How to Give Feedback that Improves Intelligence

For Good Performance

First check what the person did. Gather the facts. You can do this by asking colleagues and also the person themselves. Then give feedback that is accurate. Focus on explicitly identifying what the person did that made the work so good:

'This is excellent because you found a much quicker way of doing it that cut down the route by 50%'

'I am really pleased with the outcome of this project. It's come in below budget because you checked all the quotes carefully and questioned the ones you thought were high.'

'This report was very well received by the directors because the summary was clear and concise. I know you checked it with Rick before finalising it and that proved to be well worthwhile.'

Being so specific makes it clear what the person did that was so effective so that they can do it again. It also tells them, in a subtle way, that they are in control of their achievements. What they do makes a difference.

Another way to do this is to ask the person themselves so that they have to work it out. This, in my view, is the most effective technique. Here are some questions to use. Modify them to suit your own situation:

• What was the objective?
• What happened?
• What do you think you did that meant you achieved this with a week to spare?
• How did you come in so far under budget?
• What did you do that made the customer so happy?
• When things have not gone well
• In this case investigate first, and then you can again ask questions like these:
• What was the objective?
• What happened?
• What happened to delay the shipment?
• What was the budget?
• What were the final costs?
• What were the events that lead up to the extra expenditure?
• What is your plan for dealing with this kind of situation next time?
• What will you do differently?
• What else could you do?

The most effective route

When you ask questions effectively, there is usually no need for you to give any feedback at all yourself as the other person will do it all themselves. This is a much more effective way of improving a person's performance than telling them what to do.

This feedback makes it clear that there is something the person can do themselves to change the situation. In this way, you help the person to improve their performance and it is clear that they are in control and can alter their performance.

What to avoid

Statements that imply a person's abilities are fixed:

• You are no good at this
• You are useless
• You are stupid
• You are really good at this
• You are brilliant

Initially you would think that the last two statements would be really motivating and helpful. They are for a very short time. The trouble is that when a person who is 'brilliant' at something runs into a problem and doesn't know what to do about it, this shatters the image of being brilliant and they have no strategy for resolving the problem.

Statements like:

'You have put in a lot of effort on this' (when you don't know)

'You took a lot of care doing this' (when you don't know)

This can be damaging because if you are wrong, the feedback becomes empty and useless, and also devalues other feedback that you give. This feedback does not tell them what they are really doing that makes the difference, so is of no use.

For more information on how to give feedback easily and effectively have a look at my booklet:

Feedback for the Faint-Hearted

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