Feedback Techniques

In my first year as a manager I alienated one of my reports by giving him too much feedback in a direct and pointed way. The feedback was "right" but delivered to bluntly and thus unwelcome. Just because you “can” give feedback doesn’t mean you should. The power of your feedback comes from the trust you build with your reports. Here is how you can build it: The most important thing to understand is that even if you have the institutional authority to deliver this feedback (your title), you need the relational authority before you can deliver it effectively. Read this line again please - doing so will help you avoid either giving pain or making problems for yourself (I did both). This means that your reports need to trust and respect you before they will listen to any feedback you give. You can build this trust and respect by: 0) Being Empathetic I was too blunt. I thought that only being right or wrong mattered, not how I said things or the judgment in my tone and words. I lacked Emotional Intelligence (EQ). How you say things matters, and this means not just the words you say but the real intent behind them. My intention in that early review was not truly focused on helping the person, but rather on scolding him into better behavior. I'm not surprised he reacted poorly to it. 1) Being Consistent Good managers are consistently giving feedback—both bad and good—to their reports. Make sure you are recognizing and acknowledging your employees’ strengths as much (or more) than you are pointing out their areas for improvement. This will make them feel comfortable with you pointing out room for improvement because they know you see them for more than their flaws. 2) Never surprise someone with a review. This is related to point 1. If you are consistently giving small pieces of feedback, a more serious piece of negative feedback should not blindside your employee. They should know that it is coming and understand what the issue is. 3) Deliver corrective feedback ASAP, and use clear examples. As soon as you see a pattern of behavior that needs to be addressed, address it using clear evidence. This gives the employee the chance to reflect on the behavior while it is still fresh in their minds, not months later when their review comes around. 4) Check in to confirm that you are being heard correctly Ask the employee if they understand the feedback you are giving and why you are giving it. 5) Be specific enough to drive change The more specific behaviors and examples you can use to support your feedback, the better your employee can understand that you aren’t speaking from a place of dislike or bias. This also gives them more concrete references to inform their behavior change. Readers—What other ways do you build a relationship before giving feedback? (Or, how have you messed this up?)

Feedback without action? Wasted opportunity. Here’s how to change that.👇: Here’s how to turn feedback into real, actionable steps: 1️⃣ Listen with an Open Mind ➟ The first step to turning feedback into action is truly hearing it.   ✅ Take a deep breath, focus on understanding, and ask questions for clarity if needed. 2️⃣ Separate Emotion from Information ➟ Focus on the content, not the delivery.   ✅ Jot down key takeaways objectively, leaving emotions out. Review it later when you’re calm. 3️⃣ Identify Key Themes ➟ Look for patterns in your feedback.   ✅ Notice if similar feedback comes up frequently—this is where small changes can lead to big improvements. 4️⃣ Prioritize What Matters Most  ➟ Not all feedback requires immediate action.   ✅ Use the “80/20” rule: focus on the 20% of feedback that will drive 80% of your growth. 5️⃣ Set Clear, Achievable Goals  ➟ Transform feedback into specific, actionable goals.   ✅ Instead of “communicate better,” set a goal to “speak up in meetings once per week” or “clarify tasks with teammates.” 6️⃣ Create a Plan and Timeline ➟ Real progress comes from consistent action.   ✅ Use a tool like a calendar or task app to track your progress and stay accountable to your timeline. 7️⃣ Follow Up and Ask for Feedback ➟ Growth is ongoing, and feedback should be too.   ✅ Schedule regular check-ins with a mentor or manager to review your progress and get updated feedback. 📌 PS...Remember, feedback is only as valuable as the action you take from it. ♻️ Share this with your network to help them give better feedback too! 🚀 Follow Harry Karydes for more daily tips to lead high-perfomring teams through mindset, habits and systems. 🔥 Do you want a high-res pdf of 125 of my top infographics? ➡ Go Here: https://lnkd.in/gaewRGyj

