giving constructive feedback

Giving feedback is both an art and science!

There are different ways to put the content together to give constructive feedback. Constructive feedback will combine both good/positive and negative/improvement areas of the person you are giving feedback to.

Several ways to provide feedback:

Go through all the good/positive parts first and then cover the negative/improvement areas second
Combine good/positive parts as well as negative/improvement areas
Ask the person you’re giving feedback to on which one she/he like to hear first
Use the feedback sandwich method (positive, negative, positive)

The feedback content is as important as the style, tone, and way you are providing feedback. Practice providing feedback with a colleague or a manager, reflect on where you can improve on providing feedback, and then deliver feedback frequently to become a skilled feedback giver.

In our Nepali culture, we give utmost priority to relationships and always want to be in “good terms” with our colleagues, elders, relatives etc. In the professional setting, we often lean on the positive side when we provide feedback so we do not offend others, play it safe to avoid a possible confrontation, maintain the current relationship we have, among others.

But with this approach of providing only or mostly positive feedback, are we really helping the person, the team or the company? We have to sincerely believe in providing and asking for honest feedback and value the long term benefits of this approach. Giving only positive feedback will not help the individual, team or anyone for that matter to improve. It also means that you are not doing proper justice to that relationship.

Tag: giving constructive feedback

Giving feedback

Giving feedback

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