your calendar to allow both you and the other person the opportunity to engage in a productive conversation. Five minutes here or there or the fifteen minutes in between meetings will not be enough time for a real discussion. You don’t want the other person to feel rushed or to feel that there is no time for them to respond to what’s been said.

Location, location, location. When giving constructive feedback, location is just as important a consideration as when purchasing real estate. Constructive feedback should be given in private. Use your office. If you work in an open cubicle setting, ask to use someone’s office or use an empty conference room or meeting space. If you work in a remote environment, scheduling a virtual meeting is both easy and convenient. The idea is to provide a private and confidential environment for your conversation.

As a general rule, it is not appropriate to give constructive feedback in front of others. Give your employees and co-workers the respect they deserve by discussing work performance issues in a one-on-one conversation. No one likes to be singled out in front of their colleagues. Not only is this unprofessional, public chastisement embarrasses the employee and makes the "innocent bystanders" who are present uncomfortable.

Effective constructive feedback focuses on the behavior, not the person.

We all have personality flaws, quirks, and idiosyncrasies. Keep in mind when sharing your constructive feedback that no one is perfect, including you. Refrain from focusing on the person’s shortcomings. Instead, focus on the behavior in question. When you focus on the person’s behavior and how it is affecting the team or workplace as a whole, they are less likely to get defensive and more inclined to be receptive to your message.

For example, suppose one of the members on your team consistently misses deadlines. The ripple effects of that causes other members of the team to fall behind in their schedules and meeting their commitments. Your constructive feedback should focus not upon what you believe to be the team member's inconsiderate behavior. Rather, your feedback should focus upon how on x occasion, the person’s failure to complete their tasks by the prescribed deadline negatively impacted the rest of the team and your internal and external clients in a, b, and c ways.

Effective constructive feedback is contextual.

Have you ever gotten into an argument with your significant other over what you thought was one issue only to have the argument disintegrate into a shouting match rehashing issues you thought were resolved a long time ago? Or, perhaps the person brought up something that happened over a year ago that you are now hearing about for the first time. Bewildered, you wondered why they never told you how much leaving the cap off the toothpaste really bothered them.

Let’s switch gears to see how this same dynamic plays out in the workplace. You are the supervisor of the customer service department. You’ve asked John to speak with you about complaints you’ve recently received about his customer service. Your constructive feedback should be contextual in that it addresses the specific issue before you, namely concerns about the quality of service John is giving to his customers.

Now would not be an appropriate time to discuss how John was 45 minutes late to the last department meeting or how he doesn’t contribute to the weekly donut kitty yet helps himself to two Krispy Kremes every Friday morning. The first quality of effective constructive feedback, that it be appropriate in time, alleviates any contextual problem. When you address and resolve issues in a timely manner (within a reasonable time after the behavior is observed), there is no need to dredge up past incidents because, presumably, they have already been addressed and resolved.

Effective constructive feedback is descriptive.

One of your goals in giving constructive feedback should be to identify an area in your colleague or employee’s work performance that could use improvement. Therefore, general comments about working harder, being a better team player, or other euphemistic clichés are not particularly helpful. After all, how can someone begin to address and correct an issue if they are not clear which behavior they are engaging in is unsatisfactory? When giving constructive feedback, endeavor to be very specific.

Compare and contrast the following examples.

Example #1

Manager	Paul, I need you to start being a better team player.
Paul	I am not sure what you mean. I contributed over 120 hours to the Manheim project this month and worked with Paula, Christine, and Scott to make sure those proposals went out to the client on time. I worked late every night last week and came in on the weekend to help Christine finish the reports for the Donaldson project. How am I not being a good team player?

Example #2

Manager

Hello Paul. Thanks for your work on the Manheim project. I appreciate you sacrificing your weekends to get those proposals out to the client on time. I wanted to talk with you today, however, because I have some concerns about your tardiness. I noticed that you arrived late yesterday and again today. I am concerned because you missed some very valuable information during the first part of this morning’s department meeting. The rest of the team and I really value your input and would have welcomed your perspective on the Donaldson project.