 5 Uncomfortable Truths About Giving "Performance Feedback" (that no one tells you) After 15 years of leading teams and coaching executives, I've learned that giving meaningful feedback isn't about following a template or checking a box. Here are the hard truths I wish someone had told me earlier: 1.) Your feedback isn't about making yourself comfortable ↳That knot in your stomach before a tough conversation? It's a sign that you're about to say something that matters. I once delayed giving critical feedback to a high performer for weeks because I feared damaging our relationship. When I finally did, their response? "I wish you'd told me sooner." 2.) The "feedback sandwich" insults your employees' intelligence. ↳They see right through it, and it diminishes your message. Trust them with direct communication. Last month, a client told me they'd spent years decoding what their previous manager "really meant" beneath the compliment buffer. 3.) "Great job!" isn't feedback – it's a pat on the back ↳ Real feedback answers: "Great at what? Why did it matter? What specific impact did it have?" The difference transforms generic praise into a roadmap for repeatable success. 4.) The most crucial feedback often comes from your discomfort. ↳ When you think, "Maybe I'm overreacting" or "Perhaps it's not my place," that's often precisely what needs to be addressed. Those moments of hesitation often mask the most valuable insights. Be professional and tactful, but seize an opportunity and the signs you receive. 5.) Timing beats process every time. ↳ The best feedback system in the world can't match the power of addressing something at the moment. Waiting for quarterly reviews to discuss crucial performance issues is like waiting for New Year's to start eating healthy – it makes sense on paper but fails in practice. THE BOTTOM LINE: Meaningful feedback isn't about being fake, too nice or following a script. It's about being transparent, specific, and genuine – even when (especially when) it's uncomfortable. Vague feedback is worse than no feedback at all. If your message could apply to anyone, it probably helps no one. Make it direct, make it specific, make it count. Coaching can help; let's chat. | Follow Joshua Miller ➖ Like what you read but would like more? ☎ Book Your Coaching Discovery Session Today: https://lnkd.in/eKi5cCce #joshuamiller #executivecoaching #coaching #leadership #management #performancemanagement #culture #professionaldevelopment

PSA: When someone says you committed a microaggression, there is only one appropriate response. "Thank you for telling me. I'm sorry. I'll never do that again." I stepped off stage a few weeks ago and a women in the audience approached me and told me (in a friendly, helpful way) that I had made a disparaging comment in my talk. When I referred to being new on Instagram, I said something dismissive like, "that's where all the kids are these days." She said, "Alison, half your audience was 20- and 30-something women who post their entire life on Instagram. For you to say it's for kids is ageist and also diminishes something they value." This was not at all my intent. My intent was to poke fun at myself by pointing out how out of my league (and old) I felt on this new social platform. But in that moment, my intent didn't matter. All that mattered was how it might have been received. So I didn't defend or explain myself. Instead, I thanked her profusely. She didn't have to come tell me, she could have badmouthed me to everyone else in the audience instead. And I would still have no idea that my joke landed poorly. She did me a favor and she didn't deserve my defensiveness. She deserved my appreciation. If you don't want people saying bad things about you behind your back, make it safe for them to say bad things about you to your face. And when you make a mistake, own it and do better. The only way to show that you're truly sorry is to not make the same mistake twice. So let me try again and say what I should have said the first time: To everyone in my network who is an Instagram whiz, I see you and I admire you. I'm not as good as you are yet, but I am trying to get better. So send any and all tips my way! #bestadvice #personaldevelopment #leadership

Getting the right feedback will transform your job as a PM. More scalability, better user engagement, and growth. But most PMs don’t know how to do it right. Here’s the Feedback Engine I’ve used to ship highly engaging products at unicorns & large organizations: — Right feedback can literally transform your product and company. At Apollo, we launched a contact enrichment feature. Feedback showed users loved its accuracy, but... They needed bulk processing. We shipped it and had a 40% increase in user engagement. Here’s how to get it right: — 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝟭: 𝗖𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝗙𝗲𝗲𝗱𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸 Most PMs get this wrong. They collect feedback randomly with no system or strategy. But remember: your output is only as good as your input. And if your input is messy, it will only lead you astray. Here’s how to collect feedback strategically: → Diversify your sources: customer interviews, support tickets, sales calls, social media & community forums, etc. → Be systematic: track feedback across channels consistently. → Close the loop: confirm your understanding with users to avoid misinterpretation. — 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝟮: 𝗔𝗻𝗮𝗹𝘆𝘇𝗲 𝗜𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀 Analyzing feedback is like building the foundation of a skyscraper. If it’s shaky, your decisions will crumble. So don’t rush through it. Dive deep to identify patterns that will guide your actions in the right direction. Here’s how: Aggregate feedback → pull data from all sources into one place. Spot themes → look for recurring pain points, feature requests, or frustrations. Quantify impact → how often does an issue occur? Map risks → classify issues by severity and potential business impact. — 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝟯: 𝗔𝗰𝘁 𝗼𝗻 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲𝘀 Now comes the exciting part: turning insights into action. Execution here can make or break everything. Do it right, and you’ll ship features users love. Mess it up, and you’ll waste time, effort, and resources. Here’s how to execute effectively: Prioritize ruthlessly → focus on high-impact, low-effort changes first. Assign ownership → make sure every action has a responsible owner. Set validation loops → build mechanisms to test and validate changes. Stay agile → be ready to pivot if feedback reveals new priorities. — 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝟰: 𝗠𝗲𝗮𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗜𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗰𝘁 What can’t be measured, can’t be improved. If your metrics don’t move, something went wrong. Either the feedback was flawed, or your solution didn’t land. Here’s how to measure: → Set KPIs for success, like user engagement, adoption rates, or risk reduction. → Track metrics post-launch to catch issues early. → Iterate quickly and keep on improving on feedback. — In a nutshell... It creates a cycle that drives growth and reduces risk: → Collect feedback strategically. → Analyze it deeply for actionable insights. → Act on it with precision. → Measure its impact and iterate. — P.S. How do you collect and implement feedback?

