Thank you! The art of giving feedback: How to do it?

Feedback is a crucial management tool that can take various forms and is not always easy or pleasant. A key question that managers ask themselves is how to effectively deliver feedback to motivate, rather than demotivate, employees.

Workshops on feedback

As part of the XII edition of HR CAFE, monthly meetings for HR professionals organized by FlexHR and the Higher School of Banking in Toruń, Rafał Głowala, Business Development Partner at Nais, conducted workshops on feedback. The meeting was attended by practitioners from HR and sales departments who jointly established the principles of effective feedback delivery and reception.

Key elements of giving feedback

Workshop participants agreed that the quality of feedback depends on several key factors:

• Timing and location: Feedback should be given at the right time and in the right place to ensure its effectiveness.
• Purpose: Feedback should be clear and focused on improvement rather than criticism.

Often, feedback is given in haste, with poor emotions, and without value for either party, which is considered an unfortunately common occurrence.

Values and attitudes in feedback

The workshops emphasized the importance of mutual respect in the feedback process. Values such as empathy, attentiveness, treating the interlocutor as an individual, and focusing on the topic rather than the person are crucial. Participants also noted the need to provide feedback to supervisors, which contributes to building a partnership within the team.

Feedback in the digital age

Today, as many people work in dispersed online teams and are accustomed to instant reactions on social media, expectations for feedback are equally rapid and clear. Colleagues and managers expect real-time feedback that is simple and understandable.

Definition of feedback

Rafał Głowala defines feedback as the ability not only to deliver praise or criticism in a constructive manner but also to listen and understand the employee.

Key takeaways from the workshops

The workshops identified factors that can hinder or facilitate effective feedback:

Barriers to giving feedback

• Lack of clearly defined rules, principles, and goals
• Insufficient time
• Absence of conclusions and summaries
• Inability to focus on the topic
• Distraction
• Personality types
• Lack of response

Facilitators of giving feedback

• Opening questions: “What brings you here?” “How can I help you?”
• Face-to-face meetings
• Privacy and intimacy
• Fact-based approach
• Avoiding judgment
• Empathy
• Appropriate timing
• Setting boundaries
• Silence and suitable environment

Five principles of effective feedback

During the workshops, five principles of effective feedback were developed:

• Authenticity and openness: Be honest and transparent.
• Respect for time: Manage time effectively when giving feedback.
• Partnership approach: Conduct the meeting in a collaborative manner.
• Opening questions: Use questions such as “How can I help you?” and “What brings you here?”
• Defining next steps: Determine what will happen after the feedback and what the next steps are.

‍