It’s not possible to build a career on “thank-yous” and “good jobs” alone. Letting people know they did good work is important, but for feedback to truly be meaningful and contribute to an employee’s professional development, there needs to be an element of “why” and “how.”
That means thinking thoroughly about a person’s performance and putting why it was great or awesome into concrete terms. For those who don’t feel comfortable giving feedback, this may sound more difficult than it actually is. There’s no real radical rewiring of the brain required or any deep thinking, though.
As Kristen Albertsen, senior director of people operations at Bevi, notes, it’s actually quite easy to add meaning to quick and casual comments of appreciation or praise.
“It’s important to be as specific as possible and highlight what exactly worked well or what exactly could be improved,” Albertsen told Built In. “Saying, ‘great job on that presentation,’” is nice, but saying, ‘great job in bringing hard data to back up your recommendations,’ is truly meaningful.”
Giving good feedback is a skill like any other, and one way to learn a skill is to study those who’ve mastered it. Built In recently spoke with Albertsen and two other Boston-based people leaders about how to give meaningful and positive feedback with a focus on both content and communication styles.
Quick Tips for More Meaningful Feedback
- Give examples of a person’s work when praising their performance.
- Learn how your teammates like to be praised (privately, publicly, online or offline, etc.) and tailor your feebdack accordingly.
- Unsilo your feedback and share it with higher-ups when appropriate.
“Don’t ask permission, ask forgiveness” doesn’t fly when offering feedback, at least not to Donovan. Donovan, the chief people officer at Nexthink, recommends that managers ask permission before offering feedback as a way to help those receiving it feel more at ease and in control of the conversation they’re entering into.
As a manager, what can you do to make sure the positive feedback you give is truly meaningful?
In order to give feedback that is truly meaningful, I find that being crystal clear about the specifics — the behaviors you want to reinforce and the impact the recipient made — is the most important. For example, telling someone “nice presentation” has much less impact than, “The infographic you chose and the story you told about that use case was so compelling. You were expertly prepared with the backup data and market references, which added to your credibility.”
Now the recipient of your feedback knows exactly what they did right and will clearly understand what should be repeated for maximum impact.
Asking for permission before launching into conversation helps the recipient mentally prepare for the feedback they are about to receive.”
When offering feedback, how do you adapt your communication style or setting to suit the personality of the employee?
Words matter and can have a real impact on how the recipient interprets your actual feedback. I try to first understand where the employee is at in their personal and professional journey before delivering a message. That way, I can be intentional about how directive or supportive I need to be in order to meet them where they are. This way, the impact of your feedback is much more likely to match the actual intent of your feedback.
What’s a lesson you’ve learned from giving feedback over the years, that you wished you’d known when you first started as a manager?
A great colleague of mine once advised me to always ask for permission before giving feedback. Asking for permission before launching into conversation helps the recipient mentally prepare for the feedback they are about to receive. People rarely say “no,” and asking first actually helps them get into a space to listen to and receive the feedback — and sort of disarms some automatic defense mechanisms from going into overdrive.
I try to always open with that question, especially if I need to give someone feedback they might be sensitive to. This approach is a great way to level-set and empowers the recipient to be an equal party in the conversation.
It can be very difficult for people to hear positive feedback when it comes mixed with constructive criticism. Rather than separating the two, Albertsen, senior director of people operations at Bevi, advises managers to overemphasize the positive and provide examples so that people understand both exactly what they’re doing right and the specific ways their performance can be improved.
As a manager, what can you do to make sure the positive feedback you give is truly meaningful?
Overemphasize the positive! Behavioral research indicates that for every piece of “negative” feedback provided, it takes at least four to five pieces of positive feedback for the positive message to sink in. We tend to over-index on the negative, so even when you feel that you are providing balanced feedback — one positive note, one constructive note — the positive resonates less loudly. So really overemphasizing the positive is critical.
In addition, and this goes for any feedback, both positive and constructive, providing examples is critical to internalizing the behavior. Sometimes this is easiest to do in situ, or as close to the actual event as possible. You needn’t and shouldn’t wait until a formal evaluation period to provide that feedback, especially if it’s great.
Finally, it’s important to be as specific as possible and highlight what exactly worked well or what exactly could be improved. Saying, “great job on that presentation” is nice, but saying, “Great job in bringing hard data to back up your recommendations,” is truly meaningful.
You should absolutely be providing regular feedback, either ad hoc or in a more structured way, to your peers and your own manager.”
When offering feedback, how do you adapt your communication style or setting to suit the personality of the employee?
Understand your audience. Some people intuit when you’re delivering feedback and others require clear signposting. Similarly, some will want specific examples and clear suggestions on ways to improve, while others may immediately grasp opportunities and means for improvement and want to demonstrate independently that they can improve.
That said, in most cases, feedback is best delivered in person and at a designated time, especially if it’s less than positive. Making an off-hand comment in the last minute of a meeting or when passing someone in the hall will upset people and not lead to meaningful change. Ultimately, really getting to know your team members early on and asking them up front how they best like to receive feedback is a great way to make communication as tailored and resonant as possible.
What’s a lesson you’ve learned from giving feedback over the years?
Everyone, no matter their experience, tenure or level, benefits from feedback. Feedback should not just be reserved for employees who report to you. You should absolutely be providing regular feedback, either ad hoc or in a more structured way, to your peers and your own manager. If your organization does not have a formal mechanism for this, you should feel empowered to set up a standing “upward feedback” session with your manager, just as you might with direct reports.
Similarly, having regular touch bases with peers in which you carve out designated time to share mutual feedback is effective. Finally, being open and receptive to the feedback provided on your own performance, regardless of who it comes from, is how you’ll best to continue to professionally grow and thrive.
Just about every tech company is focused on “breaking down silos,” and it’s important for this commitment to communication and visibility between teams to also extend to feedback. One way Curley, HR manager at Vestmark, breaks down feedback silos is simply by copying managers on the positive praise she gives team members so that those at higher levels know who on their team is performing well and how.
As a manager, what can you do to make sure the positive feedback you give is truly meaningful?
Make sure positive feedback is timely and specific! Some of our managers use a scorecard to evaluate performance after a project, which can help track accomplishments based on individual and team contributions and behaviors. Those accomplishments are celebrated, and that leads to a positive and effective work experience.
Many of our technical teams work on scrum teams. The scrum team meets every day for two weeks and progress is tracked during the two-week sprint. Team morale is also evaluated on the scorecard and rated on scale of one to 10, where one is extremely unhappy and 10 is extremely happy. This information is collected during scrum team retrospectives and includes input from team members. Once team morale feedback is collected it is shared and helps maintain a positive work environment.
When you can, copy your manager on positive feedback so the recognition is shared with the next level.”
When offering feedback, how do you adapt your communication style or setting to suit the personality of the employee?
When and how feedback is shared is important to consider. Think about the person receiving the feedback. Do they prefer public acknowledgments or is a private conversation, Slack or email better?
What’s a lesson you’ve learned from giving feedback over the years?
Make time for feedback at one-on-one meetings and team meetings. Take advantage of any formal recognition programs your company offers. That said, communicating feedback does not always need to be done in a formal manner. A “thank you” goes a long way. When you can, copy your manager on positive feedback so the recognition is shared with the next level.
