Feedback at Work: A Complete Guide
Ready to improve how you seek, receive, give, process, and use feedback at work? You are in the right place.
Author: Professor Cameron Conaway
Last Update: October 24, 2025
Table of Contents
- Chapter 1: What is Feedback?
- Chapter 2: Feedback Myths
- Chapter 3: Feedback Barriers
- Chapter 4: Giving Feedback
- Chapter 5: Receiving Feedback
- Chapter 6: Processing Feedback
- Chapter 7: Using Feedback
- Chapter 8: Asking for Feedback
- Chapter 9: On Feedback Culture
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Next Steps: Feedback Training
Feedback Definition
Feedback is a response to a person’s activity with the purpose of helping them adjust to become more effective. Feedback comes in various forms, including evaluative (how you did and where you are), appreciative (how you are valued and recognized), and coaching (how you can improve).
See transcripts below for the video titled What is Feedback? | Feedback Definition, Types, Examples.
After the transcripts, you’ll find a gallery of all the primary images used in the video to define feedback, describe the feedback types, and show the feedback examples. You can also get all the feedback terms and examples as a PDF here.
Hi there, my name is Cameron Conaway. I’m a faculty member at the University of San Francisco and my work on feedback has appeared in Harvard Business Review – where I positioned the need to process feedback as a critical next step after we receive it, and I was one of a few corporate leaders asked to help with Feedback Essentials – a course from Harvard Business Publishing that is used by global organizations to develop their leaders. For those who just want a quick feedback definition and then need to leave, here you go – this is how I define feedback:
“Feedback is a response to a person’s activity with the purpose of helping them adjust to become more effective. Feedback comes in various forms, including evaluative (how you did and where you are), appreciative (how you are valued and recognized), and coaching (how you can improve).”
For everybody else – I hope you’ll stick around because feedback is one of the most underrated and neglected aspects of our personal and professional development – and I’ll be breaking this feedback definition down into its parts so we have the more nuanced understanding we need to improve how we leverage it.
So what is feedback?
It’s the time you burnt your hand on the top of a stove and learned to be especially careful not to do that again. It’s the comment from your basketball coach about tucking your elbow in more on your jumpshot. It’s advice from a colleague, who said she felt your presentation could have been much more engaging if you had read off the slides a little less – and who continued by saying that what works for her is to just keep a few bulleted points on each slide that can serve as talking point reminders. Feedback can even be your partner asking if you could please take the garbage out before it begins to overflow, because when the garbage reaches the top of the can your dog goes superhero mode and knocks it all over.
If you’re anything like me, feedback has had a tremendous impact on your life. As I look back over mine, feedback can feel as common as the air that surrounds me – it’s how I’ve improved in perhaps everything I’ve ever done and it’s how I’ve helped others become more effective in what they want to do. You’ve likely received feedback that has also caused you tremendous stress, I know I sure have – check out this video where I share a real story of one of those tremendously stressful experiences. And, although it may be hard to admit, our feedback to others has likely caused them tremendous stress. Again – I speak from experience here.
But what if we could tap into and amplify the profound power of feedback while minimizing the stress we experience and cause due to how we give and receive it? There’s no quick fix for making that happen, but in my experience as an educator and corporate leader, I’ve come to believe that improvement in this regard begins… at the beginning – with a feedback definition and, from there, an understanding of what feedback is, an exploration of the three common feedback types, and then some real-world feedback examples that bring everything together.
So if you’re still with me, here’s a quick look at what we will cover. First, we’ll briefly explore why it’s important to have a definition of feedback. It’s great to have one, but for it to stick and be integrated into your work and life I’ve found that it’s vital to also understand why we need one and some of the faulty assumptions not having one can cause us to fall into. Second, I’ll again share my feedback definition and how it came to be so we have a shared understanding of what we’re talking about. Third, we will unpack our definition of feedback – looking at its individual parts so we have a more nuanced understanding. Fourth, within our feedback definition there are three feedback types, so we’ll spend some time really diving into those because these three types of feedback can serve as important overarching categories where we can explore some specific feedback examples. And then fifth, as you likely guessed, we’ll explore examples of feedback for each of the types. At this point, I believe you’ll have the foundation you need to begin improving how you give and receive feedback. However, I’ve added kind of a bonus number six here – additional feedback types and terms – because it’s not enough to be equipped with a definition and some examples. In the workplace and beyond, you’ll likely encounter various dimensions and flavors of feedback… so we’ll take a tour of those to ensure that we become the feedback learning sponges we need to be to improve our performance at work and, more broadly, our communication with other humans… and maybe with sponges.
Okay, so let’s take it from the top.
Why is a feedback definition important?
So first, let me back up. Consider that John Hattie, an education professor, spent 15 years of research and synthesized some 800 meta analyses on achievement in learners – here is one of the books that came from that work. In summarizing the results of John Hattie’s own epic achievement, researchers David Carless and David Boud put it this way:
“The most powerful single influence on achievement is feedback but impacts are highly variable, which indicates the complexity of maximising benefits from feedback.”
So, team, what we have here is just one of many proof points about the power of feedback in helping us learn and grow. However, Hattie also calls out the “complexity of maximizing benefits from feedback.” This is why I want us to spend some time here understanding our why – feedback can catapult your development like nothing else and it’s complex, it takes work, and it takes leveling up our ability as communicators.
Because feedback is everywhere in our life… many of us assume we all know what feedback is and we assume other people see it in the same way we do. These are big assumptions, team, that can lead to a host of communication challenges. And they tend to lead us to believe that we don’t really need to have a shared definition. Indeed, in part because of these assumptions, the vast majority of the feedback articles out there, and even entire books about feedback, tend to skip past defining what it is. The result, then, is that we tend to have no shortage of content about giving feedback, receiving feedback, and even building great feedback cultures for our teams at work – but it all feels a bit like we’ve put the cart before the horse. These assumptions carry over into the corporate world, where some leaders speak beautifully about the importance of effectively leveraging feedback throughout their organization, but do not offer their employees a definition let alone training to make sure everybody has a solid foundation for what’s being talked about. Related to this, according to a few search engine tools, millions of people each month search for “feedback” or “what is feedback” or “feedback definition” – again, all in an attempt to get a baseline sense of what it is. But turning to search engines for an answer can lead us down some rabbitholes where we get all types of feedback definitions – definitions relating to the human-to-human type of behavior-based feedback, which is mostly what we are covering here, but also some confusing definitions related to self-regulatory biological systems or feedback as it relates to electrical devices.
Those who go deeper or want a more authoritative source may land on Professor Ramaprasad’s 1983 paper in Behavioral Science titled, On the definition of feedback, which defines it like this:
“Feedback is information about the gap between the actual level and the reference level of a system parameter which is used to alter the gap in some way.”
I love this definition’s focus on recognizing and altering “the gap”; this framing has stuck with me for years and, to this day, is often the lens through which I view the feedback relationship. Because, if you think about, feedback is meant to address some kind of perceived gap. However, as I’ve reflected on this definition over the years and presented it to others – they’ve provided feedback, that I agree with, that it feels too jargon-heavy for a general audience, what with “system parameter” and “reference level,” so I no longer lead with it when attempting to define feedback for others.
So all that to say, finding a solid feedback definition is harder than it should be. And to come back to our why.. here are three reasons why it’s important to have one. Number one: doing so can help dismantle the pervasive assumptions we mentioned. Number two: it can ensure you and your team, or otherwise those around you, are aligned and have a definition to point to when situations arise – this can be especially helpful if you are a manager onboarding new teammates. And number three: it can set us up for continued learning on the topic as we’ll be doing here because the definition can serve as our foundation and save us from that horse stirrup-ing some trouble as we read the many great articles out there about various elements of feedback. All of this leads us, yes, to our feedback definition again. After spending years reading many books and hundreds of academic papers and popular business articles, here again is where I’ve landed:
So let’s start to unpack this feedback definition.
There are three parts worth exploring here. First, let’s zoom in on this one: “is a response to a person’s activity”
This part centers that there was a stimulus, right, something happened – in this case, a person’s activity – and that there was a corresponding response – in this case, to a person’s activity. “Response” here is intentionally a bit vague because a feedback response can range a gamut that includes everything from an audience’s standing ovation – which is feedback letting a performer know they did something exceptionally well – all the way to an in-depth conversation with a colleague, where maybe a more junior colleague provides what’s called “upward feedback” to their manager about how they feel they are being micro-mananged and that they are struggling to remain productive and creative as a result.
Let’s continue to the second part: “with the purpose of helping them adjust”
The purpose of feedback is to be helpful. However, as you’ve likely learned through experience, having the best intentions, the best purpose, doesn’t necessarily mean things will go smoothly. You can have great intentions and still either deliver terrible feedback or deliver feedback terribly. Also of note here is that the feedback is about helping the other person adjust. “Adjust” is also a bit vague because this adjustment could range from feedback intended to adjust a teammate’s interpersonal behavior… to feedback meant to adjust the hip rotation on someone’s golf swing. This word “adjust” also refers to a future activity. After all, you can’t go back and adjust a thing in the past. In this sense, effective feedback by its nature is helpful precisely because it allows someone to adjust a future performance. Keep in mind that for feedback to be more directly future-oriented, it can be helpful to – but it doesn’t necessarily need to – explicitly talk about a future event. For example, even appreciative feedback like, “great job driving that project to the finish line” doesn’t specifically call out a future event but it can plant a seed that will allow the feedback receiver to carry lessons from how they successfully completed this project into their next project, right.
And then, lastly, let’s look at various forms
Part of the challenge in defining feedback involves addressing all it can be. Is it the compliment you received in the morning from your yoga instructor, the not-so-great performance feedback score (the one tied to your bonus) that you received from your manager in the afternoon, or your daughter’s glee when for the 100th time you read The Very Hungry Caterpillar before bed? Yes, all of those can be considered feedback. In this sense, “various forms” leaves space for the many other forms or types, which we will cover, while specifically naming three of the most common (evaluative, appreciative, and coaching) which can serve as foundational types that many feedback examples can fit into.
And that leads us to exploring the three feedback types.
So these three feedback types come from a book titled Thanks for the Feedback – it’s a great read from Douglas Stone and Sheila Heen of the Harvard Negotiation Project – and I’ve found the three primary types they’ve come up with to be quite reflective of my own work and experience. You’ll find a link to the book in the description.
So here is how we define each type:
Evaluative feedback helps you see how you did and where you are . It is evaluative because it compares how you did to how you could have done it. So in this sense it’s similar to Professor Ramaprasad’s “the gap between the actual level and the reference level.”
To make evaluative feedback real, here are five feedback examples:
Number 1: At the end of the quarter, you drove 10% fewer marketing leads than you forecasted. The feedback here, and perhaps it came from an automated dashboard, tells you how you did in relation to how you thought you would do. This not only lets you know how you did, but it provides a data point that can be the signal you need to improve how you drive leads and/or improve your next forecast.
Here are a few other examples:
Number 2: A direct report tells you: “You are the best leader I’ve ever worked with.”
Number 3: You did not meet the qualifying standards to participate in the Boston Marathon.
Number 4: You moved to #4 on a Duolingo leaderboard.
Number 5: Your formal bid in response to a Request for Proposal (RFP) was selected.
Notice the variation of these examples. We have a positive but rather vague comment from a direct report… next to an example of missing your quarterly number. These are still evaluative because they directly or indirectly contain a comparative data point.
You may be thinking, “What!? Wasn’t that comment from the direct report also the appreciative type of feedback?” Indeed, you are correct! The types of feedback can blur into each other; at times, it can feel like the feedback types exist on a spectrum. Let’s zoom out a bit to add context to this example.
Let’s say this comment (You are the best leader I’ve ever worked with) was made during a quarterly performance review, and it was in direct response to when you asked for feedback about your leadership since joining the team six months ago. The comment now shifts more toward evaluative – with the subtle comparative data point being “other leaders they’ve worked with.” It can move further into the evaluative camp if specific details are provided about how you stack up next to leaders they’ve had in the past.
Let’s move to appreciative feedback.
Appreciative feedback helps you know you are valued and recognized . Here are five examples of appreciative feedback:
Number 1: Your basketball team’s center points to you in gratitude after that great pass.
Number 2: Your grandparent says, “I am so grateful for all you’ve done for us.”
Number 3: Your teacher praises you in class for always asking great questions.
Number 4: Upon returning from a dangerous military mission, one sergeant hugs another.
Number 5: A patron at the restaurant where you work leaves you a great tip.
You’ll notice that appreciation can be spoken in words (as the grandparent and teacher did) or it can be unspoken or nonverbally communicated (as with the basketball center, the sergeants, and the patron who left a great tip). Unlike Evaluative and Coaching, which can touch on negative areas, appreciation is positive. It motivates us. Keep in mind, however, that everybody wants different types of appreciation. Some, though they may not admit it and might blush as it happens, love to be appreciated in front of peers. For others, quietly renewing their contract for another quarter may be all the appreciation they want or need.
If you’re a people manager, it can be especially important to know how those around you want to be appreciated. A great leader, for example, would not frequently embarrass a colleague by praising them publicly when that is the last thing they would ever want.
One point to note here: appreciative, positive feedback is vital. It’s so vital that I even included it in my video here where I take an evidence-based approach to addressing five of the most common workplace feedback myths. While some erroneously view this type of feedback as the fluffy form of feedback that nobody needs, studies suggest that providing positive feedback, especially very specific positive feedback that goes beyond “great job” can improve employee satisfaction and development. I’ll link to a few good resources about the importance of positive feedback in the description.
And that leads us to coaching feedback. The coaching feedback type helps point the way to how you can improve . Here are five examples of coaching feedback:
Number 1: A colleague tells you they loved the flyer and social media graphics you created, but to please make sure to use the company’s proprietary font. After a conversation, they recommend taking a course they just completed titled “Omnichannel Branding.”
There’s a positive comment in this feedback, and it’s also coaching feedback because it highlights a gap and a potential way to improve it in the future. Keep in mind that coaching feedback can come from anywhere – it need not be from a more senior colleague.
Number 2: “Here’s what worked for me when I was in a similar position,” a colleague begins.
Number 3: Your ballet teacher offers advice on how to improve your grand plié.
Number 4: Through active listening and asking questions, one teammate guides another to finding their own solution to a challenge.
Number 5: A teammate says: “I’m not a great public speaker, but I noticed each time you looked down at your notes it took away some of the great energy that kept your audience engaged. Are you open to working together so we can both improve?”
Similar to our other feedback types, you’ll notice some variety here. Coaching can be as direct as “here’s how to point your toes for the grand plié” or, as in the active listening example, more like a torch that helps light the way for another person to discover the answer for themselves. In some work environments, coaching relationships may be more formalized – such as more senior colleagues serving as a coach for a more junior colleague. But, as stated, it doesn’t have to be that way. We all have things to learn from each other and we can all be coaches for each other.
The coaching feedback type perhaps most obviously corresponds to the “with the purpose of helping them adjust” part of our definition of feedback. But the other types do as well. Consider how positive feedback that is more appreciative in nature, such as – “Great work on your latest revision. I see the immense work you put in and your essay reads so much smoother as a result” – can help a beginning writer see the value of their effort and ensure they put in such effort on a future essay.. Or consider how knowing how you did on a project at work (evaluative feedback) can help you determine which qualities to bring to your next one.
And that leads us to our bonus.
Additional feedback types and terms.
So here we will do a whirlwind through some types and terms that I’ve categorized and found it helpful to know. So you have these wherever you are, I’ve also assembled them into a PDF which I’ve linked to in the description. Okay, here we go:
The primary term to describe generalized feedback capacities
Feedback literacy. Feedback literacy is a term I use to refer to an individual’s understanding of and capacity to effectively give, receive, and
process feedback. The term has research roots in the world of education, where it is primarily used to describe students’ ability to receive feedback. I’ve expanded its use, pulling it into the business world so we have a broad term to describe the overall feedback capacities.
The next category is Feedback based on formality and timing.
So the following terms and examples all fit within that.
Planned feedback. Planned feedback refers to any feedback session that is scheduled in advance. Often referred to as formal feedback, this type of feedback may occur at regular intervals, such as during quarterly or annual performance reviews or even within a day’s notice. The benefit of a formal feedback session is that the primary feedback giver(s) and receiver(s) have a chance to prepare.
An example of planned feedback would be: A customer experience (CX) team leader schedules a 90-minute quarterly performance review with each of their direct reports. The meeting invite includes an agenda detailing the topics to be covered. One of the topics reads: “Growth Opportunities – areas where you can grow + your thoughts on how I can grow.” This could be considered a formal feedback session.
Informal feedback. Informal feedback is often considered the most common form of workplace feedback because it can occur anytime and come from anywhere in the organization. Although informal feedback is often thought of as differing from formal feedback in that it is not scheduled, it can include scheduling and planning elements. The benefit of good informal feedback is its timeliness. Sometimes, this type of feedback can be incorporated minutes after an activity, leading to improved outcomes.
An example of informal feedback would be: Employee A types up a long email to relay feedback to Employee B about their performance on a project. Employee A plans to send the email after Employee B is back from an international business trip.
And here’s another example: a junior designer conducted a stakeholder meeting and was tasked with creating a first draft of the company’s new brochure. Upon seeing the design on a shared digital whiteboard, the design lead quickly called the junior designer to share how excited they were about the direction. “Your use of white space is spectacular and ensures the viewer’s eyes are drawn to our calls-to-action. Great work. Might you be able to incorporate a similar design aesthetic in the footer? Otherwise, it feels like two different brands are colliding.”
Unplanned feedback. Unplanned feedback is not scheduled in advance and occurs in real-time. Although it’s often referred to as informal feedback, unplanned feedback differs in that it is truly spontaneous and in-the-moment. Therefore, Employee A’s conscious email could be considered informal but it would not be considered unplanned.
An example of unplanned feedback would be: On a team call with many junior colleagues, Colleague A, also relatively junior, senses the conversation is going too “in the weeds” rather than focusing on getting alignment on “the big rock” which was the purpose of the call. “Team,” they say, “I like that we’re digging into the details, but I’m wondering if we should first get alignment on the overall direction?” The manager agrees. “Great point. Thank you for having the awareness to bring us back, Colleague A.” The manager’s comment there is unplanned appreciative feedback.
The manager may even leverage this unplanned feedback to reinforce the feedback to Colleague A in front of the team and create a teachable moment. They may say something like: “Team – I want to reiterate how great of a move that was by Colleague A. Down the road, you may find yourself on calls that ‘go down the rabbit hole’ as we did. It might feel awkward, but if a clear decision on a big topic has to be made, you can bring value by steering the conversation back to center as Colleague A did.”
Real-time feedback. Real-time feedback occurs as the activity is happening. It can be planned (as in a collaborative working session) or unplanned (as in feedback received from the audience during a presentation).
An example of real-time feedback that is planned would be: the design lead mentioned earlier schedules a 30-minute call with the junior designer so they can work in real-time to improve the brochure.
The next category is: Feedback based on source
Self-feedback. Although informal feedback is often referred to as the most common type of feedback, in all likelihood, self-feedback takes the crown. Self-feedback refers to the feedback in our minds as we critique, praise, and compare our performance. We may compare the speech we just gave next to an excellent TED Talk.. or the app functionality we’re building next to how our competitor did it. Self-feedback can happen consciously (such as an employee who was just asked to rate their quarterly performance, also known as a self-appraisal) or unconsciously (such as an unhelpful and hypercritical thought process that may be related to traumatic events in childhood). Space for mindfulness and self-reflection is a key part of developing conscious self-feedback and helping to bring unhelpful subconscious self-feedback to the surface so it can be worked with rather than reacted to.
Peer-to-peer feedback. In the workplace, peer-to-peer feedback typically refers to feedback given and received by peers at relatively equal seniority levels, but it can also refer to peers of any level and kind giving or receiving feedback. Effective peer-to-peer feedback is built on several key pillars, including psychological safety (where each colleague feels respected and safe when sharing their thoughts). For the definitive read on psychological safety, check out Professor Amy Edmondson’s book titled The Fearless Organization – I’ve linked to it in the description. Having a shared understanding of the feedback basics is also vital for peer-to-peer feedback to work, and this includes – as we’re doing here – getting alignment on a feedback definition and having a general baseline of feedback literacy. Most academic research on peer-to-peer feedback occurs in the classroom through student-to-student feedback. The results make it overwhelmingly clear that students can learn a tremendous amount by providing feedback on each others’ work – sometimes even more than from feedback provided by the instructor. And some recent research suggests the same is true with peer-to-peer feedback at work, with some studies suggesting that getting feedback from a few peers can be just as helpful or even better than getting feedback from a single expert. In the right context, peers collaborating on and providing feedback about a project at work can reap immense benefits.
Customer feedback. Customer feedback is feedback given by customers. It can occur in various forms, including customer satisfaction surveys, public customer reviews, and beta testing whereby a product or service is rolled out to a select group to provide feedback before a general release.
Employee feedback. Employee feedback is a broad term that you may hear used in multiple ways. It commonly refers to feedback given by a manager to a direct report, but it can also refer to any feedback given and received between colleagues regardless of where they sit on the org chart. Additionally, an organization’s leaders may request “employee feedback” about, for example, how a new procurement process is working.
360-Degree Feedback. 360-degree feedback (also referred to as multi-source feedback or multi-source peer appraisal) is a process for employees to give and receive feedback to each other in an anonymous way. As the name suggests, the purpose is to improve employee performance by helping them receive feedback from 360 degrees – that is, from as many angles as possible (including self-feedback). Though the potential downsides are many, the proposed benefit and the reason this method became so popular is it can allow employees to get a broader range of feedback perspectives rather than, for example, getting feedback exclusively from their manager who may only see one side of their work. The collected feedback is then used to inform an employee development plan.
Okay, the next category is Feedback based on positionality, meaning where the givers or receivers are in some hierarchical relationship.
Upward feedback. Upward feedback is feedback given by a direct report to their manager. It can also refer to any feedback given by a more junior employee to a more senior employee (this includes skip-level feedback, which would be between a junior employee and their direct supervisor’s manager).
Downward feedback. Downward feedback is feedback given by a manager to their direct report. It can also refer to any feedback given by a more senior employee to a junior employee.
Let’s move now to Feedback based on content and giver/receiver perception
Positive feedback. Positive feedback is how we know we are doing well. This can come in various forms, ranging from a colleague’s praise to an automated dashboard that turns the numbers green when you’ve met or exceeded your goal. For decades, feedback research has proven the benefits of positive feedback. Effective positive feedback is specific (it goes beyond “great job”) and can also give employees a glimpse into a strength they may not know about.
An example of positive feedback would be: “I’m not sure if you know this, but you are a riveting public speaker. Your slides are clear and engaging, and your passion for the topic shines through. I especially appreciate how you engage your audience with questions.”
Negative feedback. Negative feedback is how we see our gaps, those areas where we can improve. This can come in various forms, including from a friend who saw our action and commented that they felt we can do better. In this sense, negative feedback can be beneficial. However, for various reasons we will explore in a future video, folks often fear giving and receiving it. Working through this fear can be challenging, but there can be tremendous growth when you do.
An example of negative feedback would be: “Upon review of the copy, I think we missed the mark in addressing the primary pain point of our targeted audience. Can you try again, this time working to empathize with their current struggle to do X and positioning our product as the solution?”
Constructive feedback. Constructive feedback seems to exist due to confusion or misconceptions around what the “negative” in negative feedback refers to. “Constructive” here implies helpfulness or usefulness, and maybe a future-oriented view, which is all in our primary definition of feedback. So I struggle with the term constructive feedback because it reads to me like “feedback feedback.” Still, if we keep in mind that we all have different levels of feedback literacy, it’s easy to see how this term can be helpful. In the following example, imagine if the word “constructive” was replaced by “negative.” Would the sentence change in meaning or feel more jarring for you? “The call went well because the engineering team provided constructive feedback that I will include in our next release.”
Feedforward. The term feedforward arose to ensure feedback takes a future-oriented approach. Effective feedback, however, does precisely that. It points to a past performance with the intention of improving future performance. In this sense, I believe it’s problematic to position feedforward as “the reverse” of feedback. Still, like “constructive feedback,” feedforward has its place depending on the audience. Reframing / rebranding feedback in this way can also help pull employees back into the feedback process if they’ve had terrible or even harmful experiences with it in the past.