Paul

Yes, I’ve been meaning to speak with you about my schedule for this week. My wife is six months pregnant and I’ve had to take her to her prenatal checkups and sonogram appointments. I meant to tell you last week, but I got so preoccupied with the Manheim project that it completely slipped my mind.

Effective constructive feedback uses examples.

Along with being descriptive in giving constructive feedback, it is important to give examples of the person’s behavior that is at issue. These examples should be based upon your personal observation, not hearsay or rumors.

For instance, let’s suppose you have a co-worker who routinely monopolizes the discussion during staff meetings. In your discussion with your co-worker, you would want to point to a specific instance when they monopolized the discussion and explain how that negatively impacted the others in the group. For any piece of constructive feedback that you give, you must give concrete examples of the person’s behavior.

Effective constructive feedback invites follow-up from the recipient.

After you have given constructive feedback, you need to allow the other person an opportunity to respond and be willing to actively listen to their viewpoint. Good communication is always a two-way street. There should be a free exchange of ideas and a reciprocal give-and-take of information. Demonstrate by your verbal and nonverbal communication that you are open to listening to the other person’s response.

If you hastily call someone into your office, spout off a laundry list of their “bad” behaviors, and hurriedly dismiss them without hearing what they have to say, what exactly have you accomplished? You’ve learned nothing about why the person engaged in the behavior at issue.

Effective constructive feedback is goal-oriented.

Constructive feedback not only identifies an area of concern, it also proposes solutions to rectify the problem. After all, it would make little sense to identify an area for improvement and stop there. For instance, if the basis of your feedback was the other person’s tardiness to staff meetings, the two of you may want to set a goal of arriving ten minutes early to future meetings. This, of course, is a simplistic example, but you get the point. After your initial meeting, follow-up with the person at a mutually agreed upon time to discuss his or her progress toward meeting the goal.

Effective constructive feedback is helpful.

The recipient of your constructive feedback may need to know how to improve their work performance. If you feel comfortable, hold a coaching conversation where you ask questions to help spark insights within the other person to solve the challenge. Or, be prepared to offer practical advice and suggestions as to how they can grow. You might recommend your employee attend an upcoming training session on customer service.

Or, you may suggest they complete a technical writing class in the LMS. Or attend an external workshop and arrange for your company to reimburse them for the cost. You get the idea. Whatever the area of concern may be, don’t stop at simply identifying it; offer guidance and practical solutions to remedy it.

Effective constructive feedback is given with integrity.

Put yourself in the shoes of the person sitting on the other side of your desk or computer screen. If the roles were reversed, how would you like to be treated? Observe the “golden rule” policy. While it is important to be honest in your constructive feedback, that doesn’t negate showing tact and being respectful. Further, make sure your words align with your actions. Certainly, you have less credibility correcting someone else's poor behavior when you engage in that same behavior yourself. Acting with integrity also means a willingness to admit you've made a mistake if your assessment of the situation turns out to be wrong.

And finally...

Effective constructive feedback is just.

Fairness dictates policies are enforced equally across the board. Decisions should not be tinged with favoritism. Your expectations for excellence ought be the same for everyone, regardless of your personal feelings about them. Address individual issues on an individual basis. If you notice issues common to several people on your team, address those globally during a staff meeting or in a memo.

Use these ABCs to ensure you give the valuable gift of constructive feedback to your peers and employees. Stay tuned for the next installment in this blog series which covers seven additional tips for giving constructive feedback.

---

4N Learning Consultants provides comprehensive Learning & Development services. As your trusted instructional design partner, we will work closely with your team to provide original content for your sessions. We facilitate interactive in-person and virtual learning experiences for groups of all sizes, focusing on leadership development, talent management, and power (soft) skills. Use our end-to-end strategy consultation services for guidance on everything from alignment with strategic priorities to training program design, launch, and implementation. Finally, use our training program evaluation services to receive a detailed analysis of its strengths and opportunities and a blueprint with specific recommendations to help close gaps in employee performance. Contact us to schedule a free consultation today.