How To Give Feedback. Or Not.

I saw this article on feedback today and thought I would practice the suggestions here in this blog. Are you with me? Good.



1. When giving feedback it's important to focus on an employee's specific behavior, not the impression you had of it.

"I noticed you didn't read the journal article I chose for journal club this week and as a result, could not effectively contribute to the conversation. I will presume your perceived disinterest is not a reflection of me, but a result of something unrelated to work."



2. Feedback that is generic and vague is also useless. Be specific.

"You could have been more effective as a leader had you put forth the effort to support me in what you know is an undertaking of mine to bring more scholarship into our work as pediatricians."



3. Whenever possible, request to give feedback.

"I'd like to give you some feedback on how your actions, or lack thereof, affect not only my morale but the group's as well, especially when they see a person in a leadership position fail to complete what was billed as a mandatory activity."



4. Preface with the positive. Point out what the employee is doing well before delving into areas for improvement.

"I respect your knowledge and experience and was hoping you would bring some purposeful, focused advice to enhance our level of comfort in analyzing and understanding medical literature."



5. Try to look at your employees' work through their eyes and try to understand their approach to their work.

"Tell me, what was your understanding of you asking me to reschedule my journal club a week earlier on short notice because you were going out of town and wanted to be there? My understanding was that you wanted to be there in support and to provide valuable insight and experience. Oh wait, that's why I wanted you to be there. So, thanks for showing up. Maybe next time you could read the article? That way we both win.