Feedback

Each of us loves what we individually are. We strongly believe in our strengths and try to ignore our weaknesses. Perhaps, overestimation of our strengths and typical underestimation of our weaknesses could lead us to less than satisfactory career, and life, in general. Fortunately, we have family, friends, and colleagues, for example to see what we actually are. In other words, people see us differently than our own self. It is not a surprise to see a wide gap between self-perception and others genuine opinion or assessment of us.

Feedback help us to bridge the gap between our perception and others to reduce, if not eliminate, our weakness. Feedback helps to make us much better both professional and personal lives, Rather, self-doubt amplifies your weaknesses and rarely leads to problem-solving, all the while strengthening your inner critic and continuing to be too critical with yourself all around.

Nevertheless, one should have an open mind to accept and implement those bits of advice from our dear ones. It is never easy to accept weakness or shortcomings and change ourselves. Perhaps, our ego or pride may come in between to prevent us to become better persons. It is the humility and deeply imbibing the idea that nobody is perfect that helps everyone to become a better person and create a better world.

Constructive criticism

Constructive criticism is a form of feedback that helps other to change their behavior, for example. The constructive criticism is never intended to hurt someone’s feeling rather is a genuine concern to see the other person to change for better.

Further. It can be very useful to clarify the reason for giving feedback before doling it out. Here we will explain five different types of feedback and ideas for handling each type.

Evaluation Feedback

Evaluation Feedback is the most common that you will find in the workplace. It is also the least helpful. Evaluation feedback comes at the end, when the performance year is over, after a weeklong class is over or project completion, for example. Sure, it is helpful for all us to gauge how we did, and we may use evaluation feedback to improve next time. However, why not give and get feedback when we can learn from it real time?

Real-Time Performance Feedback generally comes from a boss or someone whose own success depends on you. While it may be couched as an observation or something for you to think about, when someone shares performance feedback, they intend for you to change your behavior.

It is helpful to get clarifying information when you think that you are receiving performance feedback. Perhaps, you want to know what exactly would you to stop or start doing. Once you get the feedback, make the change!

Keep in mind that unless you are in a position of authority, it is not your place to give evaluation feedback.

Fine-Tuning

This feedback comes from people who think you are generally doing a good job, but they see an opportunity for you to get even better by tweaking a behavior or two.

The key to giving fine-tuning feedback is to share the impact a behavior has on you or others. The giver is not necessarily trying to control or change you. By sharing how your behavior is affecting them – they give the receiver the opportunity to change.

Feed-Forward

It involves making suggestions before, rather than waiting for them to fail at something and giving negative feedback later. For example,

Slap Upside the Head

Only very good friends can give slap upside the head feedback.  Very personal feedback should only shared because you care about someone and are concerned. In his book, Who’s Got Your Back, Keith Ferrazzi gives some great examples of this feedback along with the assertion that we all desperately need people in our lives that care enough to give it.

One cannot use slap upside the head feedback with the intent of controlling or even changing for the sake of the person giving the feedback. They speak up because they know where you want to be and see that you are getting in your own way.

While giving feedback one should think through what he or she want to achieve and give appropriate, practical, and useful feedback. Nonetheless, do not use the feedback for a personal gain. Feedback reflects a genuine concern between two parties to build a better individual one can be.