This document provides guidance on giving effective performance review feedback in 6 points:
1. Be specific and provide concrete examples rather than vague analogies.
2. Focus feedback on helping the employee grow and develop rather than just pointing out shortcomings.
3. Ensure the feedback is on issues the employee can actually address and change.
4. Make sure the feedback will add value from the employee's perspective.
5. Ensure feedback is based on factual observations and documented examples rather than unrelated incidents.
6. Use silence strategically to allow the employee to process the feedback rather than feeling the need to constantly fill the air with words.
5. 1 Be SpecificAm I being specific?
It is extremely critical to be as specific
as you can be. It is easy to get carried
away with analogies and incidents
related to the point being discussed.
Such meandering, however well-
intentioned it may be, often leads to
dilution of the message. It may even
lead to a defensive mindset being
triggered for the receiver. State facts
and give examples in support of the
feedback being given. Nothing more,
nothing less.
6. 2 MeaningfulAm I showing the way to grow and
develop this person?Your job as a
reviewer is to develop and grow
people. Pointing to shortcomings
does not help in any case. In fact,
it would work counter-productive
as the receiver pulls up the
defences and closes their mind to
any suggestions.
7. 3 Relevant
Can this person really do something
about this?
Think before if this person can do
something about this or if you can
help to change this behaviour? If the
answer is no, that specific feedback is
best left unsaid. Yes, think about it.
What is the purpose of feedback on
which the person cannot act?
8. 4 Value
Will this add value to this person?
Focus your feedback on its value for
the receiver. If your feedback will not
add value to the receiver in the
current state, resist from even saying it.
Often, it is for us to offer some advice
because it is dear to us and (however
well-intentioned) do not think of the
value it would add to the other person.
9. 5 Factual
Does this represent facts?
Write feedback promptly when the incident
is fresh in your mind. Do not let other
unrelated incidents influence your feedback.
Good managers maintain a small notepad,
to jot down incidents when they occur. This
small notepad is worth terabytes of data
that may be residing in our memory.
Maintaining and referring that small
notepad, will always bring us back to the
facts at hand.
10. 6 Silence.Finally, let silence do the heavy lifting.
Silence is an extremely powerful tool. Any
good negotiator would tell you that people
tend to underestimate the power of silence
when it comes to sales and social dynamics
in general. “Saying nothing is way more
powerful than spoken words” they would
vouch. Silence during feedback not only
defines alpha roles but also build the
readiness to assimilate, process and draw
on an action plan in the receiver’s mind.
11. Recognise5
signsofsilence
Interrupting by talking over the
other
Formulating your response while
the other person is talking
Using a break in the conversation
to create a distraction to change
topics
Talking in circles
Monopolizing airtime
13. Look to
the future.
Keep future in mind. Focus
on future behavior. This is not
an opportunity to criticise
the past.
14. There is enough research on
the brain and attention span
that most effective feedback
are short and to-the-point.
Short and
effective
15. The 3x3
MethodIf we cannot share something as three
points in three minutes, you are not not
helping them understand.
Break every topic above into three key
points that are most critical for .
16. “Criticism, like rain, should
be gentle enough to nourish
a man’s growth without
destroying his roots.”
– Frank A. Clark
17. Rajesh Soundararajan
@rajeshsound | www.futureshift.in
Rajesh Soundararajan is an entrepreneur and co-founder
of Futureshift Consulting, a boutique consulting outfit that
helps organizations chart their business, marketing and
technology strategies that generate demand, drive
predictable revenue and achieve impactful outcomes.
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