How do people commonly react to feedback?

When feedback is given constructively, people will often respond positively. After all, most people are keen to improve and be recognised. However, it can be daunting for the individual as it can sometimes be perceived as criticism, they sometimes react by:

• Trying to defend themselves
• Choosing not to hear what is said
• Doubting the motives of the person giving feedback
• Denying the validity of the feedback
• Rationalising why they behaved the way they did
• Making excuses for their behaviour

Because of this, careful consideration needs to be given as to how feedback is delivered, making it positive and helpful. The cost of not giving positive feedback can be that the reviewee feels they are not adding value and/or that you have not recognised their achievements.

The following tips are given to help you provide feedback which will be received constructively:

Effective feedback – the basics

• Giving feedback is an opportunity to let people know what they do well, as well as what needs to change, it comes from a place of good intentions, it should be honest and constructive, future-focused and help them improve and understand.
• Remember to own personal feedback and give examples of behaviour which is evidence-based.
• Remember to keep the discussion positive and if reflecting on challenges and learning points earlier in the year, then that specific feedback should already have been given and discussed. Feedback needs to be timely; there should be no surprises at the review.
• Be specific and keep it focused on the point to be raised.
• Make sure it is heard and delivered in a way the reviewee appreciates – people have preferences.
• To support the individual in making a change you may need to adopt a coaching style to enable them to take action.
• Also, remember that feedback is a two-way mechanism, if you are prepared to give feedback, ensure you are prepared to receive it as well.

Concentrate on the positives

• One of the main success indicators of an effective review meeting is a motivated and inspired individual as a result. Recognition is a basic human need and can be a powerful motivator.
• When providing any feedback, always begin with the positives.
• Make sure that any praise given is well thought-through, sincere and deserved.
• Where outstanding performance is brought to your attention by others, make sure that you let the reviewee know.
• You can create something positive out of reviewee’s who present you with problems. Try and think of the flipside of the situation.

Focus feedback on observations

• The temptation can sometimes be to feedback your interpretation or conclusion from what you observe e.g. “your module isn’t working as you have a significantly high fail rate” or “your presentation did not go well as you don’t have strong presentation skills”. Instead, keep it factual and objective.
• It can be valuable to share inferences or conclusions, but when doing so it is important to identify them appropriately, perhaps posing them as a question and making sure you give the reviewee the opportunity to put forward their view, e.g.

“Why do you think that students seem to be more likely to fail this module? Have you got any constructive ideas about how the pass rate might be improved?”

How do you feel the presentation went? How do you think engagement might be improved?

Keep feedback non-judgemental

• Word your feedback so that it is a description of what occurred.

“The students commented that they had to wait more than three weeks for their feedback”

“Team members commented that you were undermining others when they tried to put forward new ways of working”

• Keep your feedback neutral and try not to make an evaluation in terms of good or bad, right or wrong, nice or not nice.

“It’s been agreed that students will receive their feedback within 3 weeks so we need to make every effort to achieve this and remove any obstacles or barriers that might get in the way”

“It was agreed that the deadline for this work was the 31^st July because it is needed for to support project x, so we need to make every effort that this work is prioritised” 

• Leave out judgement-loaded words that imply blame, fault, mistake and incompetence.

“Can we identify the reasons that you were not able to meet the 3 week deadline and come up with an approach that will avoid this in the future?”

“Can we think about how you can take ownership for looking at X part of the process” 

• Avoid emotive or critical terminology that could be interpreted as a personal attack.

“You have in the past achieved the three week turnaround so no doubt with planning and support you will be able to do so in the future”

“You have a lot of experience with the module choice process so you are an ideal person to look at the problems and find solutions”

Make criticism constructive

• Treat the criticism as an abstract problem, not as a character defect.

“It’s really important that we take responsibility for a problem that arises when students come in for block delivery as you are the face of the University”

“It’s really important that we take responsibility for feedback that we receive as you are the face of the University”

• Refer to what a person does rather than comment on what you imagine they do. You will then avoid jumping to conclusion such as, “well it must be you because …”

 “Are you worried about your knowledge of the programme? What can we do to support that?”

 “Do you feel you have the right level of knowledge to be able to respond to enquiries?”

• Describe actions or behaviours rather than qualities.

“Everyone has times when they feel they are on unfamiliar ground. If you don’t know the answer confidently, explain that you will go away and find out and come back to them”

 “If you don’t feel you have the requisite knowledge at times, how do you deal with that?

• Ensure you allow individuals to put their point of view across and take note of explanations or mitigating circumstances.

 “I acknowledge that you haven’t been working on this programme for very long. I’m here to support and find ways to help”

“I acknowledge that you haven’t been working on this Helpdesk for very long. I’m here to work with you to find ways to improve your confidence with this”

• Above all, concentrate on what the individual can do about the criticism and how they can improve.

“You have lots of experience in dealing with students. Can you have a think about how you can use this experience in the delivery of this new programme?”

“You have lots of experience in dealing with students.  Can you have a think about how you can use this experience to deliver a positive experience for students coming to the Helpdesk?”

Focus feedback on the value it may have to the recipient

• Provide feedback which serves the needs of the recipient rather than your own.

“If you can take steps to improve the satisfaction levels on your module I think attendance and engagement will also improve”

“If you keep up to date with the SHU Regulations I think that you will feel more confident in your day-to-day role”

• Phrase any help or support as an offer, not an imposition.

“I’m very happy to work with you on the planning of this module if you think that might be helpful? Alternatively, is there someone else who might be well placed to support you who we could approach?”

“I’d be happy to spend some time working with you on your development on that particular aspect” 

• Whenever possible, treat mistakes as a learning opportunity.

“We all know that student satisfaction levels change from year to year, so there is every opportunity to work out what is not working so well and turn this round”

“In relation to those problems with extension requests, what learning can you take forward and how else you might deal with them in future?”

• Focus feedback on the amount of information that the person receiving it can use.

“It might be worth identifying what you regard as the two key issues that will affect the student feedback and focus specifically on those”

“Can you think of two things that are going to be crucial for your work in supporting students and focus specifically on developing those?”

• Remember, giving feedback is an opportunity to let people know what they do well and can be highly motivational to the individual.

“If you can make some positive changes within this module your students will better understand not only the value of what they are learning but also your commitment and determination to providing them with an excellent learning experience”

“You are a valued member of the team, but don’t forget about valuing yourself and giving yourself some time to focus on your own development”