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Learning At Work Week - A guide on giving feedback

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This slideshow was used for my formative feedback workshop at the JALT 2008 International Teaching and Learning Conference in Tokyo, Japan

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Points To Discuss With Learners - The Importance of Feedback

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Points To Discuss With Learners - The Importance of Feedback

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Leeds Building Capacity Project animated roadmap

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Academic E-Learning Module

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How to Give Feedback - E-Learning Modules

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What makes good feedback

Feedback should be a dialogue rather than one-way communication. It should clearly link to the learning outcomes and encourage students to reflect on their learning.

Good feedback has a positive impact on the person receiving it:

it encourages attention to the assessment task - by focusing the student's effort on the task,

it motivates the student to continue to work - by encouraging them to do the best they can,

it provides evidence of existing good practice - so the student knows what and why they have done well,

clarifies the expected standards - for the piece of assessment

signposts where and how to improve