Feedback is indispensable for personal development, team development and organizational growth. It not only helps you gain insight into how you relate to others, but also makes you aware of your own potential and shortcomings. You can see feedback as a mirror, a gauge, a corrective and a motivational tool. It confirms what you already suspected, but it also exposes what you yourself were unaware of. And that makes feedback exciting. Working with feedback is something you have to learn. And once you have it in your system, you can make huge strides. Read everything you need to know about giving and receiving feedback here!
Contents of this article
What do we mean by giving and receiving feedback?
In everyday life, we exchange far more feedback than we realize. Just consider how often you compliment someone, make a suggestion, or ask for an opinion. Another example is the information you get during "learning on the job. Feedback is part of our interaction. Without it, we would be antisocial and maladjusted beings. In fact, we consider it so normal that we don't think about it. But as soon as we start naming it as "feedback," it becomes a different story.
As soon as the word "feedback" drops, we are aware that something is about to be said about us. It's like being stopped for a moment and having special attention paid to you. And that is exactly what we are talking about when we talk about feedback in this context. It is the communication you exchange about the observation of the other person's behavior with the intention that the other person can learn from it. That last addition is not to be underestimated. If you want to create a safe and trustedfeedback culture, the intention with which feedback is exchanged is crucial. The feedback must be constructive , the feedback must be of good quality and not intended to undermine the other person.
How does feedback contribute to development?
Everyone has an image of themselves. You can only find out if this image is realistic by mirroring it with the image others have of you. The more your own image matches that of others, the better you know what to expect of yourself and what others can expect of you. With 360-degree feedback, you gain insight into how others perceive you.
The addition "360 degrees" means that you get a picture of yourself from a broad perspective because you get feedback from people who know you from different capacities. In the work sphere, this means that you get feedback from your manager or supervisor, for example, from colleagues and from external people such as suppliers or customers, and that there is room for self-reflection. Important advantages of 360 degree feedback are that you become aware of your own blind spot and that you get a well-founded basis for your own development.
Although feedback, especially in the beginning, can be perceived as exciting, the vast majority of employees find it an essential part oftheir personal growth. Because on the one hand it is so important, and on the other hand it can also be exciting, it is crucial to prepare, supervise and continue to monitor working with feedback. In practice, we still sometimes see that feedback is given 'in disguise', while transparency is so important for the effectiveness of feedback. What can we do about this?
Learn more about the impact of feedback
Curious about how feedback drives real change? Watch, read or listen to the inspiring stories of clients who are using feedback to move their organizations forward!
For working with feedback to be successful, you need to know what constitutes quality feedback. Quality feedback is feedback that is unambiguous and constructive. It leaves no room for difference in interpretation and it is perceived as constructive. Some people are naturally more gifted at providing quality feedback than others. The good news is that everyone can learn to do it. We discuss below the criteria that good feedback should meet and provide tips you can consider as a feedback giver.
What is quality feedback?
Quality feedback:
is unambiguous and specific
is based on observations of behavior
is formulated in a positive way (even if it is critically constructive)
is given with the intention of making the other better
is given in a timely manner
How to give quality feedback: effective tips.
Once you know what criteria good feedback meets, you can translate this to your own way of giving feedback. The tips below will help you ensure that your feedback is as effective as possible:
Ask permission: First, ask if the other person is open to feedback and if it is convenient. It gives the recipient a sense of control and he or she feels more prepared.
Base on facts: Focus on factual observations, not the person, to avoid defensive reactions. So for example, don't say, "I find you dominant," but base it on your observation, "You attacked me 4 times.
Be specific: Give specific feedback so the recipient knows what went well or can be improved. "You did that well" sounds nice, but you're more helpful with, "You gave the presentation in clear language that the audience can understand.
Use positive language: Formulate comments constructively to promote better cooperation. For example, a negative approach is, "You should shut up during a meeting. A positive approach is, "If you give others the opportunity to express their views, it promotes a mutual atmosphere.
Speak from yourself: Share your own observations. Don't involve the opinions of others. So, for example, don't say "others think so too.
Give timely feedback: Don't wait too long to give your feedback. Often people don't remember what you're referring to, or it's mustard after the meal.
Be clear: You can alternate positive and negative feedback, but don't combine it in one comment. The so-called "sandwich method" often leads to confusion. Also keep in mind that negative feedback has more negative impact on someone, than positive feedback has positive impact. So find the balance in that.
Listen: Create an open dialogue and allow room for the recipient's response. The recipient's perception may be different from yours. Avoid speaking from assumptions and look at it from each other's perspectives.