You think getting tough feedback is hard? Try giving it! Every manager – every human being – struggles with delivering a tough message in a way that will be heard and yet not hurtful. There is a solution. It’s called the OILS approach, invented by Emily Field, a partner at McKinsey & Company, whom I am fortunate enough to bring to my class NYU Stern School of Business every semester. OILS guides managers through delivering feedback with four steps. ✴️ You start with an observation, literally. “Can I make an observation,” you might say to a team member, “I noticed you interrupted the client a lot in our meeting yesterday.” ✴️ Next, you talk about impact. “We have so much to learn from the client, and we could be missing critical information about their problem if they think the conversation is just a one-way street.” ✴️ The third step of OILS is the hardest. You have to listen. You have to give the chance for the feedback-recipient to respond. People want to explain themselves, and deserve that opportunity. ✴️ Finally, you turn to creating a solution together. You might suggest, for instance, that you come up with a secret signal if you see an interruption happening. Oftentimes, the feedback receiver also has solutions to offer, and that’s all for the good. Whenever Emily visits my class on managerial skills, my students leave smarter and wiser, and so do I! Giving feedback is never easy, but OILS greases the way. 

Some thoughts on "Feedback." We have to get comfortable with listening to things that are hard to hear.   When you manage people or work with people as an IC, if you do it right, there should be an open flow of communication about what’s working and what’s not.   And that can be one of the hardest parts of your job – accepting and digesting critical feedback.   To sit, and seek to understand, and temper the very real human reaction to jump and defend yourself or protect your own self-perception.   That is the real work of creating trust within your team.   “That was hard for me to hear how XXX is impacting you and the team, and I am sorry that I did not see it sooner. I would like to understand more from your perspective on how you think we can address this gap/lack of clarity/etc. Are there tangible things that you think we can be doing / do better to address this? We can also work to piece together which pieces of this we can control, and which pieces are realities that we will need to build buffers around in the short term to clear the runway for the team.”   Because here is the thing – people will ALWAYS have critical feedback. And you can either create a culture where your team feels comfortable bringing it to you, or you can create a culture where they discuss it in Slack and texts behind your back. Regardless, the feedback WILL flow, that is human nature, and only one of those scenarios allows you to do anything about it.   A sign of a great people leader is not in building a team where everything is working for everyone all the time, but in developing a TRUE understanding of the state of the state of your team fed with insight directly from them. 

After 15+ years as a Chief People & Culture Officer for Fortune 100 & 500 companies, I’ve seen firsthand that delivering feedback is both an art and a science. I’ve managed teams ranging from 5 to 1,000, and if there’s one thing I know for sure—it’s that great feedback isn’t just about what you say. It’s also about when and how you say it. Mastering this skill takes time and intention, but here are five of my best lessons from years of real-world leadership: Be specific & timely – Don’t wait for annual reviews. Celebrate wins or address issues in real-time. Focus on behavior, not personality – “Your report was late” is more actionable than “You’re unreliable.” Listen more than you speak – Feedback should be a dialogue, not a monologue. Follow up – Show you value the conversation by checking in later. Lead by example – Be open to feedback yourself. It sets the tone for your team. A feedback-rich culture starts at the top. Leaders, how you give (and receive) feedback shapes your entire organization. And the best teams embrace feedback that flows both ways. What’s the most valuable lesson you’ve learned about giving or receiving feedback at work?

