Protocols-Feedback+Principles



**Feedback Principles**

Constructive feedback is indispensable to productive collaboration. Positive feedback is easy to give and receive; when the response highlights a need to improve it is harder to say and much harder to hear. When it is done properly, feedback is a very specific kind of communication: it focuses on sharing with another person the impact of their behavior and its purpose is to help that person become more effective. **Give it with care**. To be useful, feedback requires the giver to want to help, not hurt, the other person. **Let the recipient invite it.** Feedback is most effective when the receiver has invited the comments. Doing so indicates that the receiver is ready to hear the feedback and gives that person an opportunity to specify areas of interest and concern. **Be specific.** Good feedback deals clearly with particular incidents and behavior. Making vague or woolly statements is of little value. The most helpful feedback is concrete and covers the area of interest specified by the receiver. **Include feelings.** Effective feedback requires more than a simple statement of observed behaviors. It is important to express how you felt so that the receiver can judge the full impact of the behavior being discussed. For example, you might say, “When you come late to meetings, I feel angry and frustrated because …” **Avoid evaluative judgments.** The most useful feedback describes behaviors without value labels such as “irresponsible”, “unprofessional”, or even “good” and “bad”. If the recipient asks you to make a judgment, be sure to state clearly that this is your opinion. **Speak for yourself.** When giving feedback, be sure to discuss only things you have witnessed. Do not refer to absent or anonymous people (e.g. “A lot of people didn’t like it”). **Pick an appropriate time and place.** <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;">The most useful feedback is given at a time and in a place that makeit easy for the receiver to hear it, e.g., away from other people and distractions. It should also be given sufficiently close to the particular event being discussed for the event to be fresh in the mind. <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;">**Make the feedback readily actionable**. <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;">To be most useful, feedback should concern behavior that can be changed by the receiver. Feedback concerning matters outside the control of the receiver is less useful and often causes resentment. <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;">Breathe. This may seem overly simple, but remembering to do it can make a difference. Our bodies are <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;">conditioned to react to stressful situations as if they were physical assaults (e.g. muscles tense, breathing <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;">becomes shallow and rapid, etc.). Taking full breaths will help your body to relax and your brain to focus. <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;">Specify the behavior about which you want feedback. The more specific you can be about the feedback <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;">you want, the more likely you are to be able to act upon it. For example, if you want to know how <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;">students reacted to an assignment, ask, “What did the students in the small group you observed do after I <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;">finished answering their questions?” rather than, “How did it go?” <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;">Listen carefully. Don’t interrupt or discourage the person giving feedback. Don’t defend yourself (“It wasn’t <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;">my fault … “) and don’t justify (“I only did that because … “). <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;">Clarify your understanding of the feedback. You need to get clear feedback in order for it to be helpful. <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;">Ask for specific examples, e.g. “Can you describe what I do or say that makes me appear aggressive to <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;">you?” <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;">Summarize your understanding of the feedback. Paraphrase the message in your own words to be sure <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;">you have heard and understood what was said. <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;">Take time to sort out what you heard. You may need time to think about what was said and how you feel <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;">about it or to check with others before responding to the feedback. This is a normal response but should <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;">not be used as an excuse to avoid the issue. <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;">Check out possible responses with the person who gave you feedback. A good way to pre-test an <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;">alternative approach to a situation that has caused problems for you in the past is to ask the person who <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;">gave the feedback if s/he thinks it will be more effective. That provides a first screen, and makes the <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;">feedback-giver feel heard.
 * **<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;">Giving Feedback **
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;">Feedback is most useful when is it audible, credible, and actionable. Following the guidelines below will **
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;">help you achieve that goal. **
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 140%;">Giving Feedback: Summary **
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;">1. Find out and respond to the receiver’s concerns. **
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;">2. Be specific about the behavior and your reactions. **
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;">3. Speak for yourself only. **
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;">4. Don’t evaluate. **
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;">5. Help the receiver figure out how to act on your feedback. ** ||
 * **<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 150%;">Receiving Feedback **
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;">Receiving Feedback: Summary **
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;">1. Be specific about the feedback that you want. **
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;">2. Be open to the feedback: **
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;">a) don’t ask for it if you don’t want to know **
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;">b) avoid defensiveness **
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;">c) don’t justify **
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;">3. Clarify/check your understanding of the feedback. **
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;">4. Summarize your understanding of the feedback. **
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;">5. Share your reaction to the feedback. ** ||