Six Principles of Effective Feedback

1. The giver and receiver must agree on the receiver’s goals. If I see a canoe instructor to get feedback on my whitewater skills, and he gives me feedback on my flat water skills, I will probably be frustrated and not receptive to the feedback. This is probably the most common problem in giving feedback.

2. The giver should emphasize description, not judgments. If I say to my child, “Don’t leave the kitchen a mess”, they will probably not be receptive to this feedback since it is a judgment. If I say, “Don’t leave your breakfast dishes in the sink”, they will probably be more open.

3. Both parties need to have positive motives. If my real goal is to put someone down or to blame them, my feedback will probably not effective. Often we are not really in touch with our motives and this lack of awareness hurts our effectiveness.

4. Emphasizing what works is more likely to be effective than emphasizing what does not work. Positive feedback is more effective than negative. The challenge is to “catch someone doing it right” and tell them about it.

5. Don’t avoid negative feedback, but give it with specific observations of what happened and the outcome that resulted. Negative feedback that is vague is almost certain to cause defensiveness.

6. Be sure the receiver is ready to receive feedback. Timing is critical

Adapted from Process Consultation Revisited by Edgar Schein (1999).

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