Q. Is a "feedback sandwich" still a best practice? (a word of praise followed by constructive feedback, then more praise)? A. No. When a "feedback sandwich" is effective it's not because of the "sandwich" format. It's because there is already enough trust established between the manager and the employee that the employee can accept the manager's suggestions easily - meaning the "sandwich" wasn't even necessary. The reason so much managerial feedback is badly received by employees is not because of the way it's delivered. It's because the relationship between the manager and the employee isn't strong enough. We easily accept feedback from people we trust - like a family member or good friend. A manager can establish that level of trust by being someone employees look up to and respect. It takes time to build trust but it's absolutely worth it. When your teammates trust and respect you, it's because you trust and respect them too. When you reach that point, they'll not only listen to your feedback, they'll ask for it. For years managers have been taught that certain words or phrases or techniques like the "feedback sandwich" will help their feedback be better received, but this is bad advice. It goes counter to everything we know about people. If the reason you're able to give feedback is because you're the manager and they are not - an unequal power relationship - your feedback is not likely to do any good. It can easily damage your relationships even further. Trust is the key. Someone has a PTO request? Make it your highest priority to approve it. Someone needs you to look at a document? Do it as quickly as you can. There's no mystery about how to build trust on your team. The problem is that in many organizations they don't talk about this topic. They don't give it much importance. They assume that being a manager is enough. You're the manager, so employees must listen to you. But it's not true. If there's too little trust, your feedback will feel like a threat. With trust in the mix, you'll address anything that needs to be shared in the moment, like this: YOU: Sandy, what was the story with that Acme Explosives thing? SANDY: Oh, they have a new Receiving person who didn't see the Priority code on the bill of lading. We got it straightened out. YOU: Great, thanks. Somebody at Acme was hot about it. Leo, I think? He called me. I talked him down but he wasn't thrilled. SANDY: He's the Receiving manager. Thanks for talking to him. YOU: What can we do when that kind of thing happens, to avoid a small problem blowing up? SANDY: I got too worked up. I was trying to help the new Receiving guy but I guess he was nervous about making a mistake, so he was defensive and I was too harsh. That's my bad. Sorry about that. YOU: Okay, no problem, do I need to do anything else? SANDY: No, I'll shoot Leo an email and copy you in. I know what to say. YOU: Tremendous, thanks!

I have a passionate hate for the word “but.” It slips into our conversations with the best intentions and ruins them. Especially when we’re trying to give feedback. I hear it constantly when I coach my Stanford University Graduate School of Business students through role plays of tough conversations: “You’re a valuable member of our team, but...” “You did a great job on that presentation, but…” The second that word enters the conversation, the first half of the sentence vanishes. It’s no longer praise—it’s a prelude to disappointment. And it’s hard to believe that it was true in the first place. The same goes for our personal moments. “I love you, but you need to empty the dishwasher.” Ok, do you really love me? Or is your love conditional on clean dishes? We think “but” softens the blow when something difficult needs to be said. It doesn’t. Instead of sparing someone’s feelings, it confuses the message and muddies our intent. That’s why I tried an exercise for the first time this year with my students—BUT BUSTERS. Here’s how it works: Roleplay a tough feedback conversation. Try to do it without saying the word “but.” Tally the number of times you still say it. The direction is to say what you mean. Then stop. Use a period or use “and” if the ideas truly connect. For example: ✅ “You are an incredibly valuable member of our team..” ✅ “Lately you haven’t been meeting your deadlines. I’d like to understand if there are any obstacles you’re facing to getting work done on time.” I ask my students to track how it feels to not say “but.” Is it hard to stop yourself? Does your demeanor feel different when you don’t use it? They say it changes everything about their conversations. They feel more clear, respectful, and effective. It helps them start from a place of belief in what’s possible. All of that impact from the removal of one simple word. We don’t need to bury constructive feedback inside compliments, and we don’t need to cushion clarity with contradiction. It takes practice, and I still work at it, too. Try it for a day or two, and let me know how it feels. — Like this post? Follow me for more insights on leadership, team building, and the future of work. Subscribe to my LinkedIn newsletter Leadership is Everywhere: https://lnkd.in/g_VETsRY