Before we get too far into what is effective feedback, it is important to note that the most effective organizations work to establish a culture of development, where people at all levels are encouraged to help others develop their skills. Providing positive and constructive feedback is a critical component.

Whenever you give people information about themselves identifying behavior or actions you have observed you are giving them feedback. At work, feedback can take many different forms, depending on the situations and required outcomes.

Most people enjoy giving feedback about good things, it is very rewarding to see someone's response to praise or encouragement, but this reinforcing feedback isn't always appropriate. By giving praise where it is due, performance and morale will improve. But if you only give praise, you may find that the good gets better, but that the bad gets worse.

Most people are not comfortable telling someone that he or she has done something wrong, even though the receiver is able to learn from the mistake. This corrective feedback must be fair and measured to ensure that it isn't seen as destructive and unhelpful criticism.

There are some techniques that will sharpen feedback skills and make interactions with others more productive.

Defining Feedback

Destructive feedback focuses on the recipient's personal traits and character, rather than being based on behavior and facts. It often is perceived as a personal attack by the receiver and seldom benefits anyone. Although givers may feel better once they've aired their views, receivers will be focusing on their feelings towards the givers, rather than on the actual feedback.

Constructive Feedback is the most effective form of feedback. Giving feedback constructively promotes the improvement and development of the person to whom you are providing feedback. For feedback to be constructive, it must provide information, whether good or bad, to recipients in such a way that they remain positive about themselves and their work. When you give constructive feedback, you help people to learn more about themselves.

If the recipient of your feedback is to benefit from your comments, the feedback must be constructive. Constructive feedback comprises a number of elements.

It must:

> reinforce positive performance and behavior

> enable the receiver to understand where performance can be improved

> enable the receiver to agree to standards and improvements with the giver.

Here are 5 steps to include when providing feedback

1. Observe the behavior

You must base your feedback on behavior that you have witnessed and not on gossip or hearsay. Your feedback must be specific, based on clear criteria, and provide the receiver with the opportunity to act. Analyze the situation carefully. Observe and listen to what is happening and inspect the work. Assess the work using clear standards and criteria and make judgments based on fact.

2. Ask

By asking a team member whether they are open to some feedback, you give them the opportunity to suggest a different time or place. [They may be busy!] Even if you are comfortable, it is equally important that they are. If they are not, they won't hear you anyway.

Do this whether the feedback is adjusting (negative) or affirming (positive).

Many managers don't ask before they give positive feedback, because "everybody likes praise". But then when they do ask, team members evade answering or get nervous, because they assume it's going to be negative. Ask always.

Timing is also critical. The closer you are to the actual observed behavior, the more specific the feedback can be. You will remember what happened and so will they.

3. Describe the specific behavior you observed.

It is important at this stage to ensure that you concentrate on the task and not the person. Be objective, and do not get personal. Don't attempt to guess at the "motivation" for the behavior. Discuss the actual behavior you saw, heard, or read. You cannot see someone being lazy or having a poor attitude. You can't!!

You can see them being 15 minutes late 3 of the past 5 days. You can see documents with spelling errors. Seeing these behaviors only allows you to infer their attitude. Tell them what you saw, hear or read, not what you inferred. Avoid labels.

4. Describe the impact of the behavior.

Adults understand that actions have consequences. Sometimes team members are aware of their actionsâ019 consequences (and they don't care or don't know how to change their actions or the results). Sometimes they are genuinely unaware of negative repercussions.

Remember that no one ever acts in a way that they believe is irrational: their behavior always makes sense to them. Once you have described what you observed, tell them what you felt or what impact it had on the company, project, or team. A phrase that captures this thought is, "When you do this, here's what happens" or, "When you do this, I feelâ026"

5. Discuss next steps.

Even with affirming/positive feedback, it is most effective to reinforce the continuation of the sought after behavior. Being explicit that you want it to continue increases the chances that it will be continued. When the feedback is adjusting/negative, and the recipient has verified that they understand what they did and its impact, it is time to work out how to change the behavior in the future.

At this point, the recipient must really own their efforts. If you simply impose a change, they will be less likely to enact the change. Ask open-ended or leading questions to start this process, such as: "What do you think you can do in this area?" "How should we approach this?" "What ideas do you have to improve here?" It is possible that they will have no input, for various reasons. It is still more effective to give them the opportunity once or even twice to start.

Conclusion

As supervisors and managers, it is important to understand that you have a major influence on the morale and ultimate success of the company through the team you lead.

Most people enjoy knowing what they need to do to improve and grow in the company. It is your responsibility to lead your people in the right path to help them grow and help your company achieve its goals.

Learning to provide effective feedback is one way to increase the morale and achieve successful results within the team you manage.