By Kyle Murtagh, Toastmasters International
Bake Off contestants, actors facing an audition, and almost every single person who’s ever had driving lessons – all share one thing. Each of them has been nervous before performing a task, relieved when it is over, and then very quickly nervous again waiting for feedback on their performance.
Typically people feel tense, worried and even slightly scared when they are about to receive feedback. For the person providing the evaluation, breaking through this wall of emotion can be something of a challenge; if this is approached in the wrong way, the goal of the feedback—to improve performance—can be more difficult to achieve.
Many consider cutting to the chase to be a virtue, but when providing feedback, it can often be a misstep. If you immediately deliver suggestions for improvement—while your colleague is still in the ‘fight or flight’ section of their emotional Venn diagram—their reaction could be ugly. They could become hypersensitive, perhaps mounting an angry defence that will make them less likely to see the benefits of your advice. Or they could be disheartened and deflated, sinking to a low where they give up all together. Avoid these extremes and other undesirable reactions in between by starting with positives.
Compliment first. Be uplifting and genuine. Total failure in every aspect of a task is rare; there is almost always some part that is praise-worthy. No matter how small it is, highlight it. People can be their own worst critic, so let your colleague acknowledge that they did something well. Compel them to feel valued. This will make them more likely to be open to constructive feedback. From there, your message has more chance of sticking and being acted upon.
Consider these descriptions of someone’s performance: superb time-management; great productivity; lovely rapport building. They are all great—as headlines. The problem with confining your feedback to these types of phrases is that it does not explain why their time-management was superb, how you are measuring their productivity, or what they did that resulted in their rapport being lovely. If you miss out the detail of why they did well, they can guess exactly what it was they did that was praise-worthy, but they may not guess correctly, and the next evaluation may see you and your colleague wondering why they appear to have gone backwards. Providing detail is a crucial part of ensuring feedback sessions are educational encounters.
Similarly, when you move on to areas where your colleague needs to improve, avoid broad brushstroke assessments. Without explanatory information, phrases such as your time-management needs to improve, your productivity could be better, and you need to work on your rapport building are of limited use. Much better would be pointing out that taking a few minutes to plan a task rather than jumping straight in will see the task completed in less time, or explaining the metrics used to assess productivity, or stressing the importance of eye contact in meetings.
When you are giving recommendations, suggest specific tools, activities or habits that will improve work output, and demonstrate these recommendations, perhaps by highlighting examples of others who have used them successfully. You can make this more powerful if you can draw on personal experience. If making one change—for example, making a list of the day’s tasks; tackling the biggest task of the day first; organising files in a particular way—improved your work output massively, explain what you did and how that had a positive impact. Always recommend with demonstration.
Ensuring the feedback you deliver is insightful, actionable and positive will help you to inspire your colleagues to believe they are capable of more.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Kyle Murtagh is a member of Toastmasters International, a not-for-profit organisation that has provided communicati
on and leadership skills since 1924 through a worldwide network of clubs. There are more than 400 clubs and 10,000 members in the UK and Ireland. Members follow a structured educational programme to gain skills and confidence in public and impromptu speaking, chairing meetings and time management. To find your nearest club, visit www.toastmasters.org