As we work through our personal and professional lives, many a times we have to let others know on their improvement areas and what they should be doing to improve upon those. Usually, it becomes a tough discussion which many of us try to avoid.
Over the years, I have had to give such negative feedback to a lot of people. Initially I used to shy away from it and try to weave it in a story which makes them feel better. I had heard in an HR training that negative feedback should be sandwiched in layers of positive feedback. However, I realised that if we give feedback like that, the intensity of it is toned down and many a time it doesn’t have the right impact. I have seen people walk away with what they thought was not a very negative feedback when they might be about to lose their jobs because of it.
So based on all my learnings till now, I have come to strongly believe that the negative feedback needs to be very clearly articulated. We need to give the feedback on its own with the right intensity and seriousness. We need to call out the implications few weeks or months down the line if the feedback is not worked upon. If the feedback is very small and just a small improvement areas, we may be able to say that it may hamper growth few years down the line but it is okay for now but we do need to say the implications and say it out aloud. If we don’t, the receiver just doesn’t understand whats happening and ends up unable to assimilate the true intent of the feedback. Also, we typically may give time for the negative feedback to be assimilated and then follow it up again with the right set of next steps or improvement plans. This helps the receiver understand that its not just feedback, but its a request to get better with all the support they need also available for them.
That said, I think I am still learning and there may still be better ways to do such things. I hope I get better at it and if I think of more interesting stuff to talk about, I will write those!