Giving Feedback
Dear Faculty Relations: Several colleagues have suggested that I could improve my approach to giving feedback. I appreciate their candor, and I’d like to do better. What can you suggest? —Fumbling with Feedback
Dear Fumbling: Appreciating and acting on this suggestion is a great first step. Importantly, it shows that you are yourself receptive to feedback.
Here are a few considerations:
- Why feedback? Consider your intention. Are you hoping to give your colleague information? To support them and their work? Might you be trying to flatter them to garner their support? It’s important to give feedback with a positive intention.
- Why now? Is it helpful to provide feedback now because the behavior is recent? Might it be better to wait until they’ve met that impending grant proposal deadline? Search for a time that is best for emotional regulation and constructive conversation.
- Focus on facts. The authors of "What Good Feedback Really Looks Like" (2019) describe a Situation-Behavior-Impact (S-B-I) approach to deliver feedback without judgment or generalization.
In this approach, you note the Situation in which the behavior occurred, describe the Behavior, and articulate the Impact that you experienced. Here’s the authors’ example: “In our staff meeting this morning while we were discussing strategies ... you interrupted Jessica while she was talking and said, “The idea will never work,” before she had the chance to finish. This left me feeling disappointed that I didn’t get to hear from more her, and I was intimidated about sharing my ideas with the group.” - Balance constructive feedback with positive reinforcement. For every piece of constructive advice we give, we might share five pieces of sincere and specific praise. It’s easy to see how the S-B-I approach might also be useful for structuring positive feedback: “I noticed your thoughtful encouragement to our team to recognize Michael’s contributions. I really appreciate that this nudged me to reach out to him directly and gave me details that I could include in my thanks. Because of you, I didn’t miss that opportunity.”
Staying curious leads to meaningful feedback and praise, and it helps us to relate to our colleagues as unique individuals.
Written by Merinda McLure, Director of Faculty and Academic Leadership Development, Office of Faculty Affairs