The Art of Feedback: 5 Tactics that Work

A few weeks ago, I wrote about the importance of real-time, 360 reviews in the workplace, or something I call “On-the-Spot” performance reviews. But feedback by itself won’t necessarily spur positive change—regardless of when it’s delivered. What matters is how team members receive the feedback and what they do with it. I think we’ve all delivered feedback, or at least known someone who has, when it wasn’t delivered well and was ultimately misunderstood.

Giving feedback that works is an art. And while the "On-the-Spot” performance review is a vehicle to delivering feedback, the tactics that you use determine whether your feedback falls on deaf ears—or is put into action.

Here are my tips for giving unforgettable feedback that works:

#1 Recognize how your team members prefer to receive feedback.

The easiest way to find out is simply to ask: “How do you prefer to receive feedback?” Some people prefer to receive feedback in person so they can have a discussion. Others may prefer to receive it in writing so they can reflect and process before taking the next steps toward improvement. By working with team members to deliver feedback in a format that’s preferable to them, you also improve morale by communicating that you care deeply about your team members and are sensitive to their working styles.

#2 Document any coaching sessions in writing.

I learned this strategy relatively early on in my career when I was having a problem with one of our managers. One evening, I discussed the issue with him face-to-face and thought I had done a pretty good job at delivering a tough but constructive message. To reinforce my points, I crafted a follow-up email, sent it, and intended to follow up again in the morning—but almost immediately, my phone rang. It was the same manager I had just spoken to, and after having seen my points in writing, he realized that the issues were more serious than he thought. We had breakfast early the next morning to help resolve any confusion.

This experience made me realize that we each had a vastly different understanding of the conversation, and my meaning became clear to my employee only after I had conveyed my ideas to him in writing. Now, whenever I have specific or difficult feedback to give, even if it starts in a meeting or over the phone, I make it a best practice to follow up with something in writing.

#3 Set and clarify the context for your feedback.

Team members’ responsibilities and your expectations of them should be perfectly clear. Talk to them. Coach them. Answer their questions. Their role should not be vague—and if it is, you should ask yourself, “What context did I fail to set?” This is another piece of wisdom I picked up from Patty McCord, the former Chief Talent Officer at Netflix. Says Patty, when giving feedback or mentoring, make sure you set the specific context for the feedback as it relates to your expectations of the team member. In other words, when they receive feedback, they should understand exactly why the feedback is constructive, congratulatory, etc.

#4 Create opportunities to identify and fix problems that are systemic.

I wrote about an experience I had when I discovered that employees of a particular department had given negative feedback in our team culture survey. This survey gathers high-level information about departmental performance. Because the metrics we look at in these surveys are systemic, not related to individuals, we are able to address overall issues rather than singling out any specific people, likely unfairly, as the root of the issue. This helps improve morale and performance among team members. When you create opportunities to fix larger issues like this, there will be less need to address challenges on the individual level.

#5 Find time to provide thorough feedback to make your own job easier.

Throughout my career, I’ve heard many managers complain that giving in-depth feedback takes too much time. But, trust me—the feedback you give will be worth it. The single most important thing you can do as a manager is to get the right people on the bus in a good environment. If you’re not providing feedback, you’re not creating that good, productive environment, and you’re potentially letting unseen problems fester. People don’t change if they don’t know something needs to be changed.

In the absence of feedback, team members and organizations aren’t optimized. Transparency and honest feedback, in real time, is the only way to go, and these five tactics will help you give feedback that works.

Gary Swart is the CEO of oDesk, a leading online workplace.