What does it involve?

Constructive feedback is supportive feedback intended to help identify blind spots and make the other person better. It is aimed at information, problems or observations, and works as a supportive instrument for addressing specific issues or concerns. It is always given with positive intent. Its purpose is to lead to improvement so that people can grow personally or professionally. Constructive feedback can offer someone a new perspective or new insights, change behaviour positively or make expectations clear.

What is the difference between constructive and destructive feedback?

It is important to be able to tell constructive and destructive feedback apart. Destructive feedback is aimed at mistakes and is often a direct attack on the person receiving it. Unlike constructive feedback, it offers no advice the other person can act on. Constructive feedback, by contrast, is focused on the future and on how something could be better still.

Why give constructive feedback?

As a manager, giving constructive feedback is one of the best things you can do for your people. It helps them perform better, improve a situation, solve a problem and identify their strengths and weaknesses so they can improve. Feedback also creates more transparency and increases engagement.

How do you give this feedback?

Giving good feedback is one of the most important parts of a good manager's job. It is not always easy to give people constructive feedback, though. Here are a few tips:

Focus on what can be improved In practice we notice that many managers focus mainly on the positive. That sounds good, but with all the praise they give, many managers are trying to gloss over what is less good. They hope that if they give enough positive feedback and compliments, the weaker points will melt away. Nothing could be further from the truth. People never learn how they can improve, so they cannot reach their full potential. That does not mean you should stop giving compliments, far from it. Look for the right balance between constructive feedback and compliments. Constructive feedback is two-way traffic It is worth remembering that feedback is always two-way traffic. Giving constructive feedback is not enough on its own. Receiving feedback from your people matters just as much. It is up to the manager to set the example and ask for (360-degree) feedback . These can be simple questions such as 'how can I make your work easier?' or 'what do you need from me in order to grow?' Make your constructive feedback specific Get to the point and do not dance around what you actually want to say. Feedback that is too general will not make people change their behaviour. Make sure it is concrete and give specific examples. That gives the other person something they can act on.

Want more tips on giving this kind of feedback? We wrote an article on the 10 golden rules for effective feedback.

Giving constructive feedback through a tool?

A feedback app like Treams makes giving and asking for feedback a good deal easier and more accessible. Through a feedback app, people can ask for feedback at any time of day from wherever they are: on the train or at home on the sofa. All the feedback they have given and received is collected in one place, so it is easy to look back at. And a feedback tool makes it very easy to ask for feedback on the goals they have set, so colleagues can give targeted input. Curious what a feedback app could do for your organisation? Watch the demo video now.