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BROUGHT TO YOU BY
Members of Connect: Professional Women’s Network share
advice for effectively delivering the good, bad and ugly.
How to Give Feedback

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At its best, feedback is a
powerful tool, stimulating
honest self-reflection, insight
and improvement.
At its worst, it’s the reason
your colleague wound up
crying in the bathroom.

3.
So how do you help your
team grow without hurting
any feelings? Take a look at
these tips from the women of
Connect on how to keep the
office from turning tense.

4.
Be available. “Feedback is vital to developing staff and fostering a
collaborative work environment. When the lines of communication are
continuously open, it is easy to give feedback.”
Nancy Von Borzestowski, Director Clinical Operations

5.
Make positive feedback the norm. “Seizing opportunities to
recognize small successes takes the sting out of the typical annual
review or pouncing on someone for poor performance.”
Diane Baranello, Career Coach, Speaker, Corporate Trainer

6.
Listen first. “I want to know how I can help them be successful in
their roles because it's a "win-win" situation for everyone. I encourage
them to tell me ways in which they can improve in certain areas. Make
sure your team knows you support them and want them to be
successful.”
Lisa Marie Bast, Public & Media Relations

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Teach team members to self-evaluate. “I use three questions with my team:
What's working? Where are you getting stuck? What will you do differently in
the future? Most of the time, they already know the areas they need to work on
and it opens them up to hearing my additional feedback.
Karen Stevens, SPHR, Senior HR Professional & Business Partner

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Ask permission first. “I start by asking, ‘May I give you some feedback?’.
Generally people say ‘yes’ but sometimes they say ‘no’ and that’s OK. Asking
permission may seem unusual, but it seems to start a conversation that people
want to hear.”
Carolyn Warren, Cyber Investigator

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Sugarcoat (a little) to soften the blow. “I give feedback in the compliment
sandwich model: point out what they did well, give areas for improvement with
clear guidelines how to improve in that area, and then end by summarizing the
strengths of their performance.”
Kasey Varner, Contributing Writer

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Avoid generalizations. “Be specific, give examples and
always give credit for good work.”
Alina Kaiser, MBA Candidate University of Chicago Booth School of Business

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Be solution-oriented. “Listen a lot and always start with
something positive. Try to offer a solution as well.”
Carrie Curley, Owner, Curley Design Group

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Be conscious of non-verbal cues. “My physical demeanor can come
off aggressive or defensive at times and that is not good. I have
avoided several conflicts by changing my body language.”
Monica Northington, Freelance Makeup Artist

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Choose your words wisely. “Positive or negative feedback should
always be honest and delivered with respect. If the feedback process
itself lacks integrity then employees will disengage.”
Bridget Sarikas, VP at Right Advisory LLC

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Be solution oriented. “Listen a lot and always start with
something positive. Try to offer a solution as well.”
Carrie Curley, Owner, Curley Design Group

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Join the conversation!
Connect: Professional Women’s Network, Powered by Citi, is an online
community with more than 300,000 members on LinkedIn that helps
women achieve the careers they want and discuss the issues relevant to
their success.
For more great insights from Connect members, check out
the discussion: What Techniques Do You Use To Give
Someone Feedback?
Visit linkedin.com/womenconnect for more information
and to join the group for free!
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