Giving – and receiving – helpful feedback
When giving feedback, there are a few pointers that help making it easier for you to give and for the other person to receive feedback:
- Use the sandwich-principle: Start and end with positive remarks.
- Be descriptive: Make sure both of you know exactly what you are talking about.
- Be concrete: Point out exactly what you like and where you see potential for improvement.
- Be constructive: Show options of how you might improve upon what is there.
- Be realistic: If you are working on a tight timeline, do consider whether pointing out all issues is necessary or whether there are points that are more essential than others.
- Don’t overdo it: Point out a pattern rather than criticizing every single occurrence of a systematic problem.
- Point out your subjectivity: You are not an objective judge. Make sure the recipient of your feedback knows that you are giving a subjective opinion.
- Don’t discuss: You state your point and clarify if you are asked for clarifications.
- Don’t insist: It’s the recipient’s choice whether to accept feedback.
When receiving feedback, there are also a couple of behaviors that make it easier for the other person to give you feedback:
- Don’t interrupt: Let them finish explaining the point they are trying to make.
- Don’t justify: Accept their feedback on your choices or actions without trying to make them understand why you chose what you chose.
- Ask for clarification: If in doubt, ask what they meant by what they said.
- Take notes: Write down the important points and review them later.
- Be appreciative: Let them know you value their feedback and are grateful they took the time to give it to you.
You can download the rules: feedback rules