How to Give Feedback
I got this from the Jay’s talk in the last HP WSNT-BIDS coffee talk. When giving feedback to other people, here’s a useful formula to get you started:
When you [insert action that person did], it [insert impact to you or others here]. Can we [suggest what can be done about the feedback] next time?
For example:
When you answered a phone call in the last meeting, it distracted the audience. Can we silent our phones and avoid answering them in the succeeding meetings?
The objective of a feedback is to stop an undesirable event from happening. In this case, we want the person to stop answering phones during meetings because it is distracting. The following, however, is not a feedback:
You work slow like a turtle on a leisure stroll. Can’t you work any faster?
Where the former statement had a specific and repeatable action, the last one was very subjective. Instead of using a verb (an action word), it used the adjective lazy. The problem when using adjectives is that they are descriptive words based on personal interpretations. What might be slow for one person might be too fast for another. The following would be a better form of feedback, I suppose:
If you keep submitting your reports past the deadline, other deliverables dependent on your task gets delayed also. Can we agree on a timetable which we can use to satisfy the customer’s expectation on a timely manner?
Feedbacks aren’t only meant to prevent bad stuff from happening again though. They’re also there to keep good things happening over and over. Here’s what I told Bacchus during the event:
When you invited me for coffee during my first week at HP, I felt very welcome and good about the company. I appreciate the gesture in the same way that I know new hires will too.
The following though, is not a feedback:
You’re a good Project Manager. Keep it up!
In contrast to:
Your persistent and encouraging mobilization of resources has helped the team deliver quality work on time. Others can learn a thing or two from what you do best.
Giving feedback takes practice though. It’s a form of communication that’s devoid of emotion. It’s not something you do once in a while and expect to do correctly every time. As Filipinos who put a lot of value in what they hear and say, objective and constructive feedbacks might take some practice. I’d recommend doing it every day. Try it out with your seatmate. I’m sure they’ll appreciate it.