Three tips to make your feedback more useful

If you are taking the time to offer feedback – that’s great!  According to my research, nearly half of people say they do not receive enough feedback in their workplace. 

Are you offering the most useful type of feedback?

The table below gives you an overview of three different types of feedback you can offer in the workplace.  My insight resulting from years of coaching Leaders and working with their teams, is that many leaders believe they offer enough feedback, while their direct reports say they don’t receive enough feedback.

When I have dug deeper into the team dynamics, often the Leader is offering plenty of Acknowledgement feedback, but what the team actually craves is Evaluation and Guidance feedback.  In other words, ‘Good job’ on repeat, can become annoying to hear when what the team wants to know is where they stand and how they can improve.  If we look through the lens of promoting psychological safety, not knowing where you stand doesn’t feel very safe.