A method often recommended for providing quality feedback that is easy to remember is the 3G method:
Describe the Behavior you observed
Indicate what the Consequence was
Indicate the Desired Situation
Example sentences for the 3G method are:
I noticed you were a little quiet during the meeting yesterday (behavior).
As a result, I missed your input, which is often valuable (consequence).
It would be nice if you actively share your ideas in the next meeting (desired situation).
What mistakes should you avoid when giving feedback?
Nothing human is foreign to us, and we probably won't always have the "do's" of giving feedback on our minds. In practice, therefore, you can fall into mistakes you would prefer to avoid when giving feedback. To make you aware of that too, we list below the 'don'ts' of giving feedback:
Wrong intention Feedback is meant to be constructive. You want it to help someone move forward. It is not a way of telling someone the truth.
Public Criticism Make sure the time is right to speak to someone in private when you want to share critical feedback. Never do this in front of others.
Yes-no discussion Feedback is designed to engage in constructive conversation. If you feel strong emotions, perhaps it would be good to count to 10, or sleep on it overnight.
"Always" or "never" words Avoid using words like "always" or "never. These words generalize and make the feedback more likely to be a personal attack. Keep the feedback specific and factual.
Sandwich method? Better not. The sandwich method was sometimes recommended in the past: start with something positive, then the critical feedback and finish with something positive again. Unfortunately, it is also a transparent method that can cause confusion.
Check off your list Take feedback seriously. Don't think of it as something you just have to do. Think about the feedback you give and how you give it.
Effective tips: how to ask for feedback.
Giving feedback requires training and experience. We are often aware of this and we pay attention to it. But asking for feedback also affects the effectiveness of the feedback given. You can imagine that a question such as "what do you think of me?" is much harder to answer because it leaves a lot of room for interpretation, than a question such as "what did you think of my input during the quarterly meeting?". Asking for feedback is still sometimes underemphasized. It is therefore advisable to also pay attention to the way you ask for feedback. The following tips will help:
Choose the right time Ask for feedback immediately after a project or task and make sure the person has enough time to give a response.
Be specific Focus your question on a specific task, accomplishment or skill and avoid vague questions such as "How did it go? A better question is, "How did you like my contribution to the project?
Ask open-ended questions Use questions that cannot be answered with "yes" or "no.
Ask for improvements as well as strengths Ask not only what could be improved, but also what went well.
Thank you for the feedback Express your appreciation for someone making the effort to give you feedback and indicate what you can do with it.
A sample question that can give you valuable feedback is, "In which projects or topics do you think my skills add the most value? Why exactly in those projects?'
Receiving feedback: how do you do it?
The way feedback is solicited and given impacts the effectiveness of the feedback. But the receiver of feedback plays a role in it himself. How receptive are you to feedback? That is partly determined by a person's personality. One person will disregard feedback very easily and do nothing with it while another may experience tension for days and weigh every word heavily. Personality can only be influenced to a limited extent. However, you can make people aware of their own role with the following tips:
Open yourself Open yourself up, which creates more confidence and you will see that the other person will then also open up more quickly, giving you more valuable feedback.
Don't be afraid Feedback is, after all, about yourself. Telling others what you are doing well, but also what is not going so well. That can be exciting. But remember: for the person who has to give you feedback, it's scary, too.
Listen Listen carefully to the feedback being given. Summarize what you heard and check for accuracy by asking if you understood what the other person meant.
Take time to process Whether positive or constructive, there are often emotions involved. Take time to process these emotions. After this phase of reflection comes a phase where you can think about what you can learn from the feedback.
Don't get defensive Open up to constructive feedback. When you shoot on the defensive you damage trust and the other person's valuable thoughts will be lost.
The role of the organization: how do you guide working with feedback?
So far, we have mainly discussed the roles of the feedback receiver and the feedback giver. We have highlighted the individual feedback exchange. However, there is a crucial role for the organization, and HR professionals in particular, to guide working with feedback. After all, you don't achieve a mature feedback culture overnight in which people experience trust and safety and actively exchange feedback. Such a culture must grow and that requires preparation, guidance and monitoring. In other words, it deserves continuous attention.
In four stages to a mature feedback culture
When you start working with feedback, there is a reason for this. For example, the classic assessment cycle no longer suffices or you want to move towards more self-direction for employees. The fact is that a contemporary HR cycle has made its appearance in many organizations. Feedback is an essential part of it.
The Feedback Toolkit from Treams describes the four phases you go through as an organization to a mature and active feedback culture. The Toolkit offers practical tools such as workshop formats, exercises, do's and don'ts and in-depth information for each phase. We give a brief summary below.