Positive feedforward. Positive feedforward is positive feedback with a phrase that attaches it to the future.
An example of positive feedforward forward can be: In your report last week, you did an excellent job of steering our focus to the highlights of your research. Great work. You might want to try that in your client presentation next week.
Negative feedforward. Negative feedforward is negative feedback with a phrase that attaches it to the future.
An example of negative feedforward could be: Next time, I think it will be helpful to spend more time researching your audience. As long-time customers, they clearly didn’t need those first few overview slides. Before you present next week, let’s spend some time discussing the backgrounds of who will be in attendance so we can really nail the opening.
Destructive feedback. Destructive feedback goes against our primary definition of feedback in that it is ultimately either not helpful or not given with the intent to be helpful. While this type of feedback may include valuable parts, it comes in the form of harsh critique that may include ridiculing that breaks a person’s confidence and thereby makes feedback adoption nearly impossible. There are long-term negative consequences to destructive feedback.
Our next category is Feedback based on delivery method
Oral feedback. Oral feedback, often called verbal feedback, is delivered via synchronous or asynchronous talking. One potential benefit to oral feedback, particularly of the synchronous variety, is that participants can pick up on verbal and non-verbal gestures, which can help ensure ideas are conveyed clearly.
Written feedback . Written feedback is delivered in writing and can serve as a way to document feedback. Unlike oral feedback, where verbal and nonverbal gestures can be experienced, these elements are missing in written feedback. As Sarah Gershman and Casey Mank wrote in Harvard Business Review:
“Therefore, when you deliver written feedback, make sure to include clear and unmissable signposts of warmth, encouragement, or gratitude. Writing is not the place for off the cuff feedback on someone’s performance that could have outsized impact or come across as harsher than you intended.”
Visual feedback. In a corporate work context, visual feedback can refer to various types of visual indicators – such as numbers turning green to represent an achieved goal or a designer’s visual changes to a web design mockup.
Automated feedback. Grammatical issues caught by Grammarly. A financial dashboard that adjusts based on parameters met. An online exam that provides insight as to why an answer is wrong. Even the feeling of pain when we touch a hot stove. These represent just a few of the many automatic/automated types of feedback that we experience throughout any given day.
Additional feedback types
Encouragement. Encouragement is a type of motivational feedback that can help the receiver move into a stronger place of empowerment.
Example phrasing could be: “I spent a lot of time thinking about this feedback about your performance because I see you as a shining star in this organization. You didn’t land this particular deal, but with your skillset and passion you have so much potential and I see you landing far bigger and better deals in the future.”
Formative feedback. Formative feedback is typically given in a low-stakes environment where the feedback receiver has a chance to redo or re-submit their work. In this sense, formative feedback refers to the type of feedback given over time to assess how a learner or worker is developing. Formative feedback differs from summative feedback in that summative comes near the end and typically addresses how much the learner learned or the worker developed.
Summative feedback. Summative feedback is how we know how we did on an exam or a project – something that has reached an end. In the classroom, for example, a summative assessment typically attempts to measure all course material. This type of feedback is critical to help learners and workers understand how they did on a final or otherwise completed project.
Criticism. Criticism can be considered a type of feedback that points only to the areas to be improved. It addresses and “critiques” a past performance without providing guidance or a future-oriented lens.
Other feedback terms you may come across
Feedback-Seeking Behavior. Feedback-seeking behavior (FSB) refers to how individuals seek feedback either by reading the actions of others to infer what it means or by explicitly asking others for feedback. Since 1983, Dr. Susan Ashford and others have been researching feedback-seeking behavior. In organizations, feedback-seeking behavior generally leads to positive improvements in performance and the conversational feedback process. Note: you may also come across “indirect feedback seeking behavior.” This separates asking others (direct feedback seeking) from “reading the actions” (indirect feedback seeking) to highlight one’s efforts to intentionally observe the behavior of others for the sake of improving in a particular area.
Feedback orientation. According to Manuel London and James Smither’s classic 2002 paper in the Human Resource Management Review, feedback orientation “…refers to an individual’s overall receptivity to feedback, including comfort with feedback, tendency to seek feedback and process it mindfully, and the likelihood of acting on the feedback to guide behavior change and performance improvement.” Note: Are you a freelancer? See the article I linked to in the description about how freelancer’s can develop their feedback orientation.
And that’s a wrap, team. If you found this video helpful, more are coming… so subscribe to get notified. But really what I’d love is for you to bring any insights you found here into your relationships with others, and of course to provide me with any feedback you may have. May you and those you love be well.
¿Qué es la retroalimentación? | Definición de comentarios, tipos, ejemplos
Hola, mi nombre es Cameron Conaway. Soy profesor en la Universidadde San Francisco, y mi trabajo sobre la retroalimentaciónestuvo en Harvard Business Review, donde señalo que procesarla retroalimentación es esencial. Fui uno de los pocos líderes empresarialesque colaboró con Feedback Essentials, un curso de Harvard Business Publishing, cuyo objetivo es formar a líderesde organizaciones mundiales. Para aquellos que no tienen tiempo y quieren una definición rápidade retroalimentación, aquí lo tienen. Así la defino yo: Es una respuestaa la actividad de una persona con el propósito de ayudarloa adaptarse y mejorar. Hay varias formas, como el evaluativo(cómo lo hizo y dónde está), el apreciativo(cómo es valorado y reconocido), y coaching (cómo puede mejorar).
Para todos los demás,espero que se queden aquí porque la retroalimentaciónsiempre la descuidamos en nuestra vida personaly desarrollo profesional, Desglosaré la definiciónde retroalimentación en partes, para comprender mejorpor qué debemos aprovecharla mejor.
¿Qué es la retroalimentación? Es esa vez que se quemóla mano con la estufa y aprendió a tener cuidadode no hacerlo de nuevo. Es el comentariode su entrenador de baloncesto sobre meter más el codoal hacer un tiro en suspensión. Es el consejo de una colega que le diceque su presentación pudo ser más atractiva si hubiera leído menos las diapositivas, y que le dice que lo que funcionapara ella es mantener algunos puntos con viñetasen cada diapositiva para recordar los temasque tiene que exponer.
También puede serque su pareja le pregunte: si puede sacar la basuraantes de que se desborde, porque sí llega al tope del envase, su perro salta como superhéroey lo derriba todo. Si es como yo, la retroalimentaciónpuede tener un gran impacto en su vida. Cuando veo mi pasado, la retroalimentación es tan comúncomo el aire que me rodea y que gracias a ella he mejoradoen todo lo que he hecho, y es como he ayudado a otrosa ser más eficaces en lo que quieren.
Seguro que recibió retroalimentaciónque le causó mucho estrés, a mí me ha pasado. En este video, comparto una historia realde una experiencia muy estresante. No es fácil admitir, pero es probableque nuestra retroalimentación a los demás les haya causado un gran estrés. De nuevo, hablo desde mi experiencia. ¿Qué pasaría si pudiéramos aprovecharel poder de la retroalimentación sin el estrés que es causadopor la forma en que lo damos y lo recibimos? No hay una solución rápidapara que esto suceda. Pero en mi experienciacomo educador y líder empresarial, creo que para mejorarhay que empezar desde el principio, con su definición. Y a partir de ahí, explorar los tres tiposde retroalimentación más comunes, y luego compartiré ejemplos realesde retroalimentación para unir todo. Sí se quedó conmigo, aquí tiene un breve resumende lo que hablaremos. Primero, exploraremos brevementela importancia de su definición.
Es genial tener una, pero para que la mantengay la aplique en el trabajo y su vida. Descubrí que es vital comprenderpor qué necesitamos una y algunas suposiciones erróneasen donde se cree que no es esencial. En segundo lugar, compartiréde nuevo mi definición y cómo surgió para comprenderladesde una misma perspectiva.
Tercero, analizaremos la definición, desglosando sus partes individualespara tener una comprensión más detallada. Cuarto, dentro de nuestra definiciónhay tres tipos de retroalimentación. Nos tomaremos el tiempode profundizar en ellas, porque estos tres tipospueden ser categorías generales que permitan explorar ejemplosespecíficos de retroalimentación. En quinto lugar, veremos ejemplosde retroalimentación para categoría. En este punto, creo que tendrá la baseque necesita para empezar a mejorar la forma en la que day recibe la retroalimentación. Sin embargo, no es suficienteuna definición y algunos ejemplos. Por eso agreguéun punto número 6 aquí, como bonus, tipos y términosde retroalimentación adicionales. En su lugar de trabajo y más allá, es probable que se encuentrecon varias clases de retroalimentación, así que haremos un recorrido por ellaspara asegurarnos de convertirnos en las esponjas de aprendizajede la retroalimentación que necesitamos ser para mejorarnuestro rendimiento en el trabajo y nuestra comunicación con otras personas.
Y tal vez, esponjas. Vamos desde el principio. ¿Por qué es importantela definición de retroalimentación? Primero, déjame retroceder. Considere que John Hattie,un profesor de educación, dedicó 15 años a la investigación, y sintetizó unos 800 metaanálisissobre el rendimiento de los alumnos. Este es uno de los libros de ese trabajo. Al resumir los resultadosdel logro épico que John Hattie, los investigadores David Carlessy David Boud lo explicaron así: «La influencia más poderosasobre los logros es la retroalimentación pero los impactos son muy variables, lo que indica la complejidad de maximizarlos beneficios de la retroalimentación».
Equipo, este es solo unode los muchos puntos de prueba sobre el poder de la retroalimentaciónpara ayudarnos a aprender y crecer. No obstante, Hattie también destaca la complejidad de maximizarlos beneficios de la retroalimentación. Por eso es quiero que dediquemosalgún tiempo aquí para entender por qué la retroalimentaciónpuede impulsar su desarrollo como ninguna otra cosa. Y es complejo, requiere trabajo, y mejorar nuestras capacidadescomo comunicadores. Debido a que la retroalimentaciónestá en todas partes de nuestra vida, muchas veces asumimosque todos saben lo que significa y suponemos que los demáscomparten nuestra perspectiva. Estas son grandes suposiciones, que pueden generar una seriede problemas de comunicación, y tiende a hacernos creerque realmente no es necesaria una definición compartida.
Debido a estas suposiciones, la mayoría de los artículos y librosacerca de la retroalimentación solo pasan por altola definición de lo que significa. El resultado esque no nos falta el contenido sobre dar y recibir retroalimentación, incluso se crean culturasde retroalimentación para nuestros equipos de trabajo.
Se siente un pococomo si hubiéramos puesto el carro delante del caballo. Estas suposicionesse trasladan al mundo empresarial, donde algunos líderes hablan maravillas sobre la importanciade aprovechar eficazmente la retroalimentaciónen toda su organización, pero no ofrecen una definiciónni formación a sus empleados para asegurarse que entiendende lo que se está hablando.
Según algunas herramientasde motores de búsqueda, millones de personas cada mesbuscan: «Retroalimentación», o, «Qué es retroalimentación»,o, «Definición de retroalimentación», Insisto, todo en un intentopor entender de qué se trata. Pero utilizar estos motores de búsquedaspueden llevarnos a madrigueras de conejo, donde encontramostodo tipo de definiciones, definiciones de retroalimentaciónrelacionadas con el comportamiento de persona a persona, que es principalmentelo que cubrimos aquí.
Así como definiciones confusas relacionadas con sistemasbiológicos autorregulados, o retroalimentación en relacióncon los dispositivos eléctricos. Aquellos que profundiceno quieran una fuente más autorizada pueden consultar el artículodel profesor Ramaprasad de 1983 en ciencias del comportamientotitulado On the Definition of Feedback, que la define así:
«La retroalimentación es informaciónsobre la diferencia entre el nivel real y el nivel de referenciade un parámetro del sistema, que se utiliza para alterarla brecha de algún modo».
Me encanta el enfoquede reconocer y alterar la brecha. Esta perspectiva la sigo desde hace años y hasta el día de hoy aún percibola retroalimentación desde allí. Porque sí lo piensas, la retroalimentaciónpretende abordar algún tipo de brecha. Sin embargo, al reflexionarsobre esta definición a lo largo de años y al presentarla a otros,me brindaron una retroalimentación, con lo que estoy de acuerdo, que es difícil de entenderpara una audiencia general con el parámetro del sistemay el nivel de referencia.
Ya no la utilizo al definirla retroalimentación para los demás. Encontrar una definición sólidade retroalimentación es más difícil de lo que debería ser. Y volviendo al por qué, aquí tenemos tres razones importantespor las que deberíamos tener una. Primero, ayuda a desmantelarlas suposiciones generalizadas que mencioné. Dos, le asegura a usted,a su equipo o a quienes le rodean que estén alineados y tengan una definicióna la que recurrir en casos concretos. Esto puede ser útil si usted es un gerente que incorporanuevos compañeros de equipo. Y tercero, puede prepararnospara aprender más sobre el tema, como haremos aquí, porque la definiciónpuede servirnos de base y salvarnos de ciertas confusiones, mientras leemos numerosos artículos sobre los elementosde la retroalimentación.
Todo esto nos lleva, de nuevo,a nuestra definición de retroalimentación. Después de pasar añosleyendo muchos libros, cientos de artículos académicosy de divulgación empresarial, he llegado aquí nuevamente. Analicemos tres partes importantesde esta definición de retroalimentación. Primero, enfoquémonos en esta, es una respuestaa la actividad de una persona. Esta parte se centraen que hubo un estímulo, algo sucedió.
En este caso, la actividad de una persona. Y que hubo una respuesta correspondiente. En este caso,a la actividad de una persona. La respuesta aquí es un poco vaga, porque esta respuestapuede abarcar una gama que incluye todo. Desde una ovación del público, que es la retroalimentaciónpor la cual un artista sabe que hizo algo grandioso. Hasta una conversaciónde un colega tal vez más joven que proporciona a su jefe lo que se llamaretroalimentación ascendente, sobre cómo siente en su microgestión y que, como resultado, luchanpor seguir siendo productivos y creativos. Continuemos con la segunda parte,con el propósito de ayudarlo a ajustar. El objetivo de la retroalimentaciónes ser útil.
Probablemente, haya aprendidoa través de la experiencia, tener las mejores intenciones,el mejor propósito, no significa necesariamenteque las cosas van a ir bien. Incluso puede tener buenas intenciones, y aun así puede dar o recibiruna terrible retroalimentación.
También voy a destacarque la retroalimentación se trata de ayudara que la otra persona se adapte. Esta adaptación también es un poco vaga,porque esta adaptación podría variar desde retroalimentación destinadaa adaptar el comportamiento interpersonal de un compañero de equipo, a retroalimentación destinadaa ajustar la rotación de la cadera en el swing de golf de alguien.
La palabra ajustar tambiénse refiere a una actividad futura. Después de todo,no puede ajustar algo del pasado. En ese sentido, la retroalimentación eficazpor su naturaleza es útil, porque le permite ajustarun desempeño futuro. Para que la retroalimentaciónesté más orientada al futuro, puede ser útil, aunque no necesario,hablar explícitamente de un evento futuro. Por ejemplo, retroalimentaciónde agradecimiento como:
«Gran trabajo llevandoese proyecto a la meta», que si bien no menciona un evento futuro, puede recordarle esta sensación de éxitoa quien recibe la retroalimentación cuando esté realizandosu próximo proyecto.
Y por último, veamos varias formas. El desafío al definir la retroalimentaciónes el abordar todo lo que puede ser ¿Es el cumplido que recibióen la mañana de su profesor de yoga? ¿O La baja puntuación de rendimientoque recibió de su jefe en la tarde, y que afecta su bonificación? ¿O la felicidad de su hijacuando por centésima vez usted le lee La oruga hambrientaantes de dormir? Sí, todos ellos pueden serconsiderados retroalimentación. Entonces, el decir: «Varias formas»,implica incluir otros tipos y formas, dentro de los cuales tenemosespecíficamente los tres más comunes, que son la evaluativa,apreciativa y coaching, las cuales sirven como categorías en las que pueden encajarmás ejemplos de retroalimentación. Exploremos ahoraestos tres tipos de retroalimentación, los cuales encontramosen el libro Thanks for the Feedback.
Es una gran lecturade Douglas Stone y Sheila Heen del Harvard Negotiation Project, donde encontré tres tipos principales, los cuales reflejan bastantemi propio trabajo y experiencia. Hay un enlace del libroen la descripción. Así es como definimos cada tipo. La evaluativa le permite sabercómo lo ha hecho y dónde se encuentra. Es evaluativa, porque compara lo que hizocon lo que podría haber hecho. Es similar a la definicióndel profesor Ramaprasad, la diferencia entre el nivel realy el nivel de referencia. Para que la retroalimentación efectivasea real, aquí hay cinco ejemplos.
Número uno. Al final del trimestre, consiguió un 10 % menosde clientes potenciales de lo previsto. La retroalimentación, que tal vez vinode un cuadro de mando automatizado, le dice cómo le fue en relacióncon cómo pensó que le iría. No solo le permite saber cómo le fue,sino que le da un puntaje, que puede tratarse de lo que necesitapara mejorar en la captación de clientes y/o mejorar su próxima previsión. Les mostraré otros ejemplos. Número dos. Un informe directo le dice:
«Usted es el mejor lídercon el que he trabajado».
Número tres. Usted no cumplió con los criteriosde calificación para participar en el Maratón de Boston.
Número cuatro. Usted pasó al nivel cuatro en la tablade clasificación de Duolingo.
Número cinco. Su oferta formal en respuestaa una solicitud de propuesta (RFP) fue seleccionada. Fíjese cómo varían estos ejemplos. Tenemos un comentario positivo,pero bastante vago de un informe directo; junto a ejemplo que indicaque no cumplió con su meta trimestral. Ambas son evaluativas, porque de forma directa o indirectacontienen datos comparativos. Quizás usted esté pensando: ¿Qué? ¿El comentario del informe directono es la retroalimentación apreciativa?
De hecho, tienes razón. Un mismo ejemplopuede pertenecer a varios tipos. A veces, parecería que esos tiposforman parte de una escala. Ahora, contextualicemos este ejemplo.
Digamos que el comentario:
«Usted es el mejor lídercon el que he trabajado», se generó durante una revisióntrimestral del rendimiento como respuesta a la retroalimentaciónque usted pidió sobre su liderazgo desde que se unió al equipohace seis meses. Ahora, la respuesta estámás orientada hacia la evaluación, luego de añadir el sutil dato comparativo:otros líderes con los que he trabajado. Se orientará más hacia la evaluación si muestra más detalles concretossobre su rendimiento en relación con líderes pasados. Veamos la retroalimentación apreciativa. Esta retroalimentación le ayuda a sabersi es valorado y reconocido. Les presentaré cinco ejemplos de ella. Número uno. El pivote de su equipo de baloncestole dedica un gesto de gratitud tras un gran pase.
Número dos. Dice su abuelo:«Estoy muy agradecido por toda su ayuda».
Número tres. Tu profesor te elogia en clasepor hacer preguntas interesantes.
Número cuatro. Al regresarde una peligrosa misión militar, un sargento abraza a otro.
Número cinco. Un cliente en el restaurantete deja una gran propina. Notará que el agradecimientopuede expresarse con palabras, como hicieron el abuelo y el profesor, o puede ser tácito o no verbalcomo en el caso del pivote de baloncesto, los sargentos y el clienteque dejó una gran propina. A diferenciade la evaluación y el coaching, que pueden responder negativamente, la retroalimentación apreciativaes positiva y nos motiva. Tenga en cuenta, sin embargo, que todos deseandistintos tipos de agradecimiento. Algunos, aunque no lo admitany se sonrojen al hacerlo, les encanta ser apreciadosdelante de sus iguales. Para otros, renovar en silenciosu contrato un trimestre más, quizás es la muestra de aprecioque quieren o necesitan.
Si usted es un gestor de personas,puede ser muy importante conocer cómo quiere ser apreciado su equipo. Un gran líder, por ejemplo, no avergonzaría a un colegaelogiándolo públicamente cuando eso es lo último que querría. Hay que tener en cuenta que la retroalimentaciónpositiva apreciativa es vital. Es tan vital que la incluíen mi video aquí, donde adopto un enfoquebasado en la evidencia para examinar los mitos comunessobre la retroalimentación en el trabajo.
Es erróneo pensar que no se necesitaesta forma de retroalimentación. Los estudios sugieren que proporcionarconcretamente retroalimentación positiva, más allá de: «Buen trabajo», puede mejorar la satisfaccióny el desarrollo de los empleados. Les dejo un link en la descripcióncon buenos recursos sobre la importanciade la retroalimentación positiva Esto nos llevaa la retroalimentación coaching. Esta retroalimentación se aplicapara indicar cómo mejorar. Les mostraré 5 ejemplos de ella.
Número uno. Un colega le dice que le gustanlos gráficos para redes sociales que creó, pero que utilice el tipo de letrahabitual de la empresa. Tras conversar, recomiendatomar un curso que acaban de terminar, titulado Omnichannel Branding. Es una retroalimentación positivay también de coaching, porque resalta una brecha y una posible formade mejorar en el futuro. La retroalimentación coachingpueden venir de cualquier lugar, no es necesario que seade un colega de mayor rango. Número dos. «Esto funcionó para mícuando estuve en esa posición», dice un colega.
Número tres. Su profesor de ballet le da consejospara mejorar su grand plié. Número cuatro. Al escuchar activamentey formular preguntas, un compañero guía a otropara que encuentre la solución a un reto. Número cinco. Un compañero le dice a otro:«No soy un gran orador, pero me fijé que cuando mira sus notas, disminuye la energíaque mantiene a su público atento. ¿Está abierto a trabajar juntospara poder mejorar? Al igual que con los demás tiposde retroalimentación, hay variedad. Coaching puede ser directo como: «Apunta tus dedos asípara hacer el grand plié», o como en el ejemplo de la escucha activa, más como una antorchaque ilumina el camino de otra persona para que descubrala respuesta por sí misma. En algunos entornos laborales, las relaciones de coachingpueden ser más formales como cuando los colegas seniorson entrenadores de los más jóvenes.
Pero no tiene por qué ser así. Todos podemos aprender de los demás, y ser entrenadoreslos unos de los otros. Este tipo de retroalimentacióncorresponde más con parte de la definición que indica que la retroalimentaciónsirve para hacer ajustes, pero los demás tipos también. Como la retroalimentación positivay que es también apreciativa: «Excelente trabajo en su última revisión, Veo que se esfuerza y por endesu redacción cada vez es mejor», esto puede ayudar a que sientaque su esfuerzo es valorado y, a su vez, se sentirá motivadocuando hago su siguiente trabajo. O si ya sabe cómo le fue en ese proyecto, la retroalimentación evaluativapuede ayudarlo a determinar qué aportar al siguiente. Pasaremos a nuestro bonus, otros tipos de retroalimentacióny condiciones.
Repasaremos algunos tiposy condiciones que clasifiqué y que me han sido muy útiles. Están siempre a su disposición, los reuní dentro de un PDFcuyo link dejo en la descripción. Comencemos. El término para describir las capacidadesde retroalimentación generalizadas es: alfabetización en retroalimentación. Concepto que utilizo para referirmea esa comprensión individual y a la capacidad para dar,recibir y procesar la retroalimentación. Este término surgeen el ámbito de la educación y se utiliza para describirla capacidad de los alumnos para recibir retroalimentación. Lo apliqué en el mundo empresarialy ahora es un término amplio que describe las capacidades generalesde la retroalimentación. La siguiente categoría es la retroalimentación basadaen la formalidad y el momento. Los siguientes términos y ejemplosencajan en esta categoría. Retroalimentación planificada.
Se refiere a sesiones de retroalimentaciónque son programadas con antelación. También denominadoretroalimentación formal, que pueden ocurrir regularmente, por ejemplo, en revisionestrimestrales de rendimiento o con un día de antelación. La ventaja de una sesión formal es que los emisores y receptorestienen tiempo para prepararse.
Un ejemplo sería cuando el líderdel equipo de experiencia del cliente programa una revisión trimestralde rendimiento de 90 minutos con cada uno de sus subordinados directos. La invitación incluye una orden del díaque detalla los temas a tratar. Uno de los temas dice:«Oportunidades de crecimiento: áreas en las que puede crecer,comparte tus ideas de crecimiento». Esto podría considerarseuna sesión formal de retroalimentación. Retroalimentación informal. Se considera la formamás común de retroalimentación en el lugar de trabajo, porque puede iniciarseen cualquier momento y en cualquier departamento. Aunque a menudo se piensaque la retroalimentación informal se diferencia del feedback formalen que no está programado, puede incluir elementosde programación y planificación.
La ventaja de un buenfeedback informal es su oportunidad. A veces, este tipo de retroalimentaciónpuede incorporarse minutos después de una actividad, dando mejores resultados. Un ejemplode retroalimentación informal sería, el empleado A escribeun largo correo electrónico al empleado B para transmitirle su apreciaciónsobre si rendimiento en un proyecto. El empleado A planea enviarel correo electrónico después que el empleado B esté de vueltade un viaje de negocios internacional.
Aquí hay otro ejemplo. Un diseñador junior llevó a cabouna reunión con las partes interesadas y se le encargó la creaciónde un primer borrador del nuevo folleto de la empresa. Al ver el diseñoen una pizarra digital compartida, el jefe de diseñollamó rápidamente al diseñador junior para compartir lo entusiasmados que estaban con la dirección. “Su uso del espacioen blanco es espectacular y garantiza que los ojosdel espectador se dirijan a nuestras llamadas a la acción.
Gran trabajo. ¿Podría incorporar una estéticade diseño similar en el pie de página? De lo contrario, pareceque chocan dos marcas diferentes”. Retroalimentación no planificada. No se programa con antelacióny se produce en tiempo real. Aunque a menudo se denominaretroalimentación informal, la retroalimentación no planificadaes verdaderamente espontánea y en el momento.
Por lo tanto, el correo electrónicoconsciente del empleado A podría considerarse informal,pero no se consideraría no planificado. Un ejemplo de retroalimentaciónno planificada sería. En una llamada de equipocon muchos colegas subalternos, El colega A, también relativamente junior, intuye que la conversaciónse está yendo por las ramas en lugar de centrarseen realmente importante, que era el propósito de la llamada. «Equipo», dice,
«Me gusta que profundicemosen los detalles, pero me pregunto: ¿si primero deberíamos alinearnosen la dirección general?». El director está de acuerdo:«Buena observación. Gracias por tener la concienciade traernos de vuelta, colega A». El comentario del gerente es del tipo apreciativa no planificada. El gerente puede incluso aprovecharesta retroalimentación no planificada y reforzar esa retroalimentaciónhacia el colega A delante del equipo y crear un momento de enseñanza.
Puede decir algo como: «Equipo, quiero reiterar,qué gran jugada la del colega A. Más adelante, puede quese encuentren en llamadas que se meten en la madrigueradel conejo como nosotros. Puede resultar incómodo, pero si hay que tomar una decisión clarasobre un tema importante, puedes aportar valorvolviendo a centrar la conversación, como lo hizo el colega A». Retroalimentación en tiempo real. Se produce a medidaque se desarrolla la actividad. Puede planificarse,como una sesión de trabajo colaborativa. O no planeada, como la respuestadel público en una presentación, Un ejemplo de retroalimentaciónen tiempo real es el siguiente. El jefe de diseño antes mencionado, programa una llamadade 30 minutos con el diseñador junior para que en tiempo realpuedan mejorar el folleto.
La siguiente categoría esla retroalimentación interna, autorretroalimentación. A menudo se cree que la informales la retroalimentación más común, les aseguro que esta esla está en primer lugar. Se refiere a esa retroalimentaciónque tenemos en nuestra mente mientras criticamos, elogiamosy comparamos nuestros resultados. Podemos comparar el discursoque dimos con una excelente charla TED, o la funcionalidad de lo que creamoscontrapuesto a nuestro de competidor. Se puede presentar de forma consciente. Como a un empleadoque califica su rendimiento trimestral, conocido como autoevaluación. O inconscientemente, como un procesode pensamiento inútil e hipercrítico, quizás relacionado con traumas de la infancia. Tener una conciencia plenay practicar la autorreflexión son claves en el desarrollode una autorretroalimentación consciente.
En base a esta autorretroalimentaciónaparentemente inútil, consciente, podemos ir trabajandoen lugar de reaccionar ante ella. Retroalimentación entre iguales. Se refiere a esa retroalimentaciónque se da entre compañeros en niveles relativamente iguales, pero también a una retroalimentaciónque es recíproca entre compañeros de cualquier nivel y tipo. Para que sea eficaz son esencialesvarios pilares fundamentales, incluida la seguridad psicológica, donde predomina el respetoy es seguro compartir pensamientos. Para saber mássobre seguridad psicológica, te recomiendo el librode la profesora Amy Edmondson titulado The Fearless Organization. Les dejé el link en la descripción. Compartir una misma perspectivade esos conceptos de retroalimentación es esencial para que pueda ser eficaz. Incluyendo, lo que hacemos aquí,al profundizar en una definición clara y en esa base de alfabetizaciónen retroalimentación. No hay mejor ejemplode retroalimentación entre iguales que las que se danen el aula de clases entre alumnos. Los resultados dejan muy claro, que los alumnos pueden aprender muchode esa respuesta entre ellos mismos, a veces incluso másde la que reciben del profesor.
Investigaciones recientes sugierenque ocurre exactamente lo mismo entre iguales en el trabajo, también que la retroalimentaciónde unos pocos compañeros puede ser igual de útilo incluso mejor que la de un experto. Los compañeros que colaboran y brindan retroalimentación sobre un proyecto en el trabajopueden cosechar inmensos beneficios. Retroalimentación de los clientes,es el proporcionado por clientes. Puede ocurrir de diversas formas, como encuestasde satisfacción del cliente, revisiones públicas de clientes, y pruebas beta de un productoo servicio a un grupo selecto para que dé su opiniónantes del lanzamiento.
Retroalimentación de los empleados. Este es un término muy amplioque puede utilizarse de muchas maneras. Se refiere a la retroalimentaciónde un gerente a un subordinado directo. Pero también puede sercualquier comentario entre colegas, independientemente, de su posición. Los líderes de una organización pueden solicitar la opiniónde los empleados sobre, por ejemplo, qué les pareceel nuevo proceso de contratación. Feedback de 360 grados. También denominadoretroalimentación de múltiples fuentes, o en pares de múltiples fuentes. Los empleados dan y recibenretroalimentación entre ellos de forma anónima. El objetivo es ayudar a mejorar el rendimiento de los empleados con esa retroalimentaciónde 360 grados que reciben, desde todos los ángulos posibles,incluida la autoevaluación.
Aunque las desventajas son muchas, la razón por la que esta práctica se hizo tan popular es que, permite a los empleados obteneruna gama más amplia de perspectivas en lugar de solo recibiresa retroalimentación de su jefe, que tal vez solo veuna cara de su trabajo. Con estas respuestas se elaboraun plan de desarrollo de los empleados. Seguimos con la retroalimentaciónbasada en la posicionalidad, es decir, que quienes participan en ellatienen alguna relación jerárquica. Retroalimentación ascendente. Es esa que un subordinado directoda a su superior o a su jefe, también desde un colega más jovena un empleado más veterano. Incluye la retroalimentacióna nivel de salto, que sería entre un empleado subalternoy al jefe de su supervisor directo.
Retroalimentación descendente. Es esa que da un gerentea su subordinado directo, también de un empleado más veteranoa un empleado subalterno. Pasemos a la retroalimentaciónque está basada en el contenido y la percepción emisor/receptor. Retroalimentación positiva. Es la forma en que sabemosque lo estamos haciendo bien. Puede darse de distintas formas,desde el elogio de un colega, hasta un panel automatizadoque pone los números verdes cuando se alcanza el objetivo. Durante décadas, se han demostrado los beneficiosde la retroalimentación positiva. La positiva efectiva es específica,va más allá de un gran trabajo, y también ayuda a los empleadosa ver fortalezas que no saben que poseen.
Un ejemplo de retroalimentaciónpositiva es este. No sé si lo sabes,pero eres un gran orador. Las diapositivas son clarasy brilla tu pasión por el tema. Aprecio especialmente la formaen que involucra a su audiencia con preguntas. Retroalimentación negativa. Es cómo vemos nuestras brechas,aquellas áreas donde podemos mejorar. Puede venir de varias formas,incluyendo de un amigo que vio nuestra accióny dijo que podíamos hacerlo mejor. La retroalimentación negativapuede ser beneficiosa. Sin embargo, por diversas razonesque analizaremos en un próximo vídeo, la gente a menudo teme darla y recibirla. Superar este miedo puede ser todo un reto, pero hay grandes beneficiosde crecimiento al hacerlo. Un ejemplo de reacción negativa sería.
Tras revisar la copia, creo que fallamosal abordar los principales problemas de nuestro público objetivo. Puedes intentarlo de nuevo, esta vez trabajando para empatizarcon nuestra lucha actual por hacer X y posicionar nuestro productocomo la solución. Retroalimentación constructiva.
Parecen deberse a confusioneso ideas erróneas alrededor de a qué se refiere a negativoen la retroalimentación negativa. Constructivo significa útil o provechosoy tal vez una visión orientada al futuro que es nuestra definición primariade retroalimentación. Así que tengo problemas con ese término,porque me parece una retroalimentación. Considerando que todostenemos diferentes niveles de alfabetización en retroalimentación,es fácil ver cómo puede ser útil. En el siguiente ejemplo, imagine que la palabra constructivose sustituye por negativo.
¿Cambiaría el significado de la fraseo le parecería más extraña? La llamada salió bien, porque el equipo de ingenierosaportó comentarios constructivos que incluiré en nuestra próxima versión.
Feedforward. El término feedforwardsurgió para garantizar que la retroalimentaciónesté orientada hacia el futuro. La retroalimentación efectivahace precisamente eso, señala una actuación pasada con la intención de mejorarlos resultados futuros. Creo que es problemático situar el feedforwardcomo el reverso del feedback. Aun así, me gustala retroalimentación constructiva.
El feedforward tiene su lugardependiendo del público. Reformular el concepto puede ayudara que los empleados vuelvan a los procesos de retroalimentaciónsi han tenido experiencias terribles o incluso perjudicialescon ella en el pasado. Feedforward positivo. Es retroalimentación positivacon una frase que lo vincula al futuro. Un ejemplo de feedforward positivo sería. En su informe de la semana pasada, hizo un gran trabajodirigiendo nuestra atención a lo más destacado de su investigación. Gran trabajo. Puedes probarlo en tu presentaciónal cliente de la semana que viene.
Feedforward negativo. Es el feedback negativocon una frase que lo vincula al futuro. Un ejemplo de feedforward negativo sería. La próxima vez, será útil dedicar más tiempoa investigar a su público. Como clientes de toda la vida, esas primeras diapositivasde resumen no eran necesarias. Antes de la próxima presentación,vamos a debatir sobre los asistentes, para que empecemos muy bien.
Retroalimentación destructiva. Este concepto va en contrade nuestra definición primaria de retroalimentación. En última instancia no es útil,o no tiene intención de ser útil. Aunque puede incluir partes valiosas, se presenta como una dura críticaque puede incluso ridiculizar, dañar la confianza de una persona. Y, por tanto,es casi imposible utilizarla. Hay efectos negativos a largo plazocomo consecuencia de ella. La siguiente categoría es la retroalimentación basadaen el método de entrega.
Retroalimentación oral. También llamada retroalimentación verbal. Se hace en conversacionessincrónicas o asincrónicas. Una de las ventajasde la retroalimentación oral, sobre todo si es sincrónica, es que se pueden captargestos verbales y no verbales que pueden ayudarlea transmitir sus ideas con claridad.
Retroalimentación escrita. Se entrega por escrito, y sirve como una formade documentar la retroalimentación. A diferencia de la oral, donde se vengestos verbales y no verbales, esta retroalimentacióncarece de esos elementos. Como escribieron Sarah Gershmany Casey Mank en Harvard Business Review,
«Por lo tanto, cuando proporcioneretroalimentación por escrito asegúrese de incluir señalesclaras e ineludibles de calidez, motivación o gratitud. Escribir no es el lugar adecuadopara comentarios improvisados en el rendimiento de alguien que podría tenerun impacto desproporcionado o parecer más duro de lo que pretendía».
Retroalimentación visual. En un contexto laboral empresarial, puede referirse a varios tiposde indicadores visuales como números que se ponen en verdecon un objetivo alcanzado, o cambios visuales de un diseñadoren una maqueta de diseño web.
Retroalimentación automatizada. Problemas gramaticalesdetectados por Grammarly, un panel financiero que se ajustaen función de parámetros cumplidos, y un examen en línea que le dicepor qué una respuesta es incorrecta. Incluso la sensación de doloral tocar una estufa caliente. Estas son algunas de las diferentesrespuestas automáticas/automatizadas que experimentamos a lo largo de un día.
Tipos de retroalimentación adicionales. Estímulos. Es un tipo de retroalimentación motivadoraque puede ayudar al receptor a avanzar hacia un lugar más fuertede empoderamiento. La frase de ejemplos pueden ser:
«Pasé mucho tiempo pensandoen este feedback sobre tu actuación, porque te veo como alguien brillanteen esta organización. No conseguiste este acuerdo en particular. Pero con tus habilidadesy tu pasión, tienes tanto potencial y te veo consiguiendo tratos más grandesy mejores en el futuro».
Retroalimentación formativa. Suele darse en un entorno de bajo riesgo,donde el receptor de la retroalimentación tiene la oportunidad de rehacero volver a presentar su trabajo. Esto se refiere al tipo de feedbackque se da a lo largo del tiempo para evaluar el desarrollode un alumno o trabajador. Este tipo difiere del feedback sumativo, en donde la sumativa se hace al finaly suele cuantificar ese desarrollo.
Retroalimentación sumativa. Es cómo sabemos que nos fueen un examen o en un proyecto, algo que ha llegado a su fin. En el aula, por ejemplo, una evaluación sumativamide todo el material del curso. Es fundamental para ayudar a alumnosy trabajadores a comprender cómo les fue en un proyecto finalo cualquier otra evaluación.
Crítica. Puede considerarseun tipo de retroalimentación que señala los aspectosque deben mejorarse. Aborda y critica una actuación anterior, sin ofrecer orientaciónni una perspectiva a futuro. Otros términos de retroalimentaciónque te puedes encontrar. Comportamiento de búsquedade retroalimentación (FSB). Se refiere a cómo los individuosbuscan retroalimentación, ya sea leyendo a los demáspara deducir lo que significa o pidiendo explícitamenteopiniones a los demás. Desde 1983, la Dra. Susan Ashford y otros,han investigado sobre este comportamiento. En las organizaciones, este comportamiento conducea mejoras positivas en el rendimiento y en los procesosde retroalimentación conversacional.
También puede encontrarsecon un comportamiento indirecto de búsqueda de retroalimentación. Esto separa el preguntar a otros(búsqueda directa de feedback) de la lectura de las acciones(búsqueda indirecta de feedback), resaltar esfuerzos propiospara observar intencionalmente el comportamiento de los demáspara mejorar en un área concreta.
Orientación a la retroalimentación. Según el artículo de 2002de Manuel London y James Smither en la Human Resource Management Review, se refiere a la receptividad generaldel individuo a la retroalimentación, incluida la comodidad con ella, tendencia a buscar feedbackprocesarlo con atención, y la probabilidad de actuar sobre ellapara guiar un cambio de comportamiento y la mejora del rendimiento.
¿Es usted freelancer? Vea el artículo que dejo en la descripción sobre cómo los freelancerspueden desarrollar su retroalimentación Eso es todo, equipo. Si este vídeo le fue útil,pronto vendrán más, suscríbete para recibir notificaciones.
Pero lo que me encantaría esque algo de lo que vio aquí pueda aplicarlo de ahora en adelante, y, por supuesto, hágame llegarsus comentarios al respecto. Que usted y sus seres queridos estén bien.
फीडबैक क्या है – फीडबैक परिभाषा, प्रकार, उदाहरण
नमस्ते, मेरा नाम कैमरून कॉनवे है। मैं सैन फ्रांसिस्को विश्वविद्यालय में एक संकाय सदस्य हूं और फीडबैक पर मेरा काम हार्वर्ड बिजनेस रिव्यू में छपा है – जहां मैंने फीडबैक प्रोसेसिंग के लिए काम किया है, और मैं उन कुछ कॉर्पोरेट नेताओं में से एक था जिनसे फीडबैक में मदद करने के लिए कहा गया था। यह हार्वर्ड प्रकाशन का एक कोर्स है जिसका उपयोग वैश्विक संगठन अपने नेताओं को विकसित करने के लिए करते हैं, उन लोगों के लिए जो केवल एक त्वरित फीडबैक परिभाषा चाहते हैं। तो यह फीडबैक की मेरी परिभाषा है:
फीडबैक किसी व्यक्ति की गतिविधि के प्रति एक प्रतिक्रिया है जिसका उद्देश्य उन्हें अधिक प्रभावी बनने के लिए समायोजित करने में मदद करना है। फीडबैक विभिन्न रूपों में आता है, जिनमें मूल्यांकनात्मक, सराहनीय और कोचिंग शामिल हैं। बाकी सभी के लिए – मुझे आशा है कि आप बने रहेंगे क्योंकि फीडबैक हमारे व्यक्तिगत और व्यावसायिक विकास के सबसे कम महत्व वाले और उपेक्षित पहलुओं में से एक है – और मैं परिभाषा को भागों में बताऊंगा इसलिए हमारे पास यह जानने के लि और भी नई चीजें हैं कि हम अपनी यात्रा को कैसे जानते हैं।
तो फीडबैक क्या है ?
आपने सीखा कि उसके बाद दोबारा चूल्हे पर अपना हाथ नहीं जलाना चाहिए। जब आप जंप शॉट लगाते हैं तो अपनी कोहनी को अधिक अंदर लाने के बारे में आपके बास्केटबॉल कोच ने यही कहा था। यह एक सहकर्मी से आया है जिसने कहा था कि यदि आपने स्लाइड्स से इतना कुछ नहीं पढ़ा होता तो आपकी बातचीत अधिक दिलचस्प होती। उन्होंने यह भी कहा कि प्रत्येक स्लाइड पर केवल कुछ बुलेटेड बिंदु रखना उनके लिए सबसे अच्छा काम करता है। जिसका उपयोग बातचीत के बिंदुओं को याद रखने के लिए किया जा सकता है। फीडबैक में आपका साथी भी आपसे कचरा भरने से पहले उसे बाहर निकालने के लिए कह सकता है, क्योंकि जब कचरा बहुत ज्यादा भर जाता है, तो आपका कुत्ता सुपरहीरो में बदल जाता है और सब कुछ खत्म कर देता है।
फीडबैक ने शायद आपके जीवन में बहुत बड़ा अंतर ला दिया है, ठीक वैसे ही जैसे इसने मेरे लिए किया। जब मैं अपने बारे में सोचता हूं, तो प्रतिक्रिया उतनी ही सामान्य लग सकती है जितनी मैं सांस लेता हूं। इस तरह मैंने अब तक जो कुछ भी किया है, उसमें मैं बेहतर हुआ हूं, और इसी तरह मैंने अन्य लोगों को जो वे करना चाहते हैं उसमें बेहतर होने में मदद की है। यह संभव है कि आप भी फीडबैक को लेकर बेहद तनावपूर्ण स्थिति से गुजरे हों। मुझे पता है मेरे पास है। इस वीडियो में, मैं एक वास्तविक अनुभव के बारे में बात करता हूं जो बहुत तनावपूर्ण था। साथ ही, इसे स्वीकार करना कठिन हो सकता है, लेकिन अन्य लोगों के प्रति हमारी प्रतिक्रिया ने संभवतः उन्हें बहुत तनाव में डाल दिया है। फिर, मैं अनुभव से बोल रहा हूं।
लेकिन क्या होगा अगर हम इनपुट के शक्तिशाली प्रभावों का उपयोग और बढ़ावा दे सकें और साथ ही हमारे देने और प्राप्त करने के तरीके से महसूस होने वाले और पैदा होने वाले तनाव को भी कम कर सकें? ऐसा करना आसान नहीं है, लेकिन एक शिक्षक और बिजनेस लीडर के रूप में मेरे अनुभव से, मुझे लगता है कि सुधार शुरुआत से ही शुरू हो जाता है। फीडबैक की परिभाषा के साथ, फिर फीडबैक क्या है इसकी खोज, फिर तीन सामान्य प्रकार के फीडबैक पर एक नजर, और अंत में फीडबैक के कुछ वास्तविक जीवन के उदाहरण जो सब कुछ एक साथ जोड़ते हैं।
यदि आप अभी भी मेरे साथ हैं, तो आइए एक नज़र डालें कि हम किस बारे में बात करने जा रहे हैं। सबसे पहले, आइए इस पर एक नज़र डालें कि फीडबैक क्या है, इसकी स्पष्ट जानकारी होना क्यों महत्वपूर्ण है। इसका होना बहुत अच्छी बात है, लेकिन मैंने पाया है कि यह समझना भी महत्वपूर्ण है कि हमें इसकी आवश्यकता क्यों है और इसके न होने से हम कुछ गलत धारणाएँ बना सकते हैं। दूसरा, मैं फीडबैक का अपना अर्थ फिर से समझाऊंगा और यह कैसे हुआ, ताकि हर कोई जान सके कि हम किस बारे में बात कर रहे हैं। तीसरा, हम फीडबैक की अपनी परिभाषा को अलग करेंगे और बेहतर विचार प्राप्त करने के लिए प्रत्येक भाग को अलग से देखेंगे। चौथा, फीडबैक के हमारे विवरण में तीन अलग-अलग प्रकार शामिल हैं। हम इन पर अधिक विस्तार से विचार करने में कुछ समय व्यतीत करेंगे क्योंकि ये फीडबैक के विशिष्ट उदाहरणों को देखने के लिए व्यापक श्रेणियों के रूप में उपयोगी हो सकते हैं। पांचवां, जैसा कि आपने शायद अनुमान लगाया होगा, हम प्रत्येक प्रकार के इनपुट के कुछ उदाहरण देखेंगे। इस बिंदु पर, मुझे लगता है कि आपके पास बेहतर प्रतिक्रिया प्राप्त करने और देने के लिए आवश्यक उपकरण हैं। लेकिन मैंने वह जोड़ा है जो मैं बोनस नंबर छह के रूप में सोचता हूं: अधिक प्रकार की टिप्पणियां और शर्तें, क्योंकि केवल यह जानना पर्याप्त नहीं है कि उनका क्या मतलब है और कुछ उदाहरण देखें। कार्यस्थल पर और अन्य स्थितियों में फीडबैक के विभिन्न प्रकार और स्तर होने की संभावना है। हम यह सुनिश्चित करने के लिए इन पर गौर करेंगे कि हम फीडबैक सीखने वाले स्पंज बनें जो हमें अपने काम और अन्य लोगों के साथ अपने संचार को बेहतर बनाने के लिए चाहिए, और शायद स्पंज भी।
ठीक है, तो चलिए इसे ऊपर से लेते हैं।
फीडबैक परिभाषा क्यों महत्वपूर्ण है?
पहले, मुझे वापस जाने दो। जॉन हैटी, एक शिक्षा प्रोफेसर, ने 15 वर्षों तक अध्ययन किया और स्कूल में छात्र कैसा प्रदर्शन करते हैं, इस पर लगभग 800 मेटा-विश्लेषण किए। यह उन पुस्तकों में से एक है जो उस कार्य से निकलीं। डेविड कारलेस और डेविड बौड, दो विशेषज्ञ, जॉन हैटी की अपनी विशाल उपलब्धि के परिणामों का वर्णन इस प्रकार करते हैं:
फीडबैक का उपलब्धि पर सबसे शक्तिशाली प्रभाव होता है, लेकिन इसके प्रभाव बहुत अलग होते हैं, जो दर्शाता है कि फीडबैक से अधिकतम लाभ प्राप्त करना कितना कठिन है।
टीम, यह सिर्फ एक उदाहरण है कि कैसे टिप्पणियाँ हमें सीखने और बढ़ने में मदद कर सकती हैं। हालाँकि, वह प्रतिक्रिया से अधिकतम लाभ प्राप्त करने की जटिलता की ओर इशारा करती हैं। यही कारण है कि मैं चाहता हूं कि हम अपना कारण जानने में कुछ समय लें: टिप्पणियाँ आपको बढ़ने में मदद कर सकती हैं, लेकिन यह कठिन है, इसमें मेहनत लगती है, और हमें संवाद करने में बेहतर होने की आवश्यकता है।
फीडबैक हमारे रोजमर्रा के जीवन का एक हिस्सा है, इसलिए हम में से कई लोग सोचते हैं कि हर कोई जानता है कि यह क्या है और हम इसे उसी तरह देखते हैं जैसे हम देखते हैं। टीम, ये बड़ी धारणाएँ हैं जो एक-दूसरे से बात करना कठिन बना सकती हैं। वे हमें यह भी सोचने पर मजबूर करते हैं कि हमें वास्तव में किसी अर्थ पर सहमत होने की आवश्यकता नहीं है। उदाहरण के लिए, फीडबैक के बारे में अधिकांश पेपर और यहां तक कि पूरी किताबें भी इस बारे में विस्तार से नहीं बताती हैं कि यह क्या है। यह आंशिक रूप से इन धारणाओं के कारण है। इस वजह से, फीडबैक देने और प्राप्त करने के साथ-साथ काम पर हमारी टीमों के लिए बेहतरीन फीडबैक संस्कृतियां बनाने के बारे में बहुत सारी सामग्री है। हालाँकि, यह सब ऐसा लगता है जैसे हम गाड़ी को घोड़े के आगे रख रहे हैं। ये विचार व्यवसाय जगत में भी मौजूद हैं, जहां कुछ नेता इस बारे में बहुत बात करते हैं कि उनके पूरे संगठन के लिए फीडबैक का अच्छी तरह से उपयोग करना कितना महत्वपूर्ण है, लेकिन वे अपने कर्मचारियों को यह सुनिश्चित करने के लिए कोई परिभाषा या कोई प्रशिक्षण नहीं देते हैं कि वे पूरी तरह से समझते हैं कि वे क्या कर रहे हैं। के बारे में बात कर रहे हैं। यह इस तथ्य से संबंधित है कि लाखों लोग हर महीने फीडबैक या फीडबैक क्या है या फीडबैक परिभाषा की तलाश करते हैं, फिर से, एक सामान्य विचार प्राप्त करने के लिए कि यह क्या है। लेकिन उत्तर खोजने के लिए खोज इंजनों का उपयोग हमें कुछ खरगोशों के छेद में ले जा सकता है जहां हमें प्रतिक्रिया की सभी प्रकार की परिभाषाएँ मिलती हैं। इनमें लोगों के बीच व्यवहार-आधारित प्रतिक्रिया की परिभाषाएँ शामिल हैं, जिसके बारे में हम यहाँ ज्यादातर बात कर रहे हैं, साथ ही स्व-नियामक जैविक प्रणालियों या विद्युत उपकरणों में प्रतिक्रिया के लिए कुछ भ्रमित करने वाली परिभाषाएँ भी शामिल हैं।
जो लोग गहराई में जाते हैं या अधिक आधिकारिक स्रोत चाहते हैं , वे व्यवहार विज्ञान में प्रोफेसर रामप्रसाद के 1983 के पेपर पर पहुंच सकते हैं, जिसका शीर्षक है, फीडबैक की परिभाषा पर, जो इसे इस तरह परिभाषित करता है:
फीडबैक वास्तविक स्तर और संदर्भ स्तर के बीच के अंतर के बारे में जानकारी है एक सिस्टम पैरामीटर जिसका उपयोग किसी तरह से अंतर को बदलने के लिए किया जाता है।
मुझे अंतराल को पहचानने और बदलने पर इस परिभाषा का फोकस पसंद है; यह फ़्रेमिंग वर्षों से मेरे साथ चिपकी हुई है और, आज तक, अक्सर वह लेंस है जिसके माध्यम से मैं फीडबैक संबंध को देखता हूं। क्योंकि, यदि आप सोचें, तो फीडबैक का उद्देश्य किसी प्रकार की कथित कमी को दूर करना है। हालाँकि, जैसा कि मैंने वर्षों से इस परिभाषा पर विचार किया है और इसे दूसरों के सामने प्रस्तुत किया है – उन्होंने प्रतिक्रिया दी है, जिससे मैं सहमत हूं, कि यह सामान्य दर्शकों के लिए बहुत भारी शब्दजाल लगता है, सिस्टम पैरामीटर और संदर्भ स्तर, इसलिए जब मैं दूसरों के लिए फीडबैक को परिभाषित करने का प्रयास करता हूं तो मैं अब इसके साथ आगे नहीं बढ़ता हूं।
इतना कहने के लिए, एक ठोस फीडबैक परिभाषा ढूंढना जितना कठिन होना चाहिए, उससे कहीं अधिक कठिन है। और अपने ‘क्यों’ पर वापस आते हैं ।।। यहां तीन कारण बताए गए हैं कि एक का होना क्यों महत्वपूर्ण है। नंबर एक: ऐसा करने से हमारे द्वारा उल्लिखित व्यापक धारणाओं को खत्म करने में मदद मिल सकती है। नंबर दो: यह सुनिश्चित कर सकता है कि आप और आपकी टीम, या अन्यथा आपके आस-पास के लोग एकजुट हैं और स्थितियां उत्पन्न होने पर इंगित करने के लिए एक परिभाषा है – यह विशेष रूप से सहायक हो सकता है यदि आप नए टीम साथियों को शामिल करने वाले प्रबंधक हैं। और नंबर तीन: यह हमें इस विषय पर निरंतर सीखने के लिए तैयार कर सकता है जैसा कि हम यहां करेंगे क्योंकि परिभाषा हमारी नींव के रूप में काम कर सकती है और हमें उस परेशानी से बचा सकती है, जब हम वहां कई बेहतरीन लेख पढ़ते हैं। फीडबैक के विभिन्न तत्वों के बारे में। यह सब हमें, हां, फिर से हमारी फीडबैक परिभाषा की ओर ले जाता है। कई किताबें और सैकड़ों अकादमिक पेपर और लोकप्रिय व्यावसायिक लेख पढ़ने में वर्षों बिताने के बाद, मैं फिर से यहीं पर पहुंचा हूं:
तो आइए इस फीडबैक परिभाषा को खोलना शुरू करें।
यहां देखने लायक तीन हिस्से हैं। सबसे पहले, आइए इस पर ज़ूम करें: यह एक व्यक्ति की गतिविधि की प्रतिक्रिया है
यह भाग इस बात पर केंद्रित है कि एक उत्तेजना थी, ठीक है, कुछ हुआ – इस मामले में, एक व्यक्ति की गतिविधि – और इसमें एक समान प्रतिक्रिया थी – इसमें मामला, किसी व्यक्ति की गतिविधि के लिए। यहां प्रतिक्रिया जानबूझकर थोड़ी अस्पष्ट है क्योंकि फीडबैक प्रतिक्रिया का दायरा बहुत बड़ा हो सकता है जिसमें दर्शकों के खड़े होकर स्वागत करने से लेकर सब कुछ शामिल होता है – जो कि फीडबैक है जो एक कलाकार को यह बताता है कि उन्होंने कुछ असाधारण रूप से अच्छा किया है – किसी के साथ गहन बातचीत तक। सहकर्मी, जहां शायद एक अधिक कनिष्ठ सहकर्मी अपने प्रबंधक को अपवर्ड फीडबैक प्रदान करता है कि उन्हें कैसा लगता है कि उन्हें सूक्ष्म प्रबंधन किया जा रहा है और परिणामस्वरूप वे उत्पादक और रचनात्मक बने रहने के लिए संघर्ष कर रहे हैं।
आइए दूसरे भाग को जारी रखें: उन्हें समायोजित करने में मदद करने के उद्देश्य से फीडबैक का उद्देश्य मददगार होना है। हालाँकि, जैसा कि आपने अनुभव से सीखा है, सबसे अच्छे इरादे, सबसे अच्छा उद्देश्य होने का मतलब यह नहीं है कि चीजें सुचारू रूप से चलेंगी। आपके इरादे बहुत अच्छे हो सकते हैं और फिर भी आप या तो भयानक प्रतिक्रिया दे सकते हैं या भयानक प्रतिक्रिया दे सकते हैं। यहां ध्यान देने वाली बात यह है कि फीडबैक दूसरे व्यक्ति को समायोजित करने में मदद करने के बारे में है। समायोजित करें भी थोड़ा अस्पष्ट है क्योंकि यह समायोजन टीम के साथी के पारस्परिक व्यवहार को समायोजित करने के लिए फीडबैक से लेकर किसी के गोल्फ स्विंग पर हिप रोटेशन को समायोजित करने के लिए फीडबैक तक हो सकता है। यह शब्द एडजस्ट भविष्य की गतिविधि को भी संदर्भित करता है। आख़िरकार, आप पीछे जाकर अतीत की किसी चीज़ को समायोजित नहीं कर सकते। इस अर्थ में, अपनी प्रकृति से प्रभावी प्रतिक्रिया सटीक रूप से सहायक होती है क्योंकि यह किसी को भविष्य के प्रदर्शन को समायोजित करने की अनुमति देती है। ध्यान रखें कि फीडबैक को सीधे तौर पर भविष्योन्मुख बनाने के लिए, यह सहायक हो सकता है – लेकिन यह जरूरी नहीं है – कि भविष्य की किसी घटना के बारे में स्पष्ट रूप से बात की जाए। उदाहरण के लिए, यहां तक कि प्रोजेक्ट को फिनिश लाइन तक पहुंचाने में बहुत अच्छा काम जैसी सराहनीय प्रतिक्रिया भी विशेष रूप से भविष्य की घटना का आह्वान नहीं करती है, लेकिन यह एक बीज बो सकती है जो फीडबैक प्राप्तकर्ता को यह सबक लेने की अनुमति देगी कि उन्होंने इस परियोजना को सफलतापूर्वक कैसे पूरा किया। अपने अगले प्रोजेक्ट में, ठीक है।
और फिर, अंत में, आइए विभिन्न रूपों पर नजर डालें, फीडबैक को परिभाषित करने में चुनौती के एक हिस्से में वह सब कुछ संबोधित करना शामिल है जो यह हो सकता है। क्या यह वह प्रशंसा है जो आपको अपने योग प्रशिक्षक से सुबह मिली थी, क्या यह उतना अच्छा प्रदर्शन फीडबैक स्कोर नहीं था जो आपके बोनस से जुड़ा हुआ है जो आपको दोपहर में अपने प्रबंधक से मिला था, या आपकी बेटी का 100वीं बार उल्लास था क्या आपने सोने से पहले द वेरी हंग्री कैटरपिलर पढ़ी है? हां, उन सभी को फीडबैक माना जा सकता है। इस अर्थ में, विभिन्न रूप कई अन्य रूपों या प्रकारों के लिए जगह छोड़ते हैं, जिन्हें हम कवर करेंगे, जबकि विशेष रूप से तीन सबसे आम मूल्यांकनात्मक, सराहनीय और कोचिंग का नामकरण करेंगे जो कि कई फीडबैक उदाहरणों के लिए मूलभूत प्रकारों के रूप में काम कर सकते हैं।
और यह हमें तीन फीडबैक प्रकारों की खोज की ओर ले जाता है। तो ये तीन फीडबैक प्रकार थैंक्स फॉर द फीडबैक नामक पुस्तक से आए हैं – यह हार्वर्ड नेगोशिएशन प्रोजेक्ट के डगलस स्टोन और शीला हेन द्वारा पढ़ी गई एक बेहतरीन किताब है – और मैंने पाया है कि वे जो तीन प्राथमिक प्रकार लेकर आए हैं वे काफी चिंतनशील हैं। मेरे अपने काम और अनुभव पुस्तक का लिंक आपको विवरण में मिलेगा।
तो यहां बताया गया है कि हम प्रत्येक प्रकार को कैसे परिभाषित करते हैं: मूल्यांकनात्मक फीडबैक आपको यह देखने में मदद करता है कि आपने कैसा प्रदर्शन किया और आप कहां हैं। यह मूल्यांकनात्मक है क्योंकि यह तुलना करता है कि आपने यह कैसे किया और आप यह कैसे कर सकते थे। तो इस अर्थ में यह प्रोफेसर रामप्रसाद के वास्तविक स्तर और संदर्भ स्तर के बीच के अंतर के समान है।
मूल्यांकनात्मक फीडबैक को वास्तविक बनाने के लिए, यहां पांच फीडबैक उदाहरण दिए गए हैं:
नंबर 1: तिमाही के अंत में, आपने अनुमान से 10% कम मार्केटिंग लीड हासिल की। यहां फीडबैक, और शायद यह एक स्वचालित डैशबोर्ड से आया है, आपको बताता है कि आपने जैसा सोचा था कि आप क्या करेंगे, उसके संबंध में आपने कैसा किया। यह न केवल आपको यह बताता है कि आपने कैसा प्रदर्शन किया, बल्कि यह एक डेटा बिंदु प्रदान करता है जो आपके लीड बढ़ाने और/या अपने अगले पूर्वानुमान को बेहतर बनाने के लिए आवश्यक संकेत हो सकता है। यहां कुछ अन्य उदाहरण दिए गए हैं:
नंबर 2: एक प्रत्यक्ष रिपोर्ट आपको बताती है: आप सबसे अच्छे नेता हैं जिनके साथ मैंने कभी काम किया है।
नंबर 3: आप बोस्टन मैराथन में भाग लेने के लिए योग्यता मानकों को पूरा नहीं करते थे।
नंबर 4: आप डुओलिंगो लीडरबोर्ड पर #4 पर चले गए।
नंबर 5: प्रस्ताव के अनुरोध आरएफपी के जवाब में आपकी औपचारिक बोली का चयन किया गया था।
देखें कि ये मामले कैसे भिन्न होते हैं। हमें प्रत्यक्ष रिपोर्ट से अस्पष्ट अच्छी प्रतिक्रिया प्राप्त हुई, जिसमें गायब त्रैमासिक संख्याओं का एक उदाहरण भी शामिल है। ये अभी भी मूल्यांकनात्मक हैं क्योंकि ये डेटा की तुलना करते हैं।
आप सोच रहे होंगे, “क्या!” क्या प्रत्यक्ष रिपोर्ट का उत्तर भी सराहनीय नहीं था? सचमुच, आप सही हैं! फीडबैक प्रकार ओवरलैप हो सकते हैं, जिससे वे एक स्पेक्ट्रम की तरह प्रतीत होंगे। ज़ूम आउट करने से इस उदाहरण में संदर्भ जुड़ जाता है।
मान लीजिए कि यह टिप्पणी (आप सबसे अच्छे नेता हैं जिनके साथ मैंने कभी काम किया है) आपके छह महीने के नेतृत्व प्रतिक्रिया अनुरोध के जवाब में त्रैमासिक प्रदर्शन मूल्यांकन के दौरान की गई थी। यह टिप्पणी “अन्य नेताओं के साथ काम कर चुकी है” का उपयोग करते हुए मूल्यांकनात्मक हो जाती है। पूर्व नेताओं के साथ विस्तृत तुलना इसे मूल्यांकन शिविर में धकेल सकती है।
चलिए सराहनीय प्रतिक्रिया की ओर बढ़ते हैं। सराहनीय प्रतिक्रिया आपको यह जानने में मदद करती है कि आपको महत्व दिया जाता है और पहचाना जाता है। यहां प्रशंसनीय प्रतिक्रिया के पांच उदाहरण दिए गए हैं:
नंबर 1: आपकी बास्केटबॉल टीम का केंद्र उस महान पास के बाद कृतज्ञता में आपकी ओर इशारा करता है।
नंबर 2: आपके दादा-दादी कहते हैं, आपने हमारे लिए जो कुछ किया है उसके लिए मैं बहुत आभारी हूं।
नंबर 3: आपके शिक्षक हमेशा अच्छे प्रश्न पूछने के लिए कक्षा में आपकी प्रशंसा करते हैं।
नंबर 4: एक खतरनाक सैन्य मिशन से लौटने पर, एक सार्जेंट दूसरे को गले लगाता है।
नंबर 5: जिस रेस्तरां में आप काम करते हैं, वहां का संरक्षक आपको एक बढ़िया टिप देता है।
आप देखेंगे कि प्रशंसा शब्दों में कही जा सकती है जैसा कि दादा-दादी और शिक्षक ने किया था या इसे अनकहा या गैर-मौखिक रूप से संप्रेषित किया जा सकता है जैसे कि बास्केटबॉल सेंटर , सार्जेंट और संरक्षक जिन्होंने एक महान टिप छोड़ी थी। मूल्यांकन और कोचिंग के विपरीत, जो नकारात्मक क्षेत्रों को छू सकता है, सराहना सकारात्मक है। यह हमें प्रेरित करता है। हालाँकि, ध्यान रखें कि हर कोई अलग-अलग प्रकार की सराहना चाहता है। कुछ, भले ही वे इसे स्वीकार न करें और ऐसा होने पर शरमा जाएं, लेकिन साथियों के सामने सराहना पाना पसंद करते हैं। दूसरों के लिए, चुपचाप एक और तिमाही के लिए अपने अनुबंध को नवीनीकृत करना वह सारी सराहना हो सकती है जो वे चाहते हैं या जिसकी उन्हें आवश्यकता है।
यदि आप लोगों के प्रबंधक हैं, तो यह जानना विशेष रूप से महत्वपूर्ण हो सकता है कि आपके आस-पास के लोग कैसे सराहना चाहते हैं। उदाहरण के लिए, एक महान नेता किसी सहकर्मी की सार्वजनिक रूप से प्रशंसा करके बार-बार उसे शर्मिंदा नहीं करेगा, जबकि यही वह आखिरी चीज है जो वह कभी चाहेगा।
यहां ध्यान देने योग्य एक बात: सराहनीय, सकारात्मक प्रतिक्रिया महत्वपूर्ण है। यह इतना महत्वपूर्ण है कि मैंने इसे यहां अपने वीडियो में भी शामिल किया है जहां मैं पांच सबसे आम कार्यस्थल फीडबैक मिथकों को संबोधित करने के लिए साक्ष्य-आधारित दृष्टिकोण अपनाता हूं। जबकि कुछ लोग ग़लती से इस प्रकार के फीडबैक को फीडबैक के दिखावटी रूप के रूप में देखते हैं जिसकी किसी को आवश्यकता नहीं है, अध्ययनों से पता चलता है कि सकारात्मक फीडबैक प्रदान करना, विशेष रूप से बहुत विशिष्ट सकारात्मक फीडबैक जो महान कार्य से परे हो, कर्मचारी संतुष्टि और विकास में सुधार कर सकता है। मैं विवरण में सकारात्मक प्रतिक्रिया के महत्व के बारे में कुछ अच्छे संसाधनों से लिंक करूंगा।
और यह हमें कोचिंग फीडबैक की ओर ले जाता है। कोचिंग फीडबैक प्रकार यह बताने में मदद करता है कि आप कैसे सुधार कर सकते हैं। यहां कोचिंग फीडबैक के पांच उदाहरण दिए गए हैं:
नंबर 1: एक सहकर्मी आपको बताता है कि उन्हें आपके द्वारा बनाए गए फ़्लायर और सोशल मीडिया ग्राफिक्स पसंद आए, लेकिन कृपया कंपनी के मालिकाना फ़ॉन्ट का उपयोग करना सुनिश्चित करें। बातचीत के बाद, वे ओम्नीचैनल ब्रांडिंग नामक एक कोर्स लेने की सलाह देते हैं जिसे उन्होंने अभी-अभी पूरा किया है।
इस फीडबैक में एक सकारात्मक टिप्पणी है, और यह कोचिंग फीडबैक भी है क्योंकि यह एक अंतर और भविष्य में इसे सुधारने के संभावित तरीके पर प्रकाश डालता है। ध्यान रखें कि कोचिंग फीडबैक कहीं से भी आ सकता है – यह किसी वरिष्ठ सहकर्मी से होना जरूरी नहीं है।
नंबर 2: जब मैं इसी तरह की स्थिति में था, तब मेरे लिए यही काम करता था, एक सहकर्मी शुरू करता है।
नंबर 3: आपका बैले शिक्षक आपके ग्रैंड प्ले को बेहतर बनाने के बारे में सलाह देता है।
नंबर 4: सक्रिय रूप से सुनने और प्रश्न पूछने के माध्यम से, एक टीम का साथी दूसरे को चुनौती का अपना समाधान खोजने के लिए मार्गदर्शन करता है।
नंबर 5: एक टीम का साथी कहता है: मैं एक महान सार्वजनिक वक्ता नहीं हूं, लेकिन मैंने देखा है कि हर बार जब आप अपने नोट्स को देखते हैं तो इससे वह महान ऊर्जा खत्म हो जाती है जो आपके दर्शकों को बांधे रखती है। क्या आप एक साथ काम करने के लिए तैयार हैं ताकि हम दोनों सुधार कर सकें?
हमारे अन्य फीडबैक प्रकारों के समान, आप यहां कुछ विविधता देखेंगे। कोचिंग इतनी सीधी हो सकती है जैसे यहां बताया गया है कि ग्रैंड प्लि के लिए अपने पैर की उंगलियों को कैसे इंगित करें या, जैसा कि सक्रिय श्रवण उदाहरण में है, एक मशाल की तरह जो दूसरे व्यक्ति को अपने लिए उत्तर खोजने के लिए रास्ता दिखाने में मदद करती है। कुछ कार्य परिवेशों में, कोचिंग संबंध अधिक औपचारिक हो सकते हैं – जैसे कि अधिक वरिष्ठ सहकर्मी अधिक कनिष्ठ सहकर्मी के लिए प्रशिक्षक के रूप में कार्य करते हैं। लेकिन, जैसा कि कहा गया है, यह उस तरह से होना जरूरी नहीं है। हम सभी को एक-दूसरे से सीखने के लिए चीजें हैं और हम सभी एक-दूसरे के लिए प्रशिक्षक बन सकते हैं।
कोचिंग फीडबैक प्रकार शायद सबसे स्पष्ट रूप से फीडबैक की हमारी परिभाषा के उन्हें समायोजित करने में मदद करने के उद्देश्य से भाग से मेल खाता है। लेकिन अन्य प्रकार भी ऐसा ही करते हैं। इस बात पर विचार करें कि प्रतिक्रिया कितनी सकारात्मक है जो प्रकृति में अधिक सराहनीय है, जैसे – आपके नवीनतम संशोधन पर बढ़िया काम। मैं देखता हूं कि आपने बहुत मेहनत की है और परिणामस्वरूप आपका निबंध बहुत आसानी से पढ़ा जा सकता है – एक शुरुआती लेखक को उनके प्रयास के मूल्य को समझने में मदद कर सकता है और यह सुनिश्चित कर सकता है कि वे भविष्य के निबंध में ऐसा प्रयास करें।। या इस बात पर विचार करें कि आप कैसे जानते हैं कार्यस्थल पर किसी प्रोजेक्ट पर किया गया मूल्यांकन मूल्यांकनात्मक फीडबैक आपको यह निर्धारित करने में मदद कर सकता है कि आपको अपने अगले प्रोजेक्ट में कौन से गुण लाने हैं। और यह हमें हमारे बोनस की ओर ले जाता है।
अतिरिक्त फीडबैक प्रकार और शर्तें।
तो यहां हम कुछ प्रकारों और शर्तों के बारे में विस्तार से बताएंगे जिन्हें मैंने वर्गीकृत किया है और जिनके बारे में जानना उपयोगी पाया है। तो आप जहां भी हों ये आपके पास हैं, मैंने उन्हें एक पीडीएफ में भी इकट्ठा किया है जिसे मैंने विवरण में लिंक किया है। ठीक है, हम यहां जाते हैं:
सामान्यीकृत फीडबैक क्षमताओं का वर्णन करने वाला प्राथमिक शब्द फीडबैक साक्षरता। फीडबैक साक्षरता एक ऐसा शब्द है जिसका उपयोग मैं किसी व्यक्ति की प्रतिक्रिया को प्रभावी ढंग से देने, प्राप्त करने और संसाधित करने की समझ और क्षमता को संदर्भित करने के लिए करता हूं। इस शब्द की जड़ें शिक्षा की दुनिया में अनुसंधान से जुड़ी हैं , जहां इसका उपयोग मुख्य रूप से छात्रों की प्रतिक्रिया प्राप्त करने की क्षमता का वर्णन करने के लिए किया जाता है। मैंने इसके उपयोग का विस्तार किया है, इसे व्यापार जगत में लाया है ताकि हमारे पास समग्र फीडबैक क्षमताओं का वर्णन करने के लिए एक व्यापक शब्द हो।
अगली श्रेणी औपचारिकता और समय पर आधारित फीडबैक है। तो निम्नलिखित नियम और उदाहरण सभी उसमें फिट बैठते हैं।
नियोजित प्रतिक्रिया। नियोजित फीडबैक किसी भी फीडबैक सत्र को संदर्भित करता है जो पहले से निर्धारित होता है। अक्सर औपचारिक प्रतिक्रिया के रूप में जाना जाता है, इस प्रकार की प्रतिक्रिया नियमित अंतराल पर हो सकती है, जैसे त्रैमासिक या वार्षिक प्रदर्शन समीक्षा के दौरान या एक दिन के नोटिस के भीतर भी। औपचारिक फीडबैक सत्र का लाभ यह है कि प्राथमिक फीडबैक देने वालों और प्राप्तकर्ताओं को तैयारी करने का मौका मिलता है।
नियोजित फीडबैक का एक उदाहरण होगा: एक ग्राहक अनुभव सीएक्स टीम लीडर अपनी प्रत्येक प्रत्यक्ष रिपोर्ट के साथ 90 मिनट की त्रैमासिक प्रदर्शन समीक्षा निर्धारित करता है। बैठक के निमंत्रण में शामिल किए जाने वाले विषयों का विवरण देने वाला एक एजेंडा शामिल है। विषयों में से एक में लिखा है: विकास के अवसर – वे क्षेत्र जहां आप बढ़ सकते हैं + मैं कैसे बढ़ सकता हूं इस पर आपके विचार। इसे औपचारिक फीडबैक सत्र माना जा सकता है।
अनौपचारिक प्रतिक्रिया। अनौपचारिक फीडबैक को अक्सर कार्यस्थल फीडबैक का सबसे सामान्य रूप माना जाता है क्योंकि यह कभी भी हो सकता है और संगठन में कहीं से भी आ सकता है। हालाँकि अनौपचारिक फीडबैक को अक्सर औपचारिक फीडबैक से अलग माना जाता है क्योंकि यह निर्धारित नहीं है, इसमें शेड्यूलिंग और योजना तत्व शामिल हो सकते हैं। अच्छी अनौपचारिक प्रतिक्रिया का लाभ इसकी समयबद्धता है। कभी-कभी, इस प्रकार की प्रतिक्रिया को किसी गतिविधि के कुछ मिनट बाद शामिल किया जा सकता है, जिससे बेहतर परिणाम प्राप्त होते हैं।
अनौपचारिक फीडबैक का एक उदाहरण होगा: कर्मचारी ए किसी प्रोजेक्ट पर अपने प्रदर्शन के बारे में कर्मचारी बी को फीडबैक देने के लिए एक लंबा ईमेल टाइप करता है। कर्मचारी ए, कर्मचारी बी के अंतरराष्ट्रीय व्यापार यात्रा से वापस आने के बाद ईमेल भेजने की योजना बना रहा है।
और यहां एक और उदाहरण है: एक जूनियर डिजाइनर ने एक हितधारक बैठक आयोजित की और उसे कंपनी के नए ब्रोशर का पहला मसौदा तैयार करने का काम सौंपा गया। एक साझा डिजिटल व्हाइटबोर्ड पर डिज़ाइन देखने पर, डिज़ाइन लीड ने तुरंत जूनियर डिज़ाइनर को यह साझा करने के लिए बुलाया कि वे दिशा को लेकर कितने उत्साहित थे। व्हाइट स्पेस का आपका उपयोग शानदार है और यह सुनिश्चित करता है कि दर्शकों का ध्यान हमारे कॉल-टू-एक्शन की ओर आकर्षित हो। महान काम। क्या आप पादलेख में समान डिज़ाइन सौंदर्य को शामिल करने में सक्षम हो सकते हैं? अन्यथा, ऐसा महसूस होता है जैसे दो अलग-अलग ब्रांड टकरा रहे हैं।
अनियोजित प्रतिक्रिया। अनियोजित फीडबैक पहले से निर्धारित नहीं होता है और वास्तविक समय में होता है। हालाँकि इसे अक्सर अनौपचारिक प्रतिक्रिया के रूप में संदर्भित किया जाता है, अनियोजित प्रतिक्रिया इस मायने में भिन्न होती है कि यह वास्तव में स्वतःस्फूर्त और तात्कालिक होती है। इसलिए, कर्मचारी ए के सचेत ईमेल को अनौपचारिक माना जा सकता है लेकिन इसे अनियोजित नहीं माना जाएगा।
अनियोजित फीडबैक का एक उदाहरण होगा: कई कनिष्ठ सहकर्मियों के साथ एक टीम कॉल पर, सहकर्मी ए, जो अपेक्षाकृत कनिष्ठ भी है, को लगता है कि बातचीत बड़ी चट्टान पर संरेखण प्राप्त करने पर ध्यान केंद्रित करने के बजाय खरपतवार में जा रही है, जो कि थी कॉल का उद्देश्य। टीम, वे कहते हैं, मुझे पसंद है कि हम विवरणों की खोज कर रहे हैं, लेकिन मैं सोच रहा हूं कि क्या हमें पहले समग्र दिशा पर संरेखण प्राप्त करना चाहिए? प्रबंधक सहमत है। बहुत बढ़िया बात। हमें वापस लाने की जागरूकता के लिए धन्यवाद, सहकर्मी ए। वहां प्रबंधक की टिप्पणी अनियोजित सराहनीय प्रतिक्रिया है।
प्रबंधक इस अनियोजित फीडबैक का लाभ टीम के सामने सहकर्मी ए के फीडबैक को सुदृढ़ करने और एक सीखने योग्य क्षण बनाने के लिए भी कर सकता है। वे कुछ इस तरह कह सकते हैं: टीम – मैं यह दोहराना चाहता हूं कि सहकर्मी ए का यह कदम कितना बढ़िया था। आगे चलकर, आप खुद को ऐसे कॉल पर पाएंगे कि ‘खरगोश के बिल के नीचे जाओ’ जैसा कि हमने किया था। यह अजीब लग सकता है, लेकिन अगर किसी बड़े विषय पर स्पष्ट निर्णय लेना है, तो आप सहकर्मी ए की तरह बातचीत को वापस केंद्र में लाकर मूल्य ला सकते हैं। वास्तविक समय प्रतिक्रिया। जैसे ही गतिविधि हो रही होती है, वास्तविक समय पर प्रतिक्रिया होती है। इसे योजनाबद्ध किया जा सकता है जैसे कि एक सहयोगात्मक कार्य सत्र में या अनियोजित जैसा कि किसी प्रस्तुति के दौरान दर्शकों से प्राप्त फीडबैक में।
योजनाबद्ध वास्तविक समय प्रतिक्रिया का एक उदाहरण होगा: पहले उल्लिखित डिज़ाइन लीड जूनियर डिजाइनर के साथ 30 मिनट की कॉल शेड्यूल करता है ताकि वे ब्रोशर को बेहतर बनाने के लिए वास्तविक समय में काम कर सकें।
अगली श्रेणी है: स्रोत स्व-प्रतिक्रिया पर आधारित प्रतिक्रिया। हालाँकि अनौपचारिक प्रतिक्रिया को अक्सर सबसे सामान्य प्रकार की प्रतिक्रिया के रूप में जाना जाता है, लेकिन पूरी संभावना है कि स्व-प्रतिक्रिया ही शीर्ष पर है। स्व-प्रतिक्रिया से तात्पर्य हमारे मन में उस प्रतिक्रिया से है जब हम अपने प्रदर्शन की आलोचना, प्रशंसा और तुलना करते हैं। हम उस भाषण की तुलना कर सकते हैं जो हमने अभी एक उत्कृष्ट TED टॉक के आगे दिया था।। या हम जो ऐप कार्यक्षमता बना रहे हैं उसकी तुलना हमारे प्रतिस्पर्धी ने कै से की, उससे कर सकते हैं। आत्म-प्रतिक्रिया सचेत रूप से हो सकती है जैसे कि एक कर्मचारी जिसे सिर्फ अपने त्रैमासिक प्रदर्शन को रेट करने के लिए कहा गया था, जिसे आत्म-मूल्यांकन के रूप में भी जाना जाता है या अनजाने में जैसे कि एक अनुपयोगी और अति महत्वपूर्ण विचार प्रक्रिया जो बचपन में दर्दनाक घटनाओं से संबंधित हो सकती है । सचेतनता और आत्म-प्रतिबिंब के लिए स्थान जागरूक आत्म-प्रतिक्रिया विकसित करने और अप्रभावी अवचेतन आत्म-प्रतिक्रिया को सतह पर लाने में मदद करने का एक महत्वपूर्ण हिस्सा है, ताकि इस पर प्रतिक्रिया करने के बजाय इसके साथ काम किया जा सके।
सहकर्मी से सहकर्मी प्रतिक्रिया। कार्यस्थल में, सहकर्मी से सहकर्मी फीडबैक आम तौर पर अपेक्षाकृत समान वरिष्ठता स्तर पर सहकर्मियों द्वारा दी और प्राप्त की गई प्रतिक्रिया को संदर्भित करता है, लेकिन यह किसी भी स्तर और प्रकार के सहकर्मियों को प्रतिक्रिया देने या प्राप्त करने का भी उल्लेख कर सकता है। प्रभावी सहकर्मी-से-सहकर्मी फीडबैक कई प्रमुख स्तंभों पर बनाया गया है, जिसमें मनोवैज्ञानिक सुरक्षा जहां प्रत्येक सहकर्मी अपने विचार साझा करते समय सम्मानित और सुरक्षित महसूस करता है शामिल है। मनोवैज्ञानिक सुरक्षा पर निश्चित रूप से पढ़ने के लिए, प्रोफेसर एमी एडमंडसन की द फियरलेस ऑर्गनाइजेशन नामक पुस्तक देखें – मैंने विवरण में इसे इससे जोड़ा है। सहकर्मी से सहकर्मी फीडबैक के काम करने के लिए फीडबैक की बुनियादी बातों की साझा समझ होना भी महत्वपूर्ण है, और इसमें शामिल है – जैसा कि हम यहां कर रहे हैं – फीडबैक परिभाषा पर संरेखण प्राप्त करना और फीडबैक साक्षरता की एक सामान्य आधार रेखा रखना। सहकर्मी से सहकर्मी प्रतिक्रिया पर अधिकांश शैक्षणिक शोध कक्षा में छात्र-से-छात्र प्रतिक्रिया के माध्यम से होता है। परिणाम यह स्पष्ट करते हैं कि छात्र एक-दूसरे के काम पर फीडबैक देकर बहुत कुछ सीख सकते हैं – कभी-कभी प्रशिक्षक द्वारा दिए गए फीडबैक से भी अधिक। और कुछ हालिया शोध से पता चलता है कि काम पर सहकर्मी-से-सहकर्मी फीडबैक के साथ भी यही सच है, कुछ अध्ययनों से पता चलता है कि कुछ साथियों से प्रतिक्रिया प्राप्त करना किसी एक विशेषज्ञ से प्रतिक्रिया प्राप्त करने के समान ही सहायक या उससे भी बेहतर हो सकता है। सही संदर्भ में, कार्यस्थल पर किसी प्रोजेक्ट के बारे में सहयोग करने और फीडबैक देने से साथियों को अत्यधिक लाभ मिल सकता है।
ग्राहक प्रतिक्रिया। ग्राहक प्रतिक्रिया ग्राहकों द्वारा दी गई प्रतिक्रिया है। यह विभिन्न रूपों में हो सकता है, जिसमें ग्राहक संतुष्टि सर्वेक्षण, सार्वजनिक ग्राहक समीक्षा और बीटा परीक्षण शामिल हैं, जिसके तहत किसी उत्पाद या सेवा को सामान्य रिलीज से पहले फीडबैक प्रदान करने के लिए एक चुनिंदा समूह में पेश किया जाता है।
कर्मचारी प्रतिक्रिया। कर्मचारी फीडबैक एक व्यापक शब्द है जिसका उपयोग आप कई तरह से सुन सकते हैं। यह आमतौर पर किसी प्रबंधक द्वारा प्रत्यक्ष रिपोर्ट पर दिए गए फीडबैक को संदर्भित करता है, लेकिन यह सहकर्मियों के बीच दिए गए और प्राप्त किए गए किसी भी फीडबैक को भी संदर्भित कर सकता है, भले ही वे संगठन चार्ट पर कहीं भी बैठे हों। इसके अतिरिक्त, किसी संगठन के नेता कर्मचारी फीडबैक का अनुरोध कर सकते हैं, उदाहरण के लिए, एक नई खरीद प्रक्रिया कैसे काम कर रही है।
360-डिग्री फीडबैक। 360-डिग्री फीडबैक जिसे मल्टी-सोर्स फीडबैक या मल्टी-सोर्स पीयर अप्रेजल भी कहा जाता है कर्मचारियों के लिए गुमनाम तरीके से एक-दूसरे को फीडबैक देने और प्राप्त करने की एक प्रक्रिया है। जैसा कि नाम से पता चलता है, इसका उद्देश्य कर्मचारियों को 360 डिग्री से फीडबैक प्राप्त करने में मदद करके उनके प्रदर्शन में सुधार करना है – यानी, जितना संभव हो उतने कोणों से स्वयं-फीडबैक सहित। यद्यपि संभावित नकारात्मक पक्ष कई हैं, प्रस्तावित लाभ और इस पद्धति के इतना लोकप्रिय होने का कारण यह है कि यह कर्मचारियों को फीडबैक परिप्रेक्ष्य की एक विस्तृत श्रृंखला प्राप्त करने की अनुमति दे सकता है, उदाहरण के लिए, विशेष रूप से अपने प्रबंधक से फीडबैक प्राप्त करना, जो केवल एक पक्ष देख सकता है उनके काम। एकत्रित फीडबैक का उपयोग कर्मचारी विकास योजना को सूचित करने के लिए किया जाता है।
ठीक है, अगली श्रेणी स्थिति पर आधारित फीडबैक है जिसका अर्थ है जहां देने वाले या प्राप्तकर्ता कुछ पदानुक्रमित संबंध में हैं।
ऊपर की ओर प्रतिक्रिया। अपवर्ड फीडबैक उनके प्रबंधक को सीधी रिपोर्ट द्वारा दिया गया फीडबैक है। यह किसी अधिक कनिष्ठ कर्मचारी द्वारा अधिक वरिष्ठ कर्मचारी को दिए गए किसी फीडबैक को भी संदर्भित कर सकता है इसमें स्किप-स्तरीय फीडबैक शामिल है, जो एक कनिष्ठ कर्मचारी और उनके प्रत्यक्ष पर्यवेक्षक के प्रबंधक के बीच होगा।
नीचे की ओर प्रतिक्रिया। डाउनवर्ड फीडबैक एक प्रबंधक द्वारा उनकी सीधी रिपोर्ट पर दिया गया फीडबैक है। यह किसी वरिष्ठ कर्मचारी द्वारा किसी कनिष्ठ कर्मचारी को दिए गए फीडबैक को भी संदर्भित कर सकता है। आइए अब सामग्री और दाता/प्राप्तकर्ता की धारणा पर आधारित फीडबैक की ओर बढ़ें।
सकारात्मक फीडबैक। सकारात्मक प्रतिक्रिया से हमें पता चलता है कि हम अच्छा कर रहे हैं। यह विभिन्न रूपों में आ सकता है, एक सहकर्मी की प्रशंसा से लेकर एक स्वचालित डैशबोर्ड तक जो आपके लक्ष्य को पूरा करने या उससे अधिक होने पर नंबरओं को हरा कर देता है। दशकों से, फीडबैक अनुसंधान ने सकारात्मक फीडबैक के लाभों को साबित किया है। प्रभावी सकारात्मक प्रतिक्रिया विशिष्ट होती है यह महान कार्य से आगे जाती है और कर्मचारियों को उस ताकत की झलक भी दे सकती है जिसके बारे में वे नहीं जानते होंगे।
सकारात्मक प्रतिक्रिया का एक उदाहरण होगा: मुझे यकीन नहीं है कि आप यह जानते हैं, लेकिन आप एक दिलचस्प सार्वजनिक वक्ता हैं। आपकी स्लाइडें स्पष्ट और आकर्षक हैं और विषय के प्रति आपका जुनून झलकता है। मैं विशेष रूप से सराहना करता हूं कि आप अपने दर्शकों को प्रश्नों से कैसे जोड़ते हैं।
नकारात्मक प्रतिपुष्टि। नकारात्मक प्रतिक्रिया यह है कि हम अपनी कमियों को कैसे देखते हैं, उन क्षेत्रों को जहां हम सुधार कर सकते हैं। यह विभिन्न रूपों में आ सकता है, जिसमें एक मित्र भी शामिल है जिसने हमारी कार्रवाई देखी और टिप्पणी की कि उन्हें लगा कि हम बेहतर कर सकते हैं। इस अर्थ में, नकारात्मक प्रतिक्रिया फायदेमंद हो सकती है। हालाँकि, विभिन्न कारणों से हम भविष्य के वीडियो में पता लगाएंगे, लोग अक्सर इसे देने और प्राप्त करने से डरते हैं। इस डर से काम करना चुनौतीपूर्ण हो सकता है, लेकिन जब आप ऐसा करेंगे तो जबरदस्त प्रगति हो सकती है।
नकारात्मक प्रतिक्रिया का एक उदाहरण होगा: कॉपी की समीक्षा करने पर, मुझे लगता है कि हम अपने लक्षित दर्शकों के प्राथमिक समस्या बिंदु को संबोधित करने में चूक गए। क्या आप फिर से प्रयास कर सकते हैं, इस बार एक्स करने के लिए उनके वर्तमान संघर्ष के प्रति सहानुभूति रखने और हमारे उत्पाद को समाधान के रूप में स्थापित करने के लिए काम कर रहे हैं?
संरचनात्मक प्रतिक्रिया। नकारात्मक प्रतिक्रिया में नकारात्मक क्या संदर्भित करता है, इसके बारे में भ्रम या गलत धारणाओं के कारण रचनात्मक प्रतिक्रिया मौजूद प्रतीत होती है। यहां रचनात्मक का तात्पर्य सहायकता या उपयोगिता और शायद भविष्य-उन्मुख दृष्टिकोण से है, जो फीडबैक की हमारी प्राथमिक परिभाषा में है। इसलिए मुझे रचनात्मक फीडबैक शब्द के साथ संघर्ष करना पड़ता है क्योंकि यह मुझे फीडबैक फीडबैक जैसा लगता है। फिर भी, अगर हम यह ध्यान रखें कि हम सभी के पास फीडबैक साक्षरता के विभिन्न स्तर हैं, तो यह देखना आसान है कि यह शब्द कैसे सहायक हो सकता है। निम्नलिखित उदाहरण में, कल्पना करें कि क्या रचनात्मक शब्द को नकारात्मक से बदल दिया गया था। क्या वाक्य का अर्थ बदल जाएगा या आपको अधिक परेशानी महसूस होगी? कॉल अच्छी रही क्योंकि इंजीनियरिंग टीम ने रचनात्मक प्रतिक्रिया दी जिसे मैं अपनी अगली रिलीज में शामिल करूंगा।
फ़ीडफ़ॉरवर्ड। फीडफॉरवर्ड शब्द का उद्भव यह सुनिश्चित करने के लिए हुआ कि फीडबैक भविष्योन्मुखी दृष्टिकोण अपनाए। हालाँकि, प्रभावी प्रतिक्रिया ठीक यही करती है। यह भविष्य के प्रदर्शन को बेहतर बनाने के इरादे से पिछले प्रदर्शन की ओर इशारा करता है। इस अर्थ में, मेरा मानना है कि फ़ीडफ़ॉरवर्ड को फीडबैक के विपरीत के रूप में स्थापित करना समस्याग्रस्त है। फिर भी, रचनात्मक प्रतिक्रिया की तरह, दर्शकों के आधार पर फीडफॉरवर्ड का अपना स्थान होता है। इस तरह से फीडबैक को रीफ़्रेमिंग/रीब्रांडिंग करने से कर्मचारियों को फीडबैक प्रक्रिया में वापस लाने में मदद मिल सकती है, अगर उन्हें अतीत में इसके साथ भयानक या हानिकारक अनुभव हुआ हो।
सकारात्मक फ़ीडफ़ॉरवर्ड। सकारात्मक फीडफॉरवर्ड एक वाक्यांश के साथ सकारात्मक प्रतिक्रिया है जो इसे भविष्य से जोड़ती है। सकारात्मक फ़ीडफ़ॉरवर्ड फ़ॉरवर्ड का एक उदाहरण हो सकता है: पिछले सप्ताह अपनी रिपोर्ट में, आपने अपने शोध के मुख्य बिंदुओं पर हमारा ध्यान केंद्रित करने का उत्कृष्ट कार्य किया। महान काम। हो सकता है कि आप अगले सप्ताह अपनी ग्राहक प्रस्तुति में इसे आज़माना चाहें।
नकारात्मक फ़ीडफ़ॉरवर्ड। नकारात्मक फीडफॉरवर्ड एक वाक्यांश के साथ नकारात्मक फीडबैक है जो इसे भविष्य से जोड़ता है। नकारात्मक फ़ीडफ़ॉरवर्ड का एक उदाहरण हो सकता है: अगली बार, मुझे लगता है कि अपने दर्शकों पर शोध करने में अधिक समय व्यतीत करना सहायक होगा। लंबे समय के ग्राहकों के रूप में, उन्हें स्पष्ट रूप से उन पहली कुछ अवलोकन स्लाइडों की आवश्यकता नहीं थी। इससे पहले कि आप अगले सप्ताह प्रस्तुति दें, आइए इस पृष्ठभूमि पर चर्चा करने में कुछ समय व्यतीत करें कि कौन उपस्थित होगा ताकि हम वास्तव में उद्घाटन कर सकें।
विनाशकारी प्रतिक्रिया। विनाशकारी फीडबैक, फीडबैक की हमारी प्राथमिक परिभाषा के विरुद्ध है क्योंकि यह अंततः या तो मददगार नहीं है या मददगार होने के इरादे से नहीं दिया गया है। हालाँकि इस प्रकार की प्रतिक्रिया में मूल्यवान भाग शामिल हो सकते हैं, यह कठोर आलोचना के रूप में आता है जिसमें उपहास भी शामिल हो सकता है जो किसी व्यक्ति के आत्मविश्वास को तोड़ देता है और इस प्रकार प्रतिक्रिया को अपनाना लगभग असंभव बना देता है। विनाशकारी प्रतिक्रिया के दीर्घकालिक नकारात्मक परिणाम होते हैं। हमारी अगली श्रेणी डिलीवरी पद्धति मौखिक फीडबैक पर आधारित फीडबैक है ।
मौखिक प्रतिक्रिया, जिसे अक्सर मौखिक प्रतिक्रिया कहा जाता है, समकालिक या अतुल्यकालिक बातचीत के माध्यम से दी जाती है। मौखिक प्रतिक्रिया का एक संभावित लाभ, विशेष रूप से समकालिक विविधता का, यह है कि प्रतिभागी मौखिक और गैर-मौखिक इशारों को समझ सकते हैं, जो यह सुनिश्चित करने में मदद कर सकते हैं कि विचारों को स्पष्ट रूप से व्यक्त किया गया है।
लिखित प्रतिक्रिया। लिखित फीडबैक लिखित रूप में दिया जाता है और यह फीडबैक को दस्तावेजित करने के एक तरीके के रूप में काम कर सकता है। मौखिक प्रतिक्रिया के विपरीत, जहां मौखिक और गैर-मौखिक इशारों का अनुभव किया जा सकता है, लिखित प्रतिक्रिया में ये तत्व गायब हैं। जैसा कि सारा गेर्शमैन और केसी मैन्क ने हार्वर्ड बिजनेस रिव्यू में लिखा है:
इसलिए, जब आप लिखित प्रतिक्रिया देते हैं, तो गर्मजोशी, प्रोत्साहन या कृतज्ञता के स्पष्ट और अपरिहार्य संकेत शामिल करना सुनिश्चित करें। लेखन किसी के प्रदर्शन पर बिना सोचे-समझे प्रतिक्रिया देने की जगह नहीं है जिसका प्रभाव बहुत अधिक हो सकता है या जो आपकी अपेक्षा से अधिक कठोर हो सकता है।
दृश्य प्रतिक्रिया। कॉर्पोरेट कार्य संदर्भ में, विज़ुअल फीडबैक विभिन्न प्रकार के विज़ुअल संकेतकों को संदर्भित कर सकता है – जैसे किसी प्राप्त लक्ष्य का प्रतिनिधित्व करने के लिए नंबरओं का हरा होना या वेब डिज़ाइन मॉकअप में डिज़ाइनर के विज़ुअल परिवर्तन ।
स्वचालित प्रतिक्रिया। व्याकरण संबंधी समस्याएं व्याकरण द्वारा पकड़ी गईं। एक वित्तीय डैशबोर्ड जो मिले मापदंडों के आधार पर समायोजित होता है। एक ऑनलाइन परीक्षा जो यह जानकारी देती है कि कोई उत्तर गलत क्यों है। यहाँ तक कि गर्म चूल्हे को छूने पर भी दर्द का एहसास होता है। ये कई स्वचालित/स्वचालित प्रकार के फीडबैक में से कुछ का प्रतिनिधित्व करते हैं जिन्हें हम किसी भी दिन अनुभव करते हैं।
अतिरिक्त प्रतिक्रिया प्रकार
प्रोत्साहन। प्रोत्साहन एक प्रकार की प्रेरक प्रतिक्रिया है जो प्राप्तकर्ता को सशक्तीकरण के एक मजबूत स्थान पर जाने में मदद कर सकती है।
उदाहरण वाक्यांश इस प्रकार हो सकता है: मैंने आपके प्रदर्शन के बारे में इस फीडबैक के बारे में सोचने में बहुत समय बिताया क्योंकि मैं आपको इस संगठन में एक चमकते सितारे के रूप में देखता हूं। आपको यह विशेष सौदा नहीं मिला, लेकिन आपके कौशल और जुनून के साथ आपके पास बहुत अधिक संभावनाएं हैं और मैं आपको भविष्य में कहीं अधिक बड़े और बेहतर सौदे हासिल करते हुए देख रहा हूं।
रचनात्मक प्रतिक्रिया। रचनात्मक फीडबैक आम तौर पर कम जोखिम वाले माहौल में दिया जाता है, जहां फीडबैक प्राप्तकर्ता को अपना काम दोबारा करने या फिर से सबमिट करने का मौका मिलता है। इस अर्थ में, रचनात्मक फीडबैक से तात्पर्य उस प्रकार के फीडबैक से है जो यह आकलन करने के लिए समय के साथ दिया जाता है कि कोई शिक्षार्थी या कार्यकर्ता कैसे विकसित हो रहा है। रचनात्मक फीडबैक योगात्मक फीडबैक से इस मायने में भिन्न होता है कि योगात्मक फीडबैक अंत के करीब आता है और आम तौर पर यह बताता है कि शिक्षार्थी ने कितना सीखा या कार्यकर्ता ने कितना विकास किया।
योगात्मक प्रतिक्रिया। योगात्मक फीडबैक यह है कि हम कैसे जानते हैं कि हमने किसी परीक्षा या प्रोजेक्ट में कैसा प्रदर्शन किया – कुछ ऐसा जो अंत तक पहुंच गया है। उदाहरण के लिए, कक्षा में, एक योगात्मक मूल्यांकन आम तौर पर सभी पाठ्यक्रम सामग्री को मापने का प्रयास करता है। इस प्रकार की प्रतिक्रिया शिक्षार्थियों और श्रमिकों को यह समझने में मदद करने के लिए महत्वपूर्ण है कि उन्होंने अंतिम या अन्यथा पूर्ण परियोजना पर कैसा प्रदर्शन किया।
आलोचना। आलोचना को एक प्रकार की प्रतिक्रिया माना जा सकता है जो केवल सुधार किए जाने वाले क्षेत्रों की ओर इशारा करती है। यह मार्गदर्शन या भविष्य-उन्मुख लेंस प्रदान किए बिना पिछले प्रदर्शन को संबोधित करता है और आलोचना करता है।
फीडबैक-सीकिंग बिहेवियर के अन्य फीडबैक शब्द आपके सामने आ सकते हैं। फीडबैक-मांग व्यवहार एफएसबी से तात्पर्य है कि कैसे व्यक्ति दूसरों के कार्यों को पढ़कर यह अनुमान लगाते हैं कि इसका क्या मतलब है या स्पष्ट रूप से दूसरों से फीडबैक मांगते हैं। 1983 से, डॉ। सुसान एशफ़ोर्ड और अन्य लोग फीडबैक प्राप्त करने वाले व्यवहार पर शोध कर रहे हैं । संगठनों में, फीडबैक मांगने वाले व्यवहार से आम तौर पर प्रदर्शन और बातचीत संबंधी फीडबैक प्रक्रिया में सकारात्मक सुधार होता है। ध्यान दें: आपको अप्रत्यक्ष प्रतिक्रिया मांगने वाला व्यवहार भी मिल सकता है । यह किसी विशेष क्षेत्र में सुधार के लिए जानबूझकर दूसरों के व्यवहार का निरीक्षण करने के प्रयासों को उजागर करने के लिए दूसरों से पूछने प्रत्यक्ष प्रतिक्रिया मांगने को कार्यों को पढ़ने अप्रत्यक्ष प्रतिक्रिया मांगने से अलग करता है। प्रतिक्रिया उन्मुखीकरण। ह्यूमन रिसोर्स मैनेजमेंट रिव्यू में मैनुअल लंदन और जेम्स स्मिथर के क्लासिक 2002 पेपर के अनुसार, फीडबैक ओरिएंटेशन ।।। किसी व्यक्ति की फीडबैक के प्रति समग्र ग्रहणशीलता को संदर्भित करता है, जिसमें फीडबैक के साथ सहजता, फीडबैक लेने की प्रवृत्ति और इसे ध्यानपूर्वक संसाधित करना और उस पर कार्य करने की संभावना शामिल है। व्यवहार परिवर्तन और प्रदर्शन सुधार का मार्गदर्शन करने के लिए फीडबैक । नोट: क्या आप एक फ्रीलांसर हैं? फ्रीलांसर अपना फीडबैक ओरिएंटेशन कैसे विकसित कर सकते हैं, इसके विवरण में मेरे द्वारा लिंक किया गया लेख देखें ।
और यह एक समापन है, टीम। यदि आपको यह वीडियो उपयोगी लगा, तो और भी वीडियो आ रहे हैं।।। इसलिए सूचना पाने के लिए सदस्यता लें। लेकिन वास्तव में मुझे जो अच्छा लगेगा वह यह है कि आप दूसरों के साथ अपने संबंधों के बारे में जो भी अंतर्दृष्टि यहां पाते हैं उसे लाएं, और निश्चित रूप से आपके पास जो भी प्रतिक्रिया हो उसे मुझे प्रदान करें। आप और आप जिनसे प्यार करते हैं वे अच्छे रहें।
FEEDBACK DEFINITION IMAGE GALLERY (60 images)
Feedback at Work – The Chapters
Are you ready to improve perhaps the most underrated and neglected part of your personal and professional development?
By engaging with this resource, you’re equipping yourself with the knowledge and tools to unlock new opportunities for growth and success in all aspects of your life. This is how feedback has worked for me, the academic research backs it up, and so do leaders across every domain.
Psychology professor and MacArthur “Genius Grant” recipient Dr. Angela Duckworth puts it this way:
“We only learn with feedback.”
Influential economist Dr. Steven Levitt puts it like this:
“The key to learning is feedback. It is nearly impossible to learn without it.”
Trailblazing American tennis legend Billie Jean King sees just about everything as feedback:
“A mistake to me equals… I’m getting feedback.”
Tim Grover, the legendary trainer of Michael Jordan, sees an obsession with seeking and adopting great feedback as a key to success. As he says:
“The most successful are the most coachable.”
There’s a lot here and this is a journey, which is why many folks bookmark this page. Click a card below to get started.
Also: use this PDF to remind yourself of feedback examples
You may have noticed that feedback communication can be pretty challenging. It can cause you tremendous stress, and it can be how you cause others tremendous stress. By learning how constructive feedback works and how to participate in feedback communications skillfully, you can amplify the profoundly positive power of feedback while minimizing the stress and even harm you experience and cause due to how you give and receive it.
There’s a reason this resource contains dozens of feedback examples, hundreds of evidence-based feedback tips, and hours of videos: improving as a feedback communicator takes practice and time.
What is constructive feedback?
Constructive feedback is a response to a person’s activity with the purpose of helping them adjust to become more effective. Types of constructive feedback can include evaluative feedback, appreciative feedback, coaching feedback — and many more, as you’ll soon learn.
With that constructive feedback definition in mind, I encourage you to close your eyes for one minute and bring to the forefront of your memory a positive experience you had in receiving feedback. It could be an insight from a coach that improved your performance, a comment from a therapist or loved one that helped you better understand yourself, or maybe a colleague expressing their gratitude for your work.
What came to mind? What made the feedback experience positive? Was it because the feedback was specific positive feedback, or was it negative feedback that was super helpful? Before you continue reading, prime your mind to go deep with this visualization on feedback. It includes many of the most common words participants in my feedback trainings use when describing their experiences with feedback.
I encourage you now to work through the exercise again, this time thinking about a challenge you had in giving feedback. Perhaps the challenge was that you avoided giving the feedback, or maybe you gave it but it didn’t land well with the feedback receiver. Try to go one level deeper to get to the root. What would you say was the cause of this challenge?
In most settings, there exists an assumption that we all know how to give and receive feedback effectively. The assumption is apparent in how few organizations invest in comprehensive employee feedback training. It’s also apparent in how, until this 2023 article about feedback literacy, the business world hasn’t had a clear definition for feedback or a term to describe what it means to have a general understanding of feedback.
As a result, and as the many academic studies we will explore in this guide suggest, employees struggle immensely to share knowledge and develop in their roles. And as we touched on in our imagining exercise, this lack of growth isn’t the only downside. Lacking feedback skills can also cause stress for employees, so much so that it saps their productivity, morale, and can even cause them to leave the company.
In today’s competitive business environment, resilient organizations are those that know how to leverage the experience and knowledge of their individuals to build a continuously-learning collective genius. On a basketball team, it could be the veteran player who now comes off the bench but does her best work while on the bench because that’s where she mentors the next generation. On a Fortune 500 leadership team, it could be an HR leader who holds quarterly development conversations with his direct reports — psychologically safe conversations in which he grows as much from upward feedback as his direct reports do from the feedback he shares with them.
Due in part to these feedback assumptions, those who primarily give feedback are often assumed to be great at it because they are typically in a more senior position. And those typically on the receiving end get advice that barely scratches the surface as it condescendingly encourages them to “make eye contact” and “say thank you” — as though receiving feedback is more about the appearance of receiving feedback than actually receiving it.
So I welcome you to this radical little page where feedback is explored in its various complexities and with the unshakeable belief that improving feedback literacy is vital for our personal and professional development.
What is feedback communication?
Feedback communication is the verbal and nonverbal ways we respond to actions, behaviors, and performance. Skillful feedback communication involves interpersonal and intrapersonal development.
Constructive Feedback Course
For perhaps the world’s most comprehensive, evidence-based, and free video course on improving your feedback communication skills, watch Constructive Feedback, the 2+ hour feedback training video below. If you prefer, you can also watch it on YouTube in the following ways:
Transcript | Playlist on YouTube
Chapter 1: What is Feedback?
Note: if you’ve watched or listened to the video above titled, What is Feedback?, you can move to Chapter 2: Feedback Myths and Feedback Research. Be sure to download the feedback types and terms PDF before you go.
According to a few keyword search tools, there are 1,000,000 global monthly searches for “feedback.” And that number doesn’t include this query’s many variations, which could be: “what is feedback?” or “feedback definition.” A journey down this path can lead to all types of feedback definitions, from the human-to-human, behavior-based feedback we are addressing here to feedback related to self-regulatory biological systems or electrical devices.
Unfortunately, many books on management, and indeed many dedicated entirely to our type of feedback, prefer talking around the definition of feedback rather than providing one directly. Then, after chapters and chapters of insights on how to give and receive it better, readers will get something like, “The purpose of feedback is to help others improve.”
That simplicity of purpose is excellent, but much is lost in the lack of nuance. Suppose you’ve explored the academic literature on feedback. In that case, you may have come across this often-cited definition in Professor Arkalgud Ramaprasad‘s 1983 Behavioral Science paper titled On the definition of feedback:
“Feedback is information about the gap between the actual level and the reference level of a system parameter which is used to alter the gap in some way.”
I love this definition’s focus on recognizing and altering “the gap”; this framing has stuck with me for years and, to this day, is often the lens through which I view the feedback relationship. However, reflecting on it over the years and presenting it to others who have told me it feels too jargon-heavy for a general audience, what with “system parameter” and “reference level,” I no longer lead with it when attempting to define feedback for others.
After reading many books and hundreds of academic papers on feedback, I developed a definition that resonates with a broader range of audiences. I’m sharing it again because it’s important to remember as we progress and for those who – I guess because of their passionate zeal to dive in? – may have skipped our Introduction above. Here’s how we define feedback:
Feedback is a response to a person’s activity with the purpose of helping them adjust to become more effective. Feedback comes in various forms, including evaluative (how you did and where you are), appreciative (how you are valued and recognized), and coaching (how you can improve).
Let’s briefly unpack three parts:
“is a response to a person’s activity”
This part centers that there was a stimulus and a corresponding response, and that it had to do with a person’s activity. Response is intentionally vague here because it can range a gamut that includes everything from an audience’s standing ovation to an in-depth conversation with a colleague.
“with the purpose of helping them adjust”
The purpose of feedback is to be helpful. As you’ve likely learned through experience, having the best intentions doesn’t necessarily mean things will go smoothly. You can have great intentions and still either deliver terrible feedback or deliver feedback terribly. Also of note here is that the feedback is about helping the other person adjust. Adjust is also a bit vague because this adjustment could range from feedback intended to adjust a teammate’s interpersonal behavior to feedback meant to adjust the hip rotation on someone’s golf swing.
“various forms”
Part of the challenge in defining feedback involves addressing all it can be. Is it the compliment you received in the morning from your yoga instructor, the not-so-great performance feedback score (the one tied to your bonus) that you received from your manager in the afternoon, or your daughter’s glee when you read The Very Hungry Caterpillar before bed? Yes, all of those can be considered feedback. “Various forms” leaves space for the many other forms, while naming three of the most common types of feedback (evaluative, appreciative, and coaching) makes the definition feel real.
Let’s explore those three types in greater detail.
The 3 Primary Feedback Types
As you progress through the chapters, there will be many references to the three types of feedback: evaluative, appreciative, and coaching. While your initial research may have explored many types of constructive feedback – don’t worry, we will explore those below – I’ve found these three feedback types beneficial for placing the many types into categorical buckets.
Note: These three types come from Harvard Law School faculty members Douglas Stone and Sheila Heen, who detailed them beautifully in their 2014 book Thanks for the Feedback: The Science and Art of Receiving Feedback Well. If you’re passionate about feedback communications, this book should be on your shelf.Speaking of books, Feedback Fundamentals and Evidence-Based Best Practices by Dr. Brodie Gregory is also pretty great.
Here is how we define each of the three feedback types.
1. Evaluative feedback
Evaluative feedback helps you see how you did and where you are. It is evaluative because it compares how you did to how you could have done it. Recall Professor Ramaprasad’s “the gap between the actual level and the reference level.”
2. Appreciative feedback
Appreciative feedback helps you know you are valued and recognized.
3. Coaching feedback
The coaching feedback type helps point the way to how you can improve.
18 Feedback Examples
Examples of evaluative feedback
- At the end of the quarter, you drove 10% fewer marketing leads than you forecasted.
- A direct report tells you: “You are the best leader I’ve ever worked with.”
- You did not meet the qualifying standards to participate in the Boston Marathon.
- You moved to #5 on a Duolingo leaderboard.
- Your formal bid in response to a Request for Proposal (RFP) was selected.
- Your manager says you are in the top 5% percent of all performers.
See below for these evaluative feedback examples as cards. Click each card to see the larger version in a separate tab.
Notice the variation of these examples. We have a positive but rather vague comment from a colleague next to the more specific example of missing your quarterly numbers. These are still evaluative because they directly or indirectly contain a comparative data point.
You may be asking, “Wait just a second, isn’t that comment from the direct report also the appreciative type of feedback?” Indeed, you are correct! The types of feedback can blur into each other; at times, it can feel like the feedback types exist on a spectrum. Let’s zoom out a bit to add context to this example.
Let’s say this comment was made during a quarterly performance review, and it was in direct response to when you asked for feedback about your leadership since joining the team six months ago. This comment now shifts more toward evaluative – with the subtle comparative data point being “other leaders they’ve worked with.” It can move further into the evaluative camp if specific details are provided about how you stack up next to leaders they’ve had in the past.
Examples of appreciative feedback
- Your basketball team’s center points to you in gratitude after that great pass.
- Your grandparent says, “I am so grateful for all you’ve done for us.”
- Your teacher praises you in class for always asking great questions.
- Upon returning from a dangerous military mission, one sergeant hugs another.
- A patron at the restaurant where you work leaves you a great tip.
- A colleague recognizes you in a Slack channel for going above and beyond.
See below for these appreciative feedback examples as cards. Click each card to see the larger version in a separate tab.
You’ll notice that appreciation can be spoken in words (as in examples 2 and 3) or go unspoken (examples 1, 4, and 5). Unlike Evaluative and Coaching, which can touch on negative areas, appreciation is positive. It motivates us. Keep in mind, however, that everybody wants different types of appreciation. Some, though they may not admit it and might blush as it happens, love to be appreciated in front of peers. For others, renewing their contract for another quarter may be all the appreciation they want or need.
As a leader, it’s critical to understand how those around you want to be appreciated. A great leader, for example, would not frequently embarrass a colleague by praising them publicly when that is the last thing they would ever want.
We will explore one point in greater detail later: appreciative feedback is vital. While some erroneously view it as the fluffy form of feedback communication that nobody needs (indeed, 37% of the managers surveyed in this study don’t provide any praise at all), studies suggest that providing specific appreciation (including in the form of positive feedback) can improve employee satisfaction and development more than negative feedback.
Examples of coaching feedback
- A colleague tells you they loved the PowerPoint visuals you created, but to please make sure to use the company’s proprietary font. After a conversation, you both decide it will be great for you to take a course titled “Omnichannel Branding.”
- “Here’s what worked for me when I was in a similar position,” a colleague begins.
- An experienced ballet teacher offers advice on how to improve your grand plié.
- Through active listening and asking questions, one teammate helps another see that what they thought was the primary cause of failure was actually something else.
- A teammate says: “I’m not a great public speaker, but I noticed each time you looked down at your notes, it took away some of the great energy that kept your audience engaged. Are you open to working together so we can both improve?”
- “The last two projects you managed went over budget. It wasn’t by much, but here are some principles I always put in place to ensure this doesn’t happen.”
See below for these coaching feedback examples as cards. Click each card to see the larger version in a separate tab.
Similar to our other feedback types, you’ll notice some variety here. Coaching can be as direct as “here’s how to point your toes for the grand plié” or, as in the active listening example, more like a torch that helps light the way for another person to discover the answer for themselves. Coaching can be but isn’t necessarily dependent on titles or org chart position. We can all be coaches for each other.
The coaching feedback type perhaps most obviously corresponds to the “with the purpose of helping them adjust” part of our definition of constructive feedback. But the other types do as well. Consider how specific positive feedback can help a beginning writer see their strengths for the first time or how knowing how you did on a project at work can help you improve on the next one.
The 33 Types of Feedback (With Feedback Examples)
Your experience and research may have exposed you to many other types of constructive feedback. Below is a glossary of various types of feedback communication you may have heard or will come across, along with examples. These may be helpful to reference as you work through the following chapters.
Note #1: Bookmark this section for future reference by clicking the following link and creating a bookmark in your browser as you usually would: https://cameronconaway.com/feedback/#types. If you would like to use this feedback glossary offline, download the PDF here. If you want the definition and the three primary types all in 1 page, you can download that here.
Note #2: The lines between the feedback types can appear blurry. At times, such as with informal feedback and unplanned feedback, it might be helpful to see each type as part of a continuum.
Click each term below to quickly jump to the definition.
- Planned feedback
- Informal feedback
- Unplanned feedback
- Real-time feedback
- Self-feedback
- Peer-to-peer feedback
- Customer feedback
- Employee feedback
- 360-de gree feedback
- Upward feedback
- Downward feedback
- Positive feedback
- Negative feedback
- Constructive feedback
- Feedforward
- Positive feedforward
- Negative feedforward
- Destructive feedback
- Oral feedback
- Written feedback
- Visual feedback
- Automated feedback
- Encouragement
- Formative feedback
- Summative feedback
- Criticism
- Technical Feedback
- Referent Feedback
- Normative Feedback
- Performance Feedback
- Social Feedback
- Job/Career Progression Feedback
- Feedback to one in a group setting
Note: 27-31 come from and are inspired by the work of Dr. Elizabeth W. Morrison‘s 1993 paper in The Academy of Management Journal.
1. Planned feedback
Planned feedback refers to any feedback communication session that is scheduled in advance. Often referred to as formal feedback, this type of feedback may occur at regular intervals, such as during quarterly or annual performance reviews or even within a day’s notice. The benefit of a formal feedback session is that the primary feedback giver(s) and receiver(s) have a chance to prepare.
Example: A customer experience (CX) team leader schedules a 90-minute quarterly performance review with each of their direct reports. The meeting invite includes an agenda detailing the topics to be covered. One of the topics reads: “Growth Opportunities – areas where you can grow + your thoughts on how I can grow.” This could be considered a formal feedback session.
2. Informal feedback
Informal feedback is often considered the most common form of workplace feedback because it can occur anytime and come from anywhere in the organization. Although informal feedback is often thought of as differing from formal feedback in that it is not scheduled, it can include scheduling and planning elements (see Example #1 below). The benefit of good informal feedback is its timeliness. Sometimes, this type of feedback can be incorporated in minutes, leading to improved outcomes.
Example #1: Employee A types up a long email to relay feedback to Employee B about their performance on a project. Employee A plans to send the email after Employee B is back from an international business trip.
Example #2: a junior designer conducted a stakeholder meeting and was tasked with creating a first draft of the company’s new brochure. Upon seeing the design on a shared digital whiteboard, the design lead quickly called the junior designer to share how excited they were about the direction. “Your use of white space is spectacular and ensures the viewer’s eyes are drawn to our calls-to-action. Great work. Might you be able to incorporate a similar design aesthetic in the footer? Otherwise, it feels like two different brands are colliding.”
3. Unplanned feedback
Unplanned feedback is not scheduled in advance and occurs in real-time. Although it’s often referred to as informal feedback, unplanned feedback differs in that it is truly spontaneous and in-the-moment. Therefore, Employee A’s conscious email above would not be considered unplanned.
Example: On a team call with many junior colleagues, Colleague A, also relatively junior, senses the conversation is going too “in the weeds” rather than focusing on getting alignment on “the big rock” which was the purpose of the call. “Team,” they say, “I like that we’re digging into the details, but I’m wondering if we should first get alignment on the overall direction?” The manager agrees. “Great point. Thank you for having the awareness to bring us back, Colleague A.”
The manager may even leverage this unplanned feedback communication type to reinforce the feedback to Colleague A in front of the team and create a teachable moment. “Team – I want to reiterate how great of a move that was by Colleague A. Down the road, you may find yourself on calls that ‘go down the rabbit hole’ as we did. It might feel awkward, but if a clear decision on a big topic has to be made, you can bring value by steering the conversation back to center as Colleague A did.”
4. Real-time feedback
Real-time feedback occurs as the activity is happening. It can be planned (as in a collaborative working session) or unplanned (as in feedback received from the audience during a presentation).
Example: the design lead mentioned earlier schedules a 30-minute call with the junior designer so they can work in real-time to improve the brochure.
5. Self-feedback
Although informal feedback communication is often referred to as the most common, in all likelihood, self-feedback takes the crown. Self-feedback refers to the feedback in our minds as we critique, praise, and compare our performance. We may compare the speech we just gave next to an excellent TED Talk or the app functionality we’re building next to how our competitor did it.
Self-feedback can happen consciously (such as an employee who was just asked to rate their quarterly performance, also known as a self-appraisal) or unconsciously (such as an unhelpful and hypercritical thought process that may be related to traumatic events in childhood). Space for self-reflection is a key part of developing conscious self-feedback and helping to bring subconscious self-feedback to the surface so it can be worked with rather than reacted to.
6. Peer-to-peer feedback
In the workplace, peer-to-peer feedback typically refers to constructive feedback given and received by peers at an equal seniority level. Effective peer-to-peer feedback is built on several key pillars, including psychological safety (where each colleague feels respected and safe when sharing their thoughts) and a shared understanding of the feedback basics, including alignment on a feedback definition and a general baseline of feedback literacy.
Most academic research on peer-to-peer feedback occurs in the classroom through student-to-student feedback. The results make it overwhelmingly clear that students can learn a tremendous amount by providing feedback on each others’ work – sometimes even more than from feedback provided by the instructor. Recent research suggests the same is true with peer-to-peer feedback at work, with some studies suggesting that getting feedback from a few peers can be just as helpful or even better than getting feedback from a single expert. In the right context, peers collaborating on and providing constructive feedback about a project at work can reap immense benefits.
7. Customer feedback
Customer feedback is feedback given by customers. It can occur in various forms, including customer satisfaction surveys, public customer reviews, and beta testing whereby a product or service is rolled out to a select group to provide feedback before a general release.
Related Resources:
- How to Build an Effective Feedback Culture (this video covers how to think about and organize a customer feedback strategy).
- Frequently Asked Questions About Customer Feedback
8. Employee feedback
Employee feedback is a broad term that you may hear used in multiple ways. It commonly refers to feedback given by a manager to a direct report, but it can also refer to any feedback given and received between colleagues regardless of where they sit on the org chart. Additionally, an organization’s leaders may request “employee feedback” about, for example, how a new procurement process is working.
9. 360-Degree Feedback
360-degree feedback (often written as 360° degree and also referred to as multi-source feedback or multi-source peer appraisal) is a process for employees to give and receive feedback to each other in an anonymous way. As the name suggests, the purpose is to improve employee performance by helping them receive feedback from 360 degrees – that is, from as many angles as possible (including self-feedback). Though the potential downsides are many, the proposed benefit and the reason this method became so popular is, at least in theory, it allows employees to get a broader range of feedback perspectives rather than, for example, getting feedback exclusively from their manager who may only see one side of their work. The collected feedback is then used to inform an employee development plan.
10. Upward feedback
Upward feedback is constructive feedback given by a direct report to their manager. It can also refer to any feedback given by a more junior employee to a more senior employee (this includes skip-level feedback, which would be between a junior employee and their direct supervisor’s manager).
11. Downward feedback
Downward feedback is feedback given by a manager to their direct report. It can also refer to any feedback given by a more senior employee to a junior employee.
12. Positive feedback
Positive feedback is how we know we are doing well. This can come in various forms, ranging from a colleague’s praise to an automated dashboard that turns the numbers green when you’ve met or exceeded your goal.
For decades, feedback communications research has proven the benefits of positive feedback. Effective positive feedback is specific (it goes beyond “great job”) and can also give employees a glimpse into a strength they may not know about.
Example: “I’m not sure if you know this, but you are a riveting public speaker. Your slides are clear and engaging, and your passion for the topic shines through. I especially appreciate how you engage your audience with questions.”
Related Resource:
13. Negative feedback
Negative feedback is how we see our gaps, those areas where we can improve (remember Professor Ramaprasad’s definition earlier?). In this sense, negative feedback can be beneficial. However, for various reasons we will explore, folks often fear giving and receiving it. Working through this fear can be challenging, but there can be tremendous growth when you do.
Example: “Upon review of the copy, I think we missed the mark in addressing the primary pain point of our targeted audience. Can you try again, this time working to empathize with their current struggle to do X and positioning our product as the solution?”
14. Constructive feedback
This term seems to exist due to confusion or misconceptions around what the “negative” in negative feedback refers to. “Constructive” here implies helpfulness or usefulness, which based on our primary definition is the general purpose of feedback. I still occasionally struggle with the term constructive feedback because it reads to me like “feedback feedback.”
Still, if we keep in mind that we all have different levels of feedback literacy, it’s easy to see how this term can be helpful. In the following example, imagine if the word “constructive” was replaced by “negative.” Would the sentence change in meaning or feel more jarring for you?
“The call went well because the engineering team provided constructive feedback that I will include in our next release.”
Related Resource:
- Take the world’s most comprehensive online course about constructive feedback
15. Feedforward
The term feedforward arose to ensure feedback takes a future-oriented approach. Effective feedback, however, does precisely that. It points to a past performance with the intention of improving future performance. In this sense, I believe it’s problematic to position feedforward as “the reverse” of feedback. Still, like “constructive feedback,” feedforward has its place depending on the audience. Reframing / rebranding feedback in this way can also help pull employees back into the feedback process if they’ve had terrible or even harmful experiences with it in the past.
16. Positive feedforward
Positive feedforward is positive feedback with a phrase that attaches it to the future.
Example: In your report last week, you did an excellent job of steering our focus to the highlights of your research. Great work. You might want to try that in your client presentation next week.
17. Negative feedforward
Negative feedforward is negative feedback with a phrase that attaches it to the future.
Example: Next time, I think it will be helpful to spend more time researching your audience. As long-time customers, they clearly didn’t need those first few overview slides. Before you present next week, let’s spend some time discussing the backgrounds of who will be in attendance so we can really nail the opening.
18. Destructive feedback
Destructive feedback goes against our primary definition of constructive feedback in that it is ultimately either not helpful or not given with the intent to be helpful. While this type of feedback communication may include valuable parts, it comes in the form of harsh critique that may include ridiculing that breaks a person’s confidence and thereby makes feedback adoption nearly impossible. There are long-term negative consequences to destructive feedback.
19. Oral feedback
Oral feedback, often called verbal feedback, is delivered via synchronous or asynchronous talking. One potential benefit to oral feedback communication, particularly of the synchronous variety, is that participants can pick up on verbal and non-verbal gestures, which can help ensure ideas are conveyed clearly.
20. Written feedback
Written feedback is delivered in writing and can serve as a way to document feedback. Unlike oral feedback, where verbal and nonverbal gestures can be experienced, these elements are missing in written feedback. As Sarah Gershman and Casey Mank wrote in Harvard Business Review:
“Therefore, when you deliver written feedback, make sure to include clear and unmissable signposts of warmth, encouragement, or gratitude. Writing is not the place for off the cuff feedback on someone’s performance that could have outsized impact or come across as harsher than you intended.”
21. Visual feedback
In a corporate work context, visual feedback can refer to various types of visual indicators – such as numbers turning green to represent an achieved goal or a designer’s visual changes to a web design mockup.
22. Automated feedback
Grammatical issues caught by Grammarly. A financial dashboard that adjusts based on parameters met. An online exam that provides insight as to why an answer is wrong. Even the feeling of pain when we touch a hot stove. These represent just a few of the many automatic/automated types of feedback that we experience throughout any given day.
23. Encouragement
Encouragement is a type of motivational feedback communication that can help the receiver move into a stronger place of empowerment.
Example phrasing: “I spent a lot of time thinking about this feedback about your performance because I see you as a shining star in this organization. You didn’t land this particular deal, but with your skillset and passion you have so much potential and I see you landing far bigger and better deals in the future.”
24. Formative feedback
Formative feedback is typically given in a low-stakes environment where the feedback receiver has a chance to redo or re-submit their work. In this sense, formative feedback refers to the type of feedback given over time to assess how a learner or worker is developing. Formative feedback differs from summative feedback in that summative comes near the end and typically addresses how much the learner learned or the worker developed.
25. Summative feedback
Summative feedback is how we know how we did on an exam or a project – something that has reached an end. In the classroom, for example, a summative assessment typically attempts to measure all course material. This type of constructive feedback is critical to help learners and workers understand how they did on a final or otherwise completed project.
26. Criticism
Criticism can be considered a type of feedback communication that points only to the areas to be improved. It addresses and “critiques” a past performance without providing guidance or a future-oriented lens. Many people instead say “constructive criticism” to ensure the criticism (which is negative feedback) takes on the qualities of our constructive feedback definition.
27. Technical Feedback
Technical feedback is feedback communication about how to perform or improve in specific job-related tasks.
Example: When saving your PowerPoint file, do X, Y, and Z.
28. Referent Feedback
Referent feedback is feedback about what is expected of you in your role.
Example: We expect you to hit 3% regional growth this year.
29. Normative Feedback
Normative feedback is feedback about the type of attitudes and behaviors you are expected to display.
Example #1: We do not send emails on the weekends. If you work on them, that’s fine, but please schedule them to send during the work week.
Example #2: Next time, slow down a bit. We sweat the details here. It means our work takes longer than others, but we see quality as our competitive advantage.
30. Performance Feedback
Performance feedback is constructive feedback specific to how others are evaluating your job performance.
Example: You missed your numbers this quarter. There’s a perception that it’s because you aren’t committed to our model. What do you make of this and how can I help?
31. Social Feedback
Social feedback is feedback communication about what’s acceptable for work-related behavior that doesn’t involve tasks or projects.
Example: I love the numbers you drove, but I’m concerned because you haven’t attend a single company event.
32. Job/Career Progression Feedback
Job/career progression feedback is feedback about how to advance, get promoted, or otherwise progress in their role or in their career.
Example: Based on your performance and increased scope, I’m recommending your promotion to Vice President.
33. Feedback to one in a group setting
This type of feedback refers to when feedback is delivered in a group setting but targeted to one person in particular. This type of feedback can be given if you sense that an individual likes to be praised in this way and if the feedback, though directed to one, may benefit the group. Delivering negative feedback in this manner is typically not advised, particularly if it attempts to leverage the group’s presence to further pressure or drive the point home to the individual receiver.
3 Important Feedback Terms
1. Feedback literacy
Feedback literacy is a term I use to refer to an individual’s understanding of and capacity to effectively give, receive, and process feedback. The term has research roots in the world of education, where it is primarily used to describe students’ ability to receive feedback. I’ve expanded its use, pulling it into the business world so we have a broad term to describe the overall feedback capacities.
Note: for additional reading about feedback literacy, see the following:
- To Improve Your Learning Culture, Promote Feedback Literacy
- Feedback Literacy: A Framework for Educators
2. Feedback-Seeking Behavior (FSB)
Feedback-seeking behavior refers to how individuals seek feedback either by reading the actions of others to infer what it means or by explicitly asking others for feedback. Since 1983, Dr. Susan Ashford and others have been researching feedback-seeking behavior. In organizations, feedback-seeking behavior generally leads to positive improvements in performance and the conversational feedback process.
Note: you may also come across “indirect feedback seeking behavior.” This separates asking others (direct feedback seeking) from “reading the actions” (indirect feedback seeking) to highlight one’s efforts to intentionally observe the behavior of others for the sake of improving in a particular area.
Related Readings:
3. Feedback orientation
A classic concept from academic HR literature, feedback orientation “…refers to an individual’s overall receptivity to feedback, including comfort with feedback, tendency to seek feedback and process it mindfully, and the likelihood of acting on the feedback to guide behavior change and performance improvement.”
Note: Are you a freelancer? See my article on how freelancer’s can develop their feedback orientation.
Chapter 2: Feedback Myths & Research
Now that we have clearly defined constructive feedback and most related terms, let’s address some common myths about feedback communication. If you’re like me, you may have believed in some of these myths. Once we bring awareness to them, we can begin to change our own behaviors, and we can begin to spot them in the various dimensions of our lives — at work, while pursuing our hobbies, and even in our personal relationships.
As I’ve learned over the years, sometimes the best way to improve our feedback literacy isn’t only to understand what feedback literacy is; it’s to challenge some of the feedback beliefs we hold. These beliefs may run deep, going way back to lessons we learned during our earliest years on this earth. Our beliefs are often what we practice, and what we practice has an impact on ourselves and others. In the feedback myths video below, we will ground ourselves again in our shared definition of feedback as we take an evidence-based approach to debunking myths around:
- Positive feedback
- Receiving negative feedback
- When to give feedback
- Who holds power in the feedback relationship
- The purpose of feedback
While this video briefly highlights some of the classic research articles and papers from feedback experts, in the text after it you will find additional links to studies and research.
Research About Feedback
Here’s a look at some of the feedback research that has shaped my thinking and therefore shaped the information you are learning in this feedback guide. Many of these papers are behind very expensive paywalls, so you may need institutional access (typically from a university) to access them. You might also try searching for the paper’s title to see if anybody has made it accessible by republishing it. If you’re still struggling and curious, please email me at feedback@cameronconaway.com and I’ll try to find an open access version for you.
1979: Consequences of individual feedback on behavior in organizations (Journal of Applied Psychology)
1979: The effects of feedback on task group behavior: A review of the experimental research (Organizational Behavior & Human Performance)
1983: Feedback as an individual resource: Personal strategies of creating information (Organizational Behavior & Human Performance)
1983: On the definition of feedback (Behavioral Science)
1984: The performance feedback process: A preliminary model (Organizational Behavior & Human Performance)
1996: The effects of feedback interventions on performance: A historical review, a meta-analysis, and a preliminary feedback intervention theory (Psychological Bulletin)
2002: Feedback orientation, feedback culture, and the longitudinal performance management process (Human Resource Management Review)
2003: The Role Of Gender In The Construction And Evaluation Of Feedback Effectiveness (Management Communication Quarterly)
2007: The Power of Feedback (Review of Educational Research)
2010: The Development and Validation of the Feedback Orientation Scale (FOS) (Journal of Management)
2012: Why receiving feedback collides with self determination (Advances in Health Sciences Education)
2013: Beyond individualism: professional culture and its influence on feedback (Medical Education)
2015: Age differences in feedback reactions: The roles of employee feedback orientation on social awareness and utility (Journal of Applied Psychology)
2017: How empathic concern helps leaders in providing negative feedback: A two‐study examination (Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology)
2021: What feedback literate teachers do: an empirically-derived competency framework (Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education)
2021: Performance feedback interviews as affective events: An exploration of the impact of emotion regulation of negative performance feedback on supervisor–employee dyads (Human Resource Management Review)
2022: Honest feedback: Barriers to receptivity and discerning the truth in feedback (Current Opinion in Psychology)
2022: Feedback literacy: a critical review of an emerging concept (Higher Education)
2023: Feedback orientation: A meta-analysis (Human Resource Management Review)
Chapter 3: Common Feedback Barriers
If you’ve made it this far, it’s at least partly because you know how challenging workplace feedback can be. In the next video, we will identify some of the most common barriers to effectively giving and receiving feedback at work. We’ll cover why these barriers exist, their negative impact on personal and organizational success, and how we can begin to counter their forces.
Along the way, we will develop our understanding of the Workplace Feedback Categories as depicted in the following framework.
As we highlight the common categories across our framework, we will discover why pairing this framework with the Feedback Growth Pyramid is vital for breaking through the barriers.
After all, while understanding and awareness of barriers is a necessary first step, driving positive change is our ultimate goal.
Lastly, we will cover the Feedback Literacy venn diagram:
…and the 3Cs of Organizational Feedback Systems:
Enjoy the following video titled 3 Barriers to Effective Feedback at Work (and How to Address Them):
Chapter 4: How to Give Feedback
Upon reviewing both the academic literature and more informal surveys and studies, a few concepts stand tall as it relates to giving constructive feedback:
- It can have a tremendous impact on someone’s life and workplace performance
- Those giving negative feedback often experience tremendous anxiety
- It is often mired in unhelpful hierarchical and/or power dynamics
- Not giving it can be a primary reason why employees leave
- It’s widely regarded as a vital element of organizational success
- Most employees understand its importance and want more of it
Many of the most influential people of our time seem to unanimously agree that constructive feedback is critical for success.
Some have claimed that feedback is the favorite word of India’s Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, who views meeting people on the ground as not only a political act but a way to get honest feedback. As INSEAD Professor Erin Meyer wrote in When Diversity Meets Feedback, for Reed Hastings, the co-founder of Netflix, candid feedback is one of the top three ingredients of an innovative organization. For music superstar Taylor Swift, the first to reach billionaire status based on songs and recordings, meaningfully responding to the feedback her fans give is one reason why those fans adore her. For former U.S. President Barack Obama, listening and remaining open to feedback from multiple perspectives helped him make better decisions in the most challenging moments.
But giving feedback at the right time, in the right tone, and in a way that is most helpful to each particular recipient is hard. While “how to give feedback,” of course, depends on the unique variables present in any given situation, in this video, we will provide a few universal principles you can apply to just about every situation. In case you need them, below is a few key images you’ll see in the video.
Chapter 5: How to Receive Feedback
I’ve had a very nonlinear career journey — ranging from being a mixed martial artist paid to get into a cage to fight another human to being a poet and investigative journalist covering human rights issues. Entering these different fields has allowed me to see feedback from all sorts of angles, and I’ve come to realize that receiving feedback is how I’ve improved in every element of my life.
In mixed martial arts, feedback could be a literal punch in the face during training or, worse, when I was already in the cage — where that feedback now means not just a potential loss but one that may have caused severe injury. In poetry, feedback could be somebody writing in red pen all over a poem I just put my heart and soul into. In investigative journalism, feedback came in various forms — including from seasoned mentors who helped me understand that, to expose critical truths for the betterment of the world, I may have to engage in actions I wasn’t comfortable with. During my time as a team leader at Cisco, a company that for three years in a row was named #1 on Fortune’s 100 Best Companies to Work For, great feedback came from all parts of the organization — from my manager who taught me how to ask coaching-style questions to those who reported to me who helped me understand the gaps in my leadership. In each of these fields, I was able to see what excellent and terrible feedback looked like, including the gray in between, and also how I could position myself to receive the most effective kind.
Still, my struggle to receive feedback has been real. Sometimes, I’ve brushed it off, even if it was positive, because I thought I would become arrogant if I accepted it. At other times, I struggled to receive it because, even when it wasn’t it, I perceived it as an attack not on my work but on me, on my identity.
And despite all of the research I’ve done and the experiences I’ve had, I still feel my heart racing with anxiety when I need to step into a quarterly performance review. Part of what fascinates me about constructive feedback communication is precisely this struggle — no matter how much I think I understand, there’s always something to learn. It continues to challenge me in ways that help me understand myself and what it means to be human.
But let’s pause here for a moment to review this quote from a 2020 paper in the Journal of Organizational Behavior Management titled Teaching Employees How to Receive Feedback: A Preliminary Investigation.
“There is a substantial literature on how to deliver feedback to change performance. However, to date no research has been conducted on teaching employees how to effectively receive feedback.”
It shows you the current state of academic research on receiving feedback — which is that there isn’t much of it. So, in the following video, I’ll highlight data where I think it may be helpful, but I’ll also share a few tried-and-true best practices that, while they may not have the backing of dozens of academic studies, have been proven effective by leaders in various fields.
As with Chapter 4, before this video you’ll find a few images used within it.
Chapter 6: How to Process Feedback
At this point, you now know how passionate I am about effectively giving and receiving feedback. But it’s the art and science of processing feedback that truly kickstarted my passion for feedback at work. As I went deep into reading the literature on effective feedback communications, I couldn’t help but notice how there was very little about how to use it effectively. I mean, not just receive it but use it.
In short, the research was heavily weighted towards helping managers give constructive feedback. Then, there was a small amount of research on receiving feedback, with some focused on the perception of receiving feedback rather than actually receiving it. This left an almost complete void for how employees (or humans in general) process feedback — that is, how they make sense of it, how they understand their thoughts and feelings about it, and how they ultimately decide how (or how not) to use it. This led to my article here at Harvard Business Review, which elevated the need to process feedback from a seemingly nonexistent part of the process to now one now used by thousands of leaders in companies ranging from the U.S. Air Force to Amazon Web Services (AWS), not to mention countless small business leaders who are running local coffee shops, yoga studios, and more.
Here’s a story I shared with Harvard Business Publishing about the roots of my passion for processing feedback.
And here’s the Feedback Decision Tree I created with the folks at Harvard Business Review:
Lastly, below is the more in-depth video on what I’ve learned about processing feedback. I include many examples in this video so that, hopefully, you can find some commonalities with your work.
As with the last few videos, here are a few images from the video.
Chapter 7: How to Use Feedback
Okay, let’s say you’ve received some challenging negative feedback. Maybe it stirred up some emotions in you. But you’ve embraced your inner feedback wisdom and took time to process what it means and how you feel about it. After that, you felt grounded enough to make a decision about it, and you’ve decided to adopt this particular feedback.
Now what? How do you begin integrating it into your work? How do you recognize the habits that may be in the way of you implementing the change you want to make?
Welcome to the rarely-discussed world of actually using feedback! While much of the constructive feedback we receive is quick and easy to implement — for example, perhaps a copyeditor in your department advised you to please only add one space rather than two after every period — we will be addressing the type of feedback — such as being advised to contribute more in leadership meetings — that may take a bit more effort and thoughtfulness.
As we touched on, the challenge with challenging feedback communication we’ve decided to adopt is that it often involves changing a pattern of behavior. One key word here is “pattern.” In general, habits can be hard to change and this is especially true in the world of work where some of our habits may have developed for a variety of reasons — ranging the gamut from because they’ve led to your past successes to because they’ve served to protect vulnerable parts of yourself.
You can see the friction here.
If something has worked for you in the past, there’s a comfortable and positive history with it. In this sense, it’s like the high school basketball player who is told by their coach that they need to change their jumpshot form if they want to become a professional. At first, this player may actually get worse before they get better. Have they built the resourcefulness and mental strength to make it through this challenging period? As detailed in The Wall Street Journal, this was the story with Steph Curry, the greatest shooter in NBA history. The form of the first shot he became comfortable with (and good at it) started quite low. While this could work at the high school level, he wouldn’t be able to get away with it nearly as much in college, let alone in the pros if he were to make it that far. And so, despite incredible frustration, Curry turned toward the discomfort and began the painstaking mental and physical process of developing a new and improved form.
Related to this, what if embracing the constructive feedback means you need to be vulnerable in a way you’ve always worked hard — including subconsciously — to protect yourself against? In cases like this, using the feedback in a way that’s sustainable may mean both changing your external behavior (literally using the feedback) and beginning to do the inner work to uncover why that vulnerability exists and some strategies for befriending rather than burying it.
We will cover all of this and plenty more in the video below, How to Use Feedback. As always, before the video player you will find the most important image used in the video.
Chapter 8: How to Ask for Feedback (And Why You Should)
We’ve touched on feedback-seeking behavior in various chapters, but here we’ll go deeper into why it matters and how to do it. As you’ll discover in the following video, asking for feedback matters for many reasons, including because:
- It sets you up to get feedback. As we addressed in previous chapters, there are many challenges to getting the feedback we need. Sometimes, those with the best perspective are afraid to share it. In other cases, folks surrounding you aren’t sure how to share it — and in this state of uncertainty, they don’t. Directly asking for feedback can help cut through some of these barriers.
- It builds collaboration into a habit. Regularly asking for feedback can keep you humble and ensures that you are routinely tapping into the collective genius of those around you — even on projects you may be driving independently. Some work environments include feedback sessions directly into the project management process, but many others do not. Asking for feedback puts you in control and, as discussed, is generally seen as a very positive aspect of employee behavior.
We’ll dive into more points and details in the following video, but when asking for feedback, here are a few principles to remember.
- Ask with intention. Put another way, don’t ask just to be seen as someone who asks. When you bring a wholesome intention to your seeking of feedback, you’ll generally ask the right people at the right time.
- Allow time for a response and set a time-based expectation. Here, I don’t just mean pause after you’ve asked. When you ask, “Can I get your feedback in X, Y, Z?” — some participants may feel more comfortable providing feedback in days or even a week instead of right in the moment. Sometimes, the participant may feel pressured to immediately provide real-time feedback even though they don’t understand the full context of the project you are working on. So, before asking for feedback, understand the time constraints you are under — if you need immediate feedback to move the project forward, make it known.
Below are the primary images used in the video (and remember that you can click on each to enlarge them), followed by the video.
Chapter 9: How to Create a Feedback Culture
In To Improve Your Learning Culture, Promote Feedback Literacy, we told the story of Khai, a soon-to-be new people manager who, like many, was advised about creating a feedback culture before they could see healthy feedback relationships modeled for them.
As you can guess, such advice can create confusion and ultimately set the manager up for failure. As you can also likely guess, creating a feedback culture begins with individual and team-based approaches to building feedback literacy. You may recall this Venn diagram:
The work done to build feedback literacy has a ripple effect that forms what we collectively call a “culture.” When all individuals work towards the same goal of improving their feedback literacy — though, of course, on their own paths — we can see a beautiful blossoming of the psychological safety and shared learning that is the backbone for an effective feedback culture.
In the following graphic, you’ll see that feedback literacy is at the core.
The dotted lines highlight the porous nature, which shows the interplay between giving, receiving, processing, and generally experiencing feedback. All of this then flows out to Culture, where the circle is closed to represent the development of a particular team or department.
However, you might also think of Culture as porous because one team’s great feedback culture can spill over into other teams, and, similarly, unhealthy feedback cultures outside of your team can undoubtedly infect your team — especially if your team is not united around improving its core of feedback literacy. This core is the base. If the base is strong, unhealthy outside influences will have a more challenging time taking root on your team.
In some ways, building a feedback culture is more straightforward than it may appear. It simply demands the same level of commitment and focus given to other employee training and development areas.
We explore all of this and plenty more in the following video. As you are accustomed to, I’ve included the primary images before the video.
Frequently Asked Questions about Workplace Feedback
Here are a few of the many questions I’ve either wondered about or have been asked over the years. What questions am I missing here? Let me know at feedback@cameronconaway.com and I’ll consider adding them.
Remember the difference between formal and informal feedback. For in-depth formal feedback, many leaders choose to at least schedule quarterly individual feedback sessions with their direct reports. Informal feedback, however, should be given as close to the event being commented on as possible.
As your feedback literacy matures, it may take less time to work through the SEEN acronym. SEEN stands for Scene (understanding the full context of the behavior you are commenting on); Empathy (for the receiver); Example (avoid vague generalities); and Next opportunity (though not necessary, it can be helpful to share an idea of when, where, and how this feedback may be applied in the future).
While informal feedback often occurs before you can prepare for it, I recommend having what I call a feedback fallback phrase. By this, I mean a phrase like, “Thank you, I’ll process that and get back to you,” which you can use right after you get feedback. A phrase like this does a few things:
1. It thanks the giver.
2. It grants you time so you are not pressured to adopt or reject the feedback immediately.
3. It lets the receiver know you intend to follow up with them.
How you prepare for a scheduled formal feedback communication session, such as with your manager, can vary. As a baseline, always set an intention to bring your best and wisest self to the conversation. Practice active listening, be prepared to ask questions if you aren’t sure about something, and always be ready to take notes. If you have a sense of what behavior or action the feedback giver will be addressing, it can be helpful to think through what steps you plan to take to improve.
While there’s often a power dynamic in manager-to-direct-report relationships, it’s essential to remember that the basic principles of giving feedback still apply.
If you are early in your career, haven’t had much practice delivering feedback, and haven’t had enough interactions with your manager to know how they may respond to feedback, it might be helpful to preface your feedback communication by sharing how you are feeling and shifting more direct language so it comes off us as more inclusive.
For example, let’s say your manager gave an excellent virtual presentation, but it was clear they were looking down and reading notes rather than speaking directly into the camera. You might begin by saying something like: “To be honest, I’m quite nervous about sharing this, but I care about you and this company, and based on the latest all-hands, I think there’s an opportunity for us to improve how you present virtually.”
The main purpose of constructive feedback is to help an individual or group adjust a behavior or activity to become more effective. In the workplace, feedback communication can facilitate professional growth by serving as a mirror to help employees see their strengths and address areas for development. As we’ve discussed with feedback literacy, teams that use feedback effectively foster a culture of continuous learning, enhance communication, and generally contribute to a healthy and collaborative work environment.
While feedback is essential for personal and professional development, there can be downsides if the content is harmful, is not delivered well, and is not received well.
For example, poorly delivered feedback, even if it is well-intended and contains helpful content, may confuse the feedback receiver.
Likewise, criticism that comes off as too harsh or is perceived by the receiver as too harsh can demotivate and dishearten individuals rather than enliven and empower. Similarly, because many believe feedback should only focus on weaknesses, constant negative feedback likely won’t help employees see and continue developing their tremendous strengths.
As I wrote about at Harvard Business Review, it wasn’t until I received a specific example about my strengths as a poet that I felt motivated enough to become one.
An open feedback system is a feedback system in which the identity of the feedback givers and receivers is known. In other words, feedback doesn’t come from anonymous sources. In the workplace, for example, one department may leverage open feedback, where employees openly give and receive feedback, and a bit of closed feedback, such as a 360-degree feedback process, where feedback givers remain anonymous.
Receiving feedback can be challenging, mainly because it can expose weakness, which, if we haven’t developed our feedback literacy skills, can make us feel vulnerable and defensive and even cause us to respond in ways that aren’t helpful for the situation. Try to manage your emotional state before receiving feedback (and during, if possible). It may be helpful to take a few steady breaths. This can help you see with greater clarity whether the feedback communication was genuinely harmful or if it perhaps tapped into an area you may feel defensive about. Either way, you’ll handle the feedback communication better from this place of groundedness, and you’ll likely be able to ask more clarifying questions and determine the next step.
You are the best gauge of what is harmful, but if the feedback was harmful in that it was demeaning or an attack on your character, you don’t have to respond at all. If the behavior of the feedback giver is abusive, it may be best not to engage at all and leave the situation.
If, however, the feedback was harmful in that you feel it sets you up for failure or perhaps goes against your sense of ethics, you can inform the giver that you need time to process and then find a way to excuse yourself from the conversation. For an example of how I responded when I received this type of feedback, check out the video here.
Interviews can be great opportunities to get feedback that helps you see your skills gaps and can help you make adjustments for future interviews. Unfortunately, for various reasons, it can be challenging to receive feedback from those who interviewed you. This can be due to the interviewer potentially interviewing dozens of other candidates and simply not having the time. But to put yourself in a position to receive some, here are two steps to take.
At the end of your interview, directly ask for feedback on the area you want to improve. You might say, “I am incredibly excited at this opportunity and always looking to improve. Might you be open to emailing me any feedback you have about how I could have improved in our interview together?” This will put the interviewer in a position to respond and may reduce your chance of being ghosted.
Following up on the first point, you can reiterate your want for feedback when sending a thank you email to the interviewer and when reaching out to them on LinkedIn.
Lastly, be sure to respect the interviewer’s decision. If they are unable or unwilling to provide detailed feedback, I recommend not pushing. Some companies have policies restricting the extent of feedback communication they can give during the interviewing phase, and it’s important to acknowledge and accept that.
If your feedback is primarily directed to a single individual, providing that feedback in a group setting is generally not advised. There are many reasons for this, including that such a feedback dynamic can feel belittling to the individual who is singled out. Belittling is not an effective method of feedback. Even if you do not single out the individual, it can confuse the group.
Group feedback is advised, however, if it’s truly applicable to the team. Some examples include if your marketing team is struggling to deliver projects on time or your basketball team’s defense is collectively struggling to guard the pick and roll.
As with individual feedback, it’s critical to ensure that the feedback you provide your team is specific, actionable, delivered with empathy, and framed constructively to promote learning and development rather than fear and demotivation.
As defined here, feedback literacy is a term I use to refer to an individual’s understanding of and capacity to effectively give, receive, and process feedback.
As defined here, feedback orientation “…refers to an individual’s overall receptivity to feedback, including comfort with feedback, tendency to seek feedback and process it mindfully, and the likelihood of acting on the feedback to guide behavior change and performance improvement.”
As described in Kluger & DeNisi’s classic article from 1996, feedback intervention is defined “as actions taken by (an) external agent(s) to provide information regarding some aspect(s) of one’s task performance.”
Yes, constructive feedback improves performance when we think about it generally. Some even argue that feedback is the only way to improve in anything.
Consider the work of John Hattie, an education professor who spent 15 years synthesizing 800 meta-analyses on learner achievement.
Here is his primary discovery, as summarized by feedback researchers David Carless and David Boud:
“The most powerful single influence on achievement is feedback but impacts are highly variable, which indicates the complexity of maximising benefits from feedback.”
From this, you can gather two points:
1. There is perhaps no better way to improve than by receiving constructive feedback
2. Feedback communication is complex
This complexity is why it’s important to also see feedback at the more micro-level. In this sense, not all feedback we receive is helpful. Feedback can even decrease performance depending on the specifics of what is presented and how it is presented.
1. It provides individuals with valuable insights into their strengths and development areas. Each of these is vital for self-awareness and growth. Knowing your strengths allows you to maximize their use, and knowing your weaknesses can highlight improvement areas.
2. It serves as a guide. Remember, effective feedback communication not only shines a light on performance; it can also point the way forward. This can enable employees to enhance their performance and better align their efforts with organizational goals.
3. It builds a healthy workplace culture that centers on continuous learning. Where there is humility and curiosity around building feedback literacy, there are also open communication channels and a positive work culture.
4. It motivates individuals and ensures they feel satisfied with their growth and professional development. Several studies show that a lack of effective feedback can be a primary driver for why employees become disengaged or even leave a company.
Yes, depending on the content and delivery, feedback may decrease performance. Bad feedback, poorly delivered feedback, or even great feedback given at the wrong time or place can demotivate an employee and even set them up for failure.
Feedback communication is perhaps the most important tool for professional development, but many assume they are already great at it. The data suggests otherwise. This is why individual contributors and people managers need to receive comprehensive training on how to make effective use of feedback.
First, you must invest in developing feedback communication capacities just as you would other areas of professional development. You can offer employee feedback training in several ways, such as by bringing in a feedback expert to facilitate the training or assigning an internal leader to create a training program based on the many free feedback resources out there.
Second, feedback development must be “always on.” Some talent & development leaders will offer a fantastic training program, only to return to it years later. Like the art and science of human communication, which feedback is a part of, feedback learning should never stop.
Third, dismantle feedback training silos. Some well-meaning HR leaders will offer people managers training on giving feedback while individual contributors get training on receiving feedback. This seriously short-changes employee development and reinforces unhelpful hierarchical power dynamics that can decrease organizational feedback literacy.
All employees can benefit from learning to give, receive, and process feedback. In the feedback I’ve received on the training I deliver, many individual contributors have found immense value in learning how to give feedback; they’ve told me it helps them give feedback but also helps them understand how to receive it better. Likewise, people managers have told me that learning to receive feedback has helped them improve how they give it. Here is a blog post about this topic.
While it may not be possible to give every candidate feedback after an interview, I’ve found that doing so can have several benefits, including:
1. It can increase the candidate’s respect for you and your organization.
2. It can improve their ability to succeed in future interviews.
3. It can give them a perspective they may not be able to get elsewhere.
Give the feedback you think will be most helpful for the candidate. I often liken this to a great football quarterback who throws the ball to a receiver in a way that leads to a catch and the ability to get yards after they make the catch.
For example, if the candidate had a fantastic interview but fell short on some primary skills needed in the role, it can be helpful to let them know both aspects. To continue the football metaphor, they would be able to “catch” this pass and take specific action after they do.
Feedback and advice are related concepts in the workplace, with advice as one part that can be — but doesn’t necessarily need to be — included in the feedback conversation. For example, a feedback conversation may begin with the giver providing an overview of the employee’s strengths and a particular weakness they perceived. The feedback could become advice when the feedback giver, based on their own experience, recommends a specific change the employee could make to improve the weakness. Both advice and feedback can be valuable in fostering professional development.
Feedback is alive and well. In fact, it’s perhaps more alive than ever thanks to advances in psychology and neuroscience, a growing body of academic research, and increased societal awareness of how psychological safety impacts workplace performance and cultures.
As artificial intelligence becomes more integrated into our lives, feedback will continue to evolve. AI will provide feedback to us, we will provide feedback to it, and we may use our newfound space to become more effective feedback communicators with each other. As AI frees humans from many manual and technological tasks, human-to-human communication (including feedback) may become even more critical for organizational success.
The “feedback is dead” myth spread due to contrarians who either didn’t fully understand what feedback is or had an ulterior motive for leading others to believe in the myth.
Coaching is a type of feedback, as you can see from the definition of feedback: “Feedback is a response to a person’s activity with the purpose of helping them adjust to become more effective. Feedback comes in various forms, including evaluative (how you did and where you are), appreciative (how you are valued and recognized), and coaching (how you can improve).” Not all feedback includes coaching, but all coaching is a form of feedback.
A feedback sandwich is a way to frame negative feedback by “sandwiching” it between two positive feedback comments.
No, feedback communication is not always biased. Unless you include our cognitive biases (such as negativity bias), in which case feedback is likely influenced by one or more of them. Consider that feedback comes in various forms, including evaluative feedback, which could simply be the result you achieve on a multiple-choice exam or the abrasive sound of a missed basketball shot bouncing off the rim. Many types of feedback, however, involve human-to-human communications, which are subject to bias.
As you build your feedback literacy, it’s important to remember that bias in communicating feedback can arise from the personal perspectives, experiences, and implicit biases of the person providing or receiving the feedback. And, because feedback goes beyond the individual and into the culture, systemic biases within an organization or even within an entire industry can influence how feedback is given and received. Consider this article at Harvard Business Review: Women Get “Nicer” Feedback — and It Holds Them Back.
It’s possible to mitigate some bias when communicating feedback. In interviews, for example, it can be helpful to implement a structured feedback template with objective evaluation criteria. Another way is by providing feedback training that helps employees develop the mindfulness and inner resources to be aware of their potential biases — and to do the often challenging work of dismantling these biases.
Feedback bias often appears in vague feedback, so it’s important to offer clear and specific feedback based on observable behaviors or outcomes. Ultimately, a holistic approach to building employee feedback literacy can create a feedback culture and, thus, a professional working environment that values objectivity, fairness, and inclusivity.
Criticism can be considered a type of feedback communication that points only to the areas to be improved. It addresses and “critiques” a past performance without providing guidance or a future-oriented lens.
That is for you to determine. When receiving feedback, it’s better to develop the presence of mind to say what you need to say (rather than having something memorized). However, for unplanned feedback that you didn’t have time to prepare for, it may be helpful to have a feedback fallback phrase – such as “Thank you, I’ll process that and get back to you” — that can ease some of the pressure of feeling the need to respond directly to the feedback before you are ready.
Many popular feedback advice articles suggest smiling and saying thank you when receiving feedback. Unfortunately, such advice grows out of a condescending body of work that often positions the feedback giver as an all-knowing power and the receiver as a no-nothing very junior colleague. Be careful of sharing or adopting this type of advice as it often emphasizes appearing to receive feedback (and appeasing the giver) rather than actually receiving feedback.
You don’t know what you don’t know. In such a case, you can ask people you admire for any feedback they may have, including positive feedback, based on their work with you. Additionally, you may notice particular qualities in others that inspire you. For example, perhaps your colleague is a riveting public speaker, and this is an area you want to improve in. In this case, you can reflect on what makes them so good and even ask them what advice they may have for you.
As you develop in your career and overall feedback literacy, you’ll gain a better understanding of your strengths and weaknesses. You may also have a good sense of how you want to progress in your career. With this awareness, you’ll be in a great position to ask for and receive the feedback you need.
Giving feedback, particularly negative feedback, can be stressful for several reasons, including because people are afraid they won’t present the feedback correctly and because they are afraid of how the feedback receiver may respond. Feedback communication may involve addressing sensitive issues and potentially causing conflict, something many people like to avoid. As humans, we are wired to build rather than damage relationships — and many fear that in delivering feedback they may be doing the latter.
Giving feedback can also be stressful because not many of us get safe opportunities to practice how we give and receive negative feedback — for some, their first time doing it is in a high-stakes work environment. And very few of us receive comprehensive feedback training. Put all of this together — that we are afraid of the response and haven’t had practice — and it’s a recipe for stress.
There are several levels to making the giving of feedback less stressful. Well before the feedback session, it will be helpful to understand what feedback is and what effective feedback looks like. As you approach the feedback conversation, being prepared with notes and perhaps practicing beforehand can be a de-stressor. Directly before and even during the meeting, taking a few slow and steady breaths (or otherwise resourcing in whatever way allows you to bring your clearest state of mind to the meeting) can be helpful.
For some, orienting to the room is a big de-stressor. To do this, some find it helpful to slowly look around the room they are in. You might also place your hands on the table and feel the feelings — the texture and temperature of the table. These types of orienting practices can bring us into the present moment, make us feel safe, and help us feel grounded in the stability of our bodies rather than lost in spiraling thoughts. Ultimately, do what you must do to reach this truth: you’ll be okay.
If you are a leader who wants to make feedback less stressful for you and those in your organization, here are some steps to take (in addition to this blog).
1. Strive to create a feedback-friendly environment. This means talking about feedback and providing feedback training for your team. It also means emphasizing the importance of continuous improvement and learning from feedback (and you must model this by asking for and, when it feels right, adopting their given feedback).
2. Be clear, specific, and aspirational in your feedback. Focus on behaviors or actions rather than making personal judgments. Frame feedback as an exciting opportunity to improve.
3. Provide ongoing positive feedback. Otherwise, you may build a culture that views feedback as constantly negative. Such a culture can make givers and receivers feel stressed and demotivated.
4. Encourage dialogue / two-way communication. Feedback is a conversation, so be sure to ask for the individual’s perspective, pause for them to ask questions, and encourage them to share their thoughts on the feedback received. This promotes understanding and collaboration.
5. Deliver feedback in a timely manner. Address issues as they arise and avoid letting concerns build as this can increase stress for both parties.
6. Plan and structure feedback using the Situation-Behavior-Impact (SBI) model. Describe the specific situation, the observable behavior, and its impact. The SBI model can help you frame your thoughts, which can alleviate stress. It also ensures your feedback remains more objective and focuses on directly-observed actions.
7. Plan regular check-ins and feedback sessions. This normalizes feedback experiences, making it a regular part of professional development rather than an isolated, stressful event.
8. Provide feedback training. If you made it this far, you knew this one was coming. Offering feedback training for all employees, not only those primarily responsible for giving feedback, equips all with the skills and knowledge needed to communicate effectively and handle potentially challenging situations. Improving feedback literacy in this way can increase confidence, reduce stress, and build the organization into a continuous learning machine.
There’s no timeframe for when to begin giving feedback, but a general rule of thumb before giving negative feedback is to get to know your new teammates and build a good understanding of their strengths and weaknesses first. If you become a manager in the middle of a project and notice challenges on the project due to the behavior of a colleague you haven’t had the chance to get to know very well, do not delay the feedback. For more on this topic, read: Giving Feedback to New Teammates.
Absolutely. Written feedback remains a vital way that employees give and receive feedback. Additionally, there’s power in nonverbal gestures. Imagine giving a speech and the audience members yawning and falling asleep. Unless you are performing in front of a sleep-deprived group, that’s nonverbal feedback worth paying attention to. However, if you can, it’s also important to provide verbal feedback. Much can get lost if feedback is only given in writing or through nonverbal gestures.
Because feedback comes in various forms and types, it does not always need to include examples. However, to deliver impactful and effective positive feedback and negative feedback, you should provide clear and specific examples of the observed behavior. This will help the recipient understand the feedback. Regarding negative feedback, it can also be helpful to provide guidance or inspiring examples on improving the perceived behavior.
Ultimately, while examples can enhance feedback effectiveness, their necessity depends on the nature of the feedback and the level of detail needed to convey the message effectively.
If your manager isn’t providing feedback, ask for their feedback and try to be as specific in your ask as possible. For example, do you want feedback about your performance on a project? Ask for it directly. You can also ask about skills development, career development, or what they see as your overall contributions to the team. There’s plenty of academic research on the benefits of feedback-seeking behavior — including that it presents you as an employee who cares about professional growth — so you’ll be making a good move by being proactive.
Additionally, let your manager know how important it is for you to receive their feedback. If you don’t have regular check-ins scheduled with your manager, it may be a good idea to propose them as they can be opportunities to get consistent performance feedback.
Lastly, remember that your manager is not your only feedback provider. You can seek feedback from anybody you’d like — from your internal peers at various seniority levels to industry leaders you admire.
At work, a feedback loop is a continuous and iterative process where an individual or team receives feedback, learns, and improves performance. More technically, a feedback loop is about cause and effect, where the output (the feedback) becomes a constructive input (improved product or performance). At the organizational level, customer feedback on the design of your product would be the output that becomes the input needed to redesign your product and create a better offering for your customer (thus creating a full circle).
Map out all potential areas for feedback. For example, don’t just see it as coming from what your clients, employees, or students freely offer up. Due to power dynamics, they may not offer you feedback. Instead, be consistent in proactively asking for specific feedback on a particular area you want to improve. And be sure to give folks time to respond (including weeks, if necessary) and options (including anonymity).
Additionally, actions and inactions are also sources of feedback. If your coaching clients aren’t returning for their third session with you, that’s feedback. If you’re sensing a decline in morale or a lack of innovative spirit within your organization, think of that as feedback. If a large group of students struggles to understand your lesson, that could be feedback.
Lastly, the key to getting effective feedback as a leader is to recognize the power of your positionality and to stay hungry about improving your feedback literacy. When you become the trusted advisor or leader of your group, it may be more challenging than ever for you to receive feedback. Recognize this and be willing to make an extra effort to get what you need for your continued growth.
Feedback in the workplace is information shared between individuals or teams to improve performance, foster learning, and strengthen relationships. It can be formal or informal, spoken or written, and should ideally be specific and constructive.
Feedback helps people understand how their actions are perceived, what’s working, and what could be improved. It’s a critical driver of growth, learning, and trust.
Feedback is constructive when it is specific, actionable, delivered with care, and focused on helping the person grow rather than simply judging them.
The main types include positive, negative, formal, informal, developmental, and evaluative feedback. Each serves different purposes and should be used thoughtfully.
Effective feedback is timely, specific, and focused on behavior rather than personality. It invites dialogue and supports the person receiving it.
Receiving feedback well means listening without defensiveness, asking clarifying questions, reflecting deeply, and deciding thoughtfully whether and how to act on it.
Feedback literacy is the ability to seek, give, receive, process, and use feedback effectively. It’s foundational to both personal growth and organizational health.
People often avoid giving feedback because they fear conflict, don’t know how to phrase it constructively, or have had negative experiences in the past.
Psychological safety enables people to give and receive feedback honestly. Without it, people may withhold insights or become defensive.
You build a feedback culture by modeling feedback behaviors at all levels, training for all five literacy components, and celebrating growth from feedback.
The best time is soon after the relevant event—while details are fresh—but only when both parties are in the right mindset to engage productively.
Absolutely. Positive feedback reinforces what’s working and encourages continued growth. It’s essential for motivation and learning.
Model the behavior, normalize feedback-seeking in meetings, and publicly recognize when someone grows from feedback.
Criticism often points out flaws without support, while feedback highlights behaviors and provides insight that can help someone improve.
Using feedback means thoughtfully reflecting on what you’ve received, integrating what’s helpful, and making changes that align with your goals.
A feedback loop is a continuous cycle of giving, receiving, reflecting on, and acting upon feedback. It drives learning and adaptation.
Anonymous feedback can surface hidden truths but risks being less constructive. It’s best used carefully, alongside a culture of open dialogue.
Tools like 360 assessments, real-time feedback platforms, and regular check-ins can support but never replace human-centered conversations.
Pause, breathe, reflect. Don’t rush to accept or reject it. Seek context, talk to trusted peers, and revisit it with a growth mindset.
Evaluation judges performance (e.g., grades, scores). Feedback supports improvement and should be part of an ongoing conversation.
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