5.4.3 Feedback
Giving and receiving feedback is essential to effective communication as feedback lets the sender know how accurately a message is being received and whether the message must be changed. Also, feedback can be used in the workplace to provide people with information about their performance and other job related indicators. For example, many organisations now employ the measurement technique of 360-degree feedback. This is an approach that gathers information from many points around the employee: peers, subordinates, managers and self-review.
Different types of feedback are used in the workplace and each can elicit different responses from the receiver, either negative or positive. Consider the types of feedback in Table 5.8 in your textbook and take note of the techniques used to maximise the effectiveness of each type of feedback.
Schermerhorn (1995, p.370) and Robbins et al. (1997, p.618) also provide some general techniques for ensuring effective feedback:
- Give feedback directly and with real feeling, based on trust between you and the receiver.
- Make feedback specific rather than general, using good clear, and preferably recent examples.
- Give feedback at a time when the receiver is most willing or able to accept it and as soon after the event as possible. However, providing prompt feedback can backfire if you have insufficient information or if you are upset or emotional about the situation requiring feedback. In such cases a delayed reaction that allows you to collect the facts and calm down may be more appropriate.
- Make sure the feedback is valid and is limited to things the receiver can be expected to do something about.
- Give feedback in small doses: never give more than the receiver can handle at any particular time.
- Keep feedback goal-oriented by relating the feedback to the goals of the recipient rather than the goals of the sender.
- Ensure the recipient understands the feedback and the purpose of the feedback.
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