Phase 1: Are you ready? In this phase you explore whether you, as an organization, are ready to start working with feedback. A clear vision and support are central to this phase.
Phase 2: Preparation and sniff phase The way you introduce working with feedback is the focus in this phase. Gain initial experience and learn from the feedback you yourself receive. With an exercise like "loving gossiping," you can let participants experience feedback in a positive way. You can find more exercises in the Feedback Toolkit.
Phase 3: Introducing the method You are now going to actually start using feedback. Communication and activation are key. In the Feedback Toolkit you will find all kinds of workshop forms, games and sample questions to give your people confidence and get them started. More ideas for exercises in feedback skills can be found at Werkvormen.info.
Stage 4: Is it getting quiet? Do you notice after a while that the feedback exchange is getting a little stagnant? That may be because the attention has waned. You would do well to highlight the feedback theme structurally! This can also be done in playful ways. Think for example of a feedback game. And perhaps you should take a step back to a previous phase.
A key success factor for feedback: make it simple!
No matter how well prepared you are and how well thought out you have taken your people in working with feedback, in practice there is a crucial factor that determines success: feedback must become a simple and natural part of daily work practices. We all know how the hectic pace of the day can swallow you up, leaving "secondary" issues unaddressed. Unfortunately, for some, that includes personal development and feedback.
Figures show that HR and employees benefit from working with feedback software. For example, 64% of HR managers say a feedback tool contributes positively to employee motivation and 53% say employees take more responsibility for their personal development.
How does tooling help work with feedback?
A software system has many advantages. It helps you ask for and give feedback, collect and share all input centrally, make concrete follow-up and actions concrete and monitor progress. Through notifications it helps remind you of feedback moments and AI helps you give quality feedback. We mention some concrete benefits:
Furnished processes Working with a feedback module makes it easier for your people to ask, give and possibly share feedback. The processes are already set up, you just need to ask your feedback question and fill in the feedback recipient. Easy does it.
Working with templates You can help your people by working with feedback templates that they can easily choose in the software. This way you help them to make a choice from feedback topics and specific questions that are relevant to them. If you work with many different functions, you can set up the templates for each function in the Treams platform, for example. And those who want to can of course continue to formulate their own questions.
All feedback in one place All feedback you exchange can be found centrally in your own Treams environment. No searching for who, when, what had said what again, but one place where everything comes together.
Linking feedback to development Feedback is the breeding ground for development. You don't want to separate feedback and development. In practice, that link is not always easy to make. In the Treams platform, you link feedback directly to development goals and plans. An essential basis for keeping feedback valuable and alive. And the software also helps you monitor the progress of your goals.
Career opportunities The Treams platform provides insight into the positions or roles within your company and the competencies you need to possess to fulfill them. 360 Feedback gives insight into which competencies you have already developed and which ones still need attention for a next step. This way, your people know exactly how they can fulfill their ambitions within the organization and which talents they still need to tap into or develop in order to do so.
AI: Feedback on feedback The AI functionality in Treams teaches you to make your feedback even better: more concrete, specific, focused or with a different tone of voice. This way you learn by doing to optimize your feedback. This will make your people happy!
Analytics: How much feedback is being exchanged? Your gut tells you that working with feedback has stalled. But does that apply to everyone? Who is actively exchanging feedback? Which individuals, as well as perhaps teams or departments? And why them and not others? The analytics in Treams give you insight into the frequencies of feedback. Your gut gives the signal. Treams gives you the actual data. And with the push of a button you send reminders where necessary.
With the Treams pulse survey you discover what's behind it. Discover why one team works with feedback and another does not. The results give you insight and thus the foundation to ultimately learn from each other.
Feedback as a basis for good conversation Feedback is important input for a conversation between manager and employee. The time-honored 'assessment' is now further and further behind us. In Treams, the manager has insight into the feedback the employee has received from others and into the employee's self-reflection. A complete picture with which both the employee and the manager can prepare for the good conversation, or performance review, between both.
All about feedback: here's how to take the right steps.
You now have a good idea of what working with feedback requires of your people and of your organization. Want to see real-life case studies of organizations that have already taken the steps and learn from their lessons? We have highlighted some relevant cases for you:
Of course, you may want to get everything straight and have questions about your own situation and organization. In that case, sign up for the Treams masterclass "Feedback: does it stay quiet?" with live Q&A! We would love to see you there and are interested in your questions!
With Treams' simple software you give your employees what really motivates them: clear goals, feedback and development perspectives.
Our data tells you exactly what's going on and how to get the most out of your people.
