Whether you are a business owner, team leader, HR, or a manager, at some point in your life, you will have to deal with giving difficult feedback to your team members, employees, interns, or trainees. It is a part of the job and incremental for the overall growth of an individual.
I firmly believe that constructive feedbacks are one of the best ways to train someone to be better at their job.
It could be an assessment of a vital project task that you assign them, or it could be an offline task that requires them to put additional effort and demonstrate dedication. However, it is not going to be easy to give difficult feedback in our current situation, and yes, there are multiple reasons for you to be cautious.
- Negative feedback can have a demoralizing effect on the employee
- Some may become so de-motivated that their work may go from bad to worse
- Others may become defiant, terming such feedback too harsh
- They might get a few other employees to join their bandwagon, and in the process, those who were doing a good job might get ridiculed.
- It would only spread negativity amongst employees in the company affecting the overall work.
Human emotions are complex, and it is not easy to comprehend whether someone is taking your feedback constructively or negatively.
It is why you need to learn a few tricks on how to provide difficult feedback so subtly that your employees do not get to shrug it off as a mild remark, nor feel hurt. Here is what I suggest:
1. Don’t focus on the flaw
A time-tested solution for giving difficult feedback! People are more inclined to hold on to a praiseworthy talent in them. Here is an example, how you can frame difficult feedback:
“Hey, I liked this, and you did a splendid job with this too, but I wish this aspect were slightly better.”
See, you have made your point, and your employee is not likely to be unhappy with what you have said there. It will allow them to improve the negative aspect to get a better remark the next time. However, make sure that you are appreciating them honestly for the things done correctly, and not just saying it for the sake of covering the negative feedback. It is better to be genuine with your feedback.
2. Do not stockpile the issues
You have to understand that your employees are human, and they are not likely to make only one mistake or one type of error. There could be a dozen flaws in their work, but if you were to list these flaws and call them to discuss all the problems at one go, they would be appalled. Their self-questioning may go in the direction,
“Am I so bad?”
“I can’t do this job, and I don’t have the required skills.”
I would suggest addressing one issue at a time. Your employees will feel remain positive and keep up the productivity level. You have to give your feedback in real-time to correct their mistakes before getting habituated to making them again and again. It will help if you keep in mind that you do not need to dole out all the negative feedbacks in one go. It can be unnerving for the employee. After one negative feedback, you should appreciate the efforts they put in another task.
3. Don’t vent your frustration on that person
Whether you are a business owner or have worked in a company, by now, you would know that every team has a few laggards. It happens! You need to realize that this person might be a bit slow in taking things up. Or perhaps, he or she is much too soft a person. If you vent your frustration out on such a person, they will take it the wrong way. While you may be genuinely pointing the mistakes, they will take it as a personal attack.
I suggest that you give such employees a chance to explain the problems at their end. It will be easier to figure out why the mistake occurred and what actions they should take to avoid such issues. Perhaps there is another problem hiding out there, which needs your attention, and this is when it can come into focus.
Read More | Learn how to manage your Work-from-home Team here!
To sum it up
Do not forget that your employees are always scared of negative feedback, especially in recessionary times like we are facing.
With Covid-19 hitting the economy hard, holding on to jobs has become a priority for many. The CEOs, HRs, managers, and team leaders need to make the feedback sessions seem like friendly conversations, and at the end of each such meeting, lay to rest the unconfirmed fears of job loss, the employees would go out of their way to improve on their performances.
To discuss more on team management. Get in touch with me!