Giving Negative Feedback

Negative feedback is always difficult to give, it is even harder to receive. Follow these top ten tips and it will be received in a suitable way, and remember to do this in private:

1.    Acknowledge the person

·         Adopt the attitude that this individual is doing the best that they can with the resources that they have available to them.

2.    Declare your commitment to them

·         Clearly state that you want the best for them, that they are important and that you personally support them.

3.    Set the right environment

·         Negative feedback should always be in private and when both parties (you and they) are not in a highly emotional state.

4.    Appeal to shared goals

·         Clarify the shared goals (in respect of the feedback you are giving them) and ensure that they both understand and agree that these are valid and shared goals.

5.    Present the facts, don’t generalise

·         Words like “never”, “always”, “less than”, “more than” are not to be used.

6.    Focus on behaviour, not personality

·         Be specific about what the person did, or did not do, exactly the words used. Avoid any pre-judgment or inflammatory words.

7.    Present the impact – how it made me feel

·         Be specific about the impact on the business, other people or yourself. Share your personal feelings about the impact.

8.    Highlight inconsistency with goals

·         Be clear that the behaviour is not aligned with achieving the shared goals.

9.    Present the consequences

·         Specifically tell them about the consequences of their behaviour. What did happen as a result and what will happen should they continue.

10. Describe the behaviour you want

·         Specifically tell them the behaviour they should have instead.