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Golden rules for effective feedback

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5th Aug 2009
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Peter Gill, director of Boreas Partnership (UK) Ltd, outlines how to give and receive professional feedback effectively.

In a recent article I dealt with the issue of assertiveness and explained why it is important for practice managers to assert themselves when giving feedback. In this article, I will summarise some of the golden rules for giving and receiving feedback in an effective and positive way.

The first (and arguably most important) rule of giving feedback is to praise in public and deal with poor performance in private. Poor performance should be discussed in a constructive spirit to avoid the creation of a ‘blame culture’, which ultimately has a negative impact for the overall business performance. The three key steps to giving effective feedback are:

  1. Know what positive outcome you wish to achieve. If you cannot see a positive outcome, then how will the recipient be able to take action to improve things at the end of the discussion?
     
  2. Make suggestions about alternatives but let the other person identify what action to take. Most people do not like being told what to do so avoid telling them unless they are unable to work out the next steps for themselves, in which case you may have to provide further guidance and coaching.
     
  3. Be clear about your motives. If your motivation in giving feedback is simply to vent your own feelings, do not do it. If the red mists have descended, take time out to calm down and to focus on the facts of the situation.

Troubleshooting

When discussing a problem it is better to focus on the facts of the case and not to become embroiled in a personal debate. The aim of the discussion should be to correct the fault, not to criticise the person. Being direct, specific and avoiding exaggeration allows this to happen.

For example, when providing feedback on a set of accounts containing mistakes, saying that the accounts were full of errors, omissions, or faults will not help the situation as much as stating specifically where the inaccuracies were and asking the person to review why they were incorrect and how they can improve next time.

Another key point is to listen to the other person and show you understand what they’re saying. Get their version of events by asking questions like ‘how do you see this?’, or ‘is that a fair description?’ Be patient, and don’t rush them or try to answer for them.

Help shy people by asking questions they can answer easily and guiding them gently towards stating their views. If you don’t understand an answer, ask more questions to clarify and don’t just jump to conclusions or make assumptions.

Offer and accept apologies ungrudgingly, if they are appropriate - poor performance will not improve if there is ill-will between manager and employee.

Accept feedback gracefully

It’s natural to be defensive when we feel we are being criticised, but it is up to the person giving the feedback to ensure they do it fairly. When receiving feedback, separate your natural dislike of being criticised from the valid points made about your performance. Do not make excuses that will not stand up to closer scrutiny. If an unfair general accusation is being levelled at you, ask for specific examples to be provided.

It is also worth noting how important it is to accept praise and be prepared to learn from it as well. Sometimes we hide from praise as we are almost embarrassed by it, but it’s an important part of the process of developing the confidence and posture to be assertive.

Want to know more? To discuss this and other practice development issues, join our ‘Developing your assets’ discussion group and share your views.

Peter Gill is director of the Boreas Partnership and author of a whitepaper entitled 'The seven most common mistakes made by accountancy firms and ten things you can do instantly to correct them'. Peter can be contacted via email at: [email protected]

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