Constructive Conversations: How to Offer Feedback to a Colleague
Offering feedback can easily be categorised as ‘having difficult conversations’ and can be a delicate form of communication to broach for many. You might worry that you’ll hurt someone’s feelings, knock their confidence, or perhaps your own confidence needs some work, and you worry about how you’ll be perceived. While such conversations, especially in the workplace, can be tricky, having the ability to offer constructive feedback is an invaluable skill that can promote personal and professional growth, encourage a culture of open and honest conversation, and build trust.
Types of Feedback
Offering or receiving feedback can often be perceived as negative, but this isn’t necessarily the case. When we look at providing feedback, there are several different types, but most commonly, these can be divided into three categories:
Positive Feedback - This type focuses on what someone has done well. The aim is to reinforce great performance through appreciation, praise and support. Positive feedback can encourage more of the same great work and build confidence. But without addressing areas of improvement too, it could be perceived as insincere and may lead to complacency. It may also give the impression that you’re not paying close enough attention to the recipients work and therefore unable to provide more constructive/helpful feedback.
Negative Feedback - Negative feedback highlights what went wrong, communicating what a person did/managed/handled poorly or incorrectly. While this type of feedback acknowledges a problem and offers immediate correction in a circumstance when there could be serious consequences, it can be demotivating to the receiver and cause even cause panic or anxiety.
Constructive Feedback – Constructive feedback and negative feedback can sometimes be confused. However, constructive feedback addresses how someone can improve their work, as opposed to negative feedback, which doesn’t usually provide actionable steps. The goal of constructive feedback is to guide the recipient into better understanding and offering learning that will hopefully lead to making better choices the next time a similar situation arises.
Another common misconception about offering feedback is that it is solely the responsibility of managers or ‘higher-ups’. However, non-managerial colleagues can also provide valuable feedback to their peers where necessary. In fact, feedback from colleagues in the same role or at the same level can sometimes be more impactful, as it may resonate more with the recipient.
It's All in The Delivery
If you’ve identified areas for improvement and would like to offer constructive feedback to a colleague, it’s important to consider your delivery. Within every team and organisation there’ll be a diverse range of communication styles, meaning not every person will find it as beneficial to receive initial feedback via email, for example, and might instead prefer an in-person conversation.
There are various ways you can find out more about your colleagues’ feedback preferences. Some of these include direct conversations, questionnaires, feedback workshops, observation and simply .
The timing of your feedback is also something to be mindful of. In some circumstances, feedback should be delivered as soon as possible following an event, when details are still fresh in everyone’s mind. But if urgent action isn’t required and it’s a particularly busy or stressful day, then also take this into account, as well as being aware that if you’re in a public setting, it may also be best to deliver feedback when you’re back in private.
5 Tips for Offering Feedback
- Be Clear and Specific
Always aim to be clear and specific as to what needs to be worked on, and how this can be done. For instance, you may want to offer feedback on accuracy in reporting. One way you could be clear and specific in this circumstance would be to say, “Your reports are always done on time, which is great. However, I’ve noticed there are a few incorrect figures, specifically for August’s budget. Using X formula may work best for you here instead”.
- Focus on the Behaviour, Not the Person
Constructive feedback should focus on a person’s behaviour, rather than their personality. For example, rather than saying “You’re a late person”, you could frame this as “I’ve noticed that you’ve been arriving after the scheduled start time lately. Is there a way I can support you with resolving this?”.
- Use “I” Statements, Not “You”
Frequently using “You” statements can also be misunderstood and taken personally. “You seem to be struggling with your new responsibilities”, for example, could be much better received, as well as more helpful if flipped to, “Well done on your new promotion! However, I’ve noticed that the weekly deadlines for reporting are being missed. Would it be helpful for me to share some training opportunities with you to help with this?”.
- Be Empathetic
If feedback relates to a dip in performance, it’s important to consider potential underlying causes. Your recipient might be feeling overwhelmed by workplace changes or dealing with external, personal factors. While some colleagues may not feel comfortable an open book, acknowledging that these issues might be contributing and directing them to appropriate support can be very impactful. This approach shows empathy and may really help your team member through a rough patch.
- Offer Solutions and Support
A big part of constructive feedback involves offering solutions as to how someone can overcome an obstacle, or rather, how you can overcome an obstacle together. Assure your colleague that you are there to support them with what they’re struggling with, rather than leaving them to resolve this alone. Sometimes, this shared sense of responsibility and camaraderie can be all it takes to move forward.
