CONSTRUCTIVE FEEDBACK

How to give, receive, and request

for maximum effect and minimum stress

By Howard Rokofsky
howard@rokofsky.com
www.rokofsky.com

PRAGUE BRAINSTORMING GROUP

 Why Give Feedback?

• Shows your attention to someone and their performance

• Signals appreciation for a job well done 
• Redirects undesirable behavior 
• Points out a more productive behavior  
• Contributes to others’ development
• Motivates and inspire others to higher levels of performance
• Strengthens rapport
• Fosters communication and enhance teamwork
Overcome your fear of giving feedback
• You worry that giving feedback will strain the relationship
• You assume that the person cannot handle feedback
• You recall previous instances when someone resisted feedback
• You feel that the person is stubborn
• You fear an awkward or even volatile situation
3 Main Types of Feedback
1. Praise (Compliments)
2. Probing
3. Corrective
4 Types of Corrective Feedback
1. Evaluative
2. Interpretive
3. Supportive
4. Understanding
4(a) Steps For Offering Constructive Feedback

(a) Mention something positive/encouraging to start

1. Say what you observed (facts only)
2. Outline the result of what you saw (facts only)
3. Make suggestions
4. Outline the positive result (benefits) of your suggestions
 Example – offering feedback following
observing a sales interview

(a) Mention something positive/encouraging to start

1. Say what you observed (facts only)
2. Outline the result of what you saw (facts only)
3. Make suggestions
4. Outline the positive result (benefits) of your suggestions
 How to ask for and receive feedback?

1. Request a feedback session

2. Ask for specific information
3. Confirm understanding
4. Request suggestions for corrective behavior/action
5. Confirm understanding
 What makes feedback effective?

• When shared frequently and in context

• Aims to achieve a specific outcome 
• Realistic in its expectations 
• It shows respect for the receiver  
• A two-way conversation
• Expressed as a point of view, rather than an absolute truth
• When it expresses an opportunity for follow-up
 Feedback situations

1. A colleague did not complete their share of the task on time

2. Telling a partner that he/she has been doing things incorrectly
3. A colleague criticized your performance in the coffee room
4. A friend asked you for a contact, and then cheated that contact
5. Someone is late for work, day after day
6. Your direct report interrupted the meeting repeatedly with trivial matters
“If we were supposed to talk more than we listen, we
would have been born with two mouths and one ear”

-Mark Twain