One of your most basic responsibilities as a leader is to provide your team with constructive feedback. Without feedback, employees don't have a solid direction for moving forward, which can result in repeat mistakes and even low morale.As with any difficult conversation, the key to communicating feedback is ensuring your message and guidance are clearly understood while also being empathetic to the receiver. To that end, 10 members of Young Entrepreneur Council share how to effectively provide feedback.
What would you say is the key to giving effective feedback? How do you ensure you're both understood and appear empathetic to the receiver?
1. Refer to the data
As a leader, it's important to be aware of key data points that can point to the performance of a team member. Those key data points should be available to both the team member and employer for transparency. A leader can then refer to those data points to provide feedback or help in any areas of weakness. In addition, the team member can also do the same. —Fehzan Ali, Adscend Media LLC
2. Create a safe space
Create a safe space where an employee can give their perspective on a situation and reward them with positive reinforcement. Employees often are afraid of giving feedback because they fear retaliation, and are afraid of receiving it in case it counts as a mark against them. Reassure them that they are not in trouble and that developing skills is part of growing within a workplace. —Duran Inci, Optimum7
3. Be open and transparent
Being completely open with your team and highlighting their strengths along with their weaknesses is the best way to offer feedback. I'm a firm believer in being upfront about where my team has room for improvement, but I never forget to acknowledge and appreciate the ways in which they have proven to be successful. From there, I encourage them to also offer their perspective. It's a conversation! —Shay Berman, Digital Resource
4. Make feedback a regular occurrence
Feedback from a leader has to be delivered in a way that shows the receiver how acting on it will benefit them individually or the organization at large. Making feedback a normal part of your company’s day-to-day structure, as well as something that’s provided to and from all levels of the company, will allow everyone to see (over time) how effective the advice is being delivered. —Charles Bogoian, Kenai Sports
5. Identify as part of the team
Understand that everything stems from your actions as the leader. Think about the difference between "they messed up the order" versus "we messed up the order as a team," or "he caused the issue" versus "the issue developed because we were not paying attention." These slight nuances allow your employee to get the message but never feel attacked. When you identify as a part of the team, you are more likely to get respect from the team. —Mary Harcourt, CosmoGlo
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6. Be honest
Speak the truth. While often just a catchphrase, honesty is the best policy when giving feedback, even if the message is not one the receiver likes or wants to hear. Most people appreciate knowing where they stand on a topic or issue versus trying to read your mind. From there, you can have a frank conversation to see if the person wants to improve (or not). —JT Allen, myFootpath LLC
7. Set clear expectations
You have to be honest, direct, and clear. The key is to set up expectations from the start and have a mechanism to track expectations (and head off issues). This allows you to correct any issues before having to give negative feedback, which instead turns the issue into a positive because a goal was achieved. —Peter Boyd, PaperStreet Web Design
8. Sandwich your feedback
When giving feedback as a leader, it's important to be clear and direct without being too harsh or negative. One effective way to do this is to sandwich any negative feedback between two positive pieces of feedback. Doing so shows your employees that you have their best interests at heart and recognize the good that they are doing, and also inspires them to continue improving. —Ismael Wrixen, FE International
9. Make the conversation a two-way street
The best way to make sure that your feedback is understood and that you're still being empathetic is to make sure the conversation is a two-way street. In other words, give the person you're sharing feedback with a chance to share their thoughts and encourage them to ask questions. —John Brackett, Smash Balloon LLC
10. Understand the employee’s point of view
The key to giving better feedback as a leader is to truly be empathetic. Leaders should be able to understand where their employees are coming from and what they need. They should also be able to communicate with them in a way that helps them develop and improve their skills. —Kristin Kimberly Marquet, Marquet Media, LLC
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