Feedback: how to give good feedback in 5 steps?

To give good feedback, there are 5 golden rules that you will discover by reading this article. But first of all, what does it mean to “give feedback”? Giving feedback to someone literally means: “feeding them.” Whether it is positive feedback, development feedback, or reframing feedback, good feedback allows the person concerned to become aware of what is good, or what needs to be improved, and thus, to determine an action plan to do better the next time. It is a strong development tool and employees are not wrong about it because more than 72% of them consider that their productivity would improve if their manager gave them feedback more regularly. (source: Harvard Business Review 2019)

However, there are numerous obstacles to feedback. Both from the perspective of the person giving the feedback and from the point of view of the person who receives it. For the person giving the feedback (who is not always the N+1, the feedback can be “top-down”), it will be a fear of hurting, being misunderstood or “damaging” the relationship. For the person receiving the feedback, it may be difficult to question themselves, which will make the process more complex.

Giving good feedback is an art and that is why more and more companies are setting up feedback training courses. In particular through workshops led by professional coaches as we do regularly at Talentis!

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In this file to find out how to give good feedback, you will discover:

• The definition of feedback
• The 3 types of feedback
• The 5 steps to follow for successful feedback
• Tips for spreading a feedback culture within your teams

What is feedback: definition

We hear a lot about feedback in business. If one had to give a Literal definition of feedback We could start from the English word “Feedback” which means “sign of recognition”.
To put it more concretely, when we ask ourselves about the concept of feedback in business, it comes down to asking “Are people really interested in me? Are they interested in my work? Am I getting positive feedback or regular development feedback that will help me calibrate my work and make progress?”

What are the 3 types of feedback?

There are signs of positive recognition, signs of recognition, or feedback, or feedback, called development, and reframing feedback.

Positive feedback

Positive feedback is useful when it comes to highlight the performance of an employee, manager or peer on any subject.

For example: “Philippe, I wanted to tell you that I particularly enjoyed your presentation last Monday. I found it clear and compelling.”
This type of feedback is very important because it helps to strengthen the trust of the person who receives it, to strengthen social ties and team cohesion.
Often, and especially in France, we are a bit “stingy” when it comes to positive feedback, preferring to point out what is wrong rather than highlight successes!

Development feedback

Development feedback consists of Give feedback to a collaborator, manager or peer in order to improve.

For example: “Claire, allow me to go back to the document you sent me yesterday. It's good but you would have benefited from being a bit more specific about the description of the key issues. For the next time I invite you to emphasize this point more.”

Reframing feedback

Here it is not a question of helping someone to develop in their work, but rather of them Mean to stop doing something that is not good : stop being late, stop procrastinating... Reframing feedback is not given with quite the same form of energy as development feedback, which is intended to make a person progress.

For example: “Stéphane, it's been 3 mornings in a row that I have noticed that you are systematically arriving 30 minutes late. This has the effect of delaying the start of important meetings and creating frustration within teams. So I ask you to rectify the situation quickly!”

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Is your feedback effective? Test yourself in 5 minutes!

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How to give good feedback: 5 key steps

Did you know for 24% of employees say receiving inadequate feedback is a real reason for disengagement up to and including resignation? (Harris Poll study) To help you give feedback that is truly, constructive feedback, we suggest that you use a method that we call: the method WILL FEED:

1. Announce the Facts
2. Describe theEffect that this action took (on the team, the company, etc...)
3. Explain theEmotion What it generated at home
4. Formulate a Clear request
5. Think of a plan ofAction

Step 1 to give good feedback: Clearly state the facts at the beginning of the feedback

To give positive feedback or development feedback, you need to rely on facts: What does the meeting the person just led or the project they just gave you look like? What are the facts that support that this is good or that it needs to be better?

Step 2 to give good feedback: Describe the effect that the action generated

What happens if you keep doing things the way you are doing them now, in a positive way? Or on the contrary, what happens if you keep doing things this way? What, if any, negative impact does this have? If we continue to do things that are not good, we often do not realize the effect that these actions will have on ourselves, on our work, or on the team.

Step 3 to give good feedback: EExplain the emotion you felt

So, it's not always useful to go and highlight the emotion you felt when giving this feedback, but sometimes it can be. For example:” Look, you've committed yourself to a date 3 times to return this file to me and each time, you tell me that you didn't have time or that you're late. Honestly, I am annoyed.” Or so:” I am delighted and I wanted to tell you this, because it's been 3 times that when you tell me a date, you respect this deadline. So I wanted to let you know that I am thrilled. ” Emotion means: to highlight what impact it has on you. Whether it is positive or less positive.

Step 4 to give good feedback: Formulate a clear request during a feedback

It's good to say to the person:” That's it, that's what you did well, congratulations! That's what I encourage you to do. ” But what is important is to make a clear request of what you are proposing to the person to continue doing, doing more, doing better. Or do it differently. Often, people come out of an interview with Feedback and they say:” Well, I understood what I needed to do differently. But what does she/he really want, I didn't quite understand... ” Be clear in your request.

Step 5 to give good feedback: Think about an action plan

The important thing, at the end of an interview with Feedback, it is for all the parties to agree on the action plan: “So, now that we agree on what you did well, or what you can do differently, what are you going to put in place? ” Agree on both the actions to be implemented, and how you intend to steer the person's progress after this feedback.

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How do you spread a feedback culture within your teams?

The practice of feedback must “live” on a daily basis within the company

Each stakeholder in the organization has a role to play in providing feedback. From managers to managers to employees, it is up to everyone to take their share of responsibility in providing regular feedback. Whether they are positive, developmental, or reframing. And this is not only vertically “descending” (from N+1 to N-1) but also vertically “ascending” (towards its manager) and horizontally (between peers).

What are the obstacles to be overcome within teams for effective feedback practice?

We see it every day in the teams we support, giving feedback is difficult. It's difficult because doing it requires courage and receiving it requires being able to question yourself, when it comes to development feedback or reframing.

Giving positive feedback is not easy for everyone either. Taking the time to recognize the qualities of your collaborator or manager requires empathy and disinterest.

Let's see some examples of reasons, more or less valid, that we can give ourselves to avoid giving feedback

Barriers to positive feedback:

• “I don't have time”
• “It's useless”
• “He's going to strut his stuff”
• “You get paid to do your job”
• “He's not going to make any more effort”
• “He will lose motivation”...

The obstacles to development feedback/reframing:

• “I don't want to be a bad manager”
• “I don't want to break the mood”
• “After all, he made an effort.”
• “I'm afraid of skidding”
• “I am afraid to get angry”
• “Anyway, he's not listening”...

We are not all equal when it comes to feedback. Some need lots of positive feedback, others need lots of development feedback. And as a result, we imagine that what is important for us is what is important for our employees. So, at Talentis, we set up programs to help the company, the team, the person, to streamline their relationship with feedback. To finally realize that feedback is life, it's telling yourself things, it's being OK with the fact that everything you do is not necessarily good. It's also about being OK with the fact that it's good to say what's good because it builds self-esteem. So, we set up either individual coaching or group coaching workshops to get people talking about feedback. And above all, we put people into action, so that they can give real feedback to each other.

We are convinced that this is happening face-to-face. It must be the courage to say, the courage to receive and the courage to go and ask for it because sometimes, if we don't get feedback, it's because we never went to ask for it! So, see you very soon!

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In summary, (re) discover how to give good feedback with Valérie Rocoplan, CEO and Executive Coach at Talentis

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