Feedback Power

From my experience, qualitative feedback can lift a person to the sky, show him/her new horizons and points of growth, show him/her something that perhaps he/she would never notice in himself/herself without help and prompting. Show strengths and weaknesses (it is really necessary and useful for a person to know). Poor or inappropriate feedback, on the contrary - can kill all the motivation to work in a team, to make in a person insecurity and fear of making a mistake.

I say this because I think it is highly important. Feedback opened horizons for me just the same - I've received it in the right place at the right time. Feedback is especially important when a person is just starting out in the field and may not know their strengths, as well as at the beginning of teamwork to correct some points and understand the comfort level of the person himself.

On the one hand, it is necessary to give the right feedback so that the person can actually use it, so that it is valuable and useful for him or her. So on the other hand, it's very important to ask for feedback and work with it (if your team just doesn't have those discussions).

- Mid/late probationary line
- By once a month (1-on-1 conversation)
- After completion of key points on the project
- On demand
- Perhaps before discussing new directions or tasks that the person will be facing

Any feedback should be given to the person alone, without other people from the team. Often HR is allowed to be present and they can also give feedback, but the number of people present should be minimal.

The criterion for the quality of the feedback is that the feedback advances the person's goals. The person's goals should be clear to the supervisor, this will help determine what communication will be relevant.

Feedback can also help in the appropriation of experience (an outside supervisor can note some aspects that will be helpful to the person, from which they can benefit).

Feedback can be positive, negative, and neutral. And many different variations in between. It is very important to keep a balance of pros and cons.

How not to give feedback?
- Without argumentation
- Superficially
- Without context

I prefer 'soft' feedback, with discussion of various options for improvement if needed. I also try to get feedback from people I actually cross paths with on the job who can provide it, as well as opinions from people who are important to me.

At one place of work, they gave me detailed feedback at the end of the probationary period. And it was not just the opinion of the manager, who by the way can assess very differently, it was a whole process - hr sent out a google form to all the people who work with the person for whom you want an assessment. All people evaluated the work according to criteria (including how comfortable it was to work with a person), I think there were detailed questions (I do not remember exactly). As a result, the person got detailed feedback from the whole team. In my opinion, that is very cool. It is not some one-sided opinion.

I rarely see that in companies, even with well-established processes. Most often, feedback is given if a person fails to cope with the tasks. But rarely do I see a manager asking after six months/years how much the person likes the current project tasks, how they correspond to his or her long-term goals. As a result, it often happens when a person decides to leave the team, it comes as a complete surprise to everyone.

I myself am learning to give feedback that will be helpful, and to ask for feedback from the team (and not just about someone, but about any changes in processes, etc.). It's important, like keeping your finger on the pulse.

If you only start your career don't hesitate to ask feedback to understand your strengths and and points of growth.

Be attentive to the people on the team, take an interest in them, give feedback, remember to highlight their strengths, and build your Dream Team.