Giving Feedback

Why & When

Giving feedback is a central element of any well-functioning relationship or institution; people face each other and complement their self-image through external evaluation.

Goal(s)

If a person is unclear about the effects of his or her actions, he or she has no indication of what changes are necessary. The motive for giving feedback should therefore always be to help the other person to make possible course corrections.

Getting started

The basis for good feedback should be a solution-oriented approach. In order to constructively point out a way for change, feedback should be situation-specific, timely and concrete, so that the person receiving feedback is able to react. Feedback should be marked as a personal perspective and, especially in the case of critical feedback, it should be appreciative and empathetic.

To sum it up, feedback should be:

timely: context should be clear

positive and motivating: are perspectives presented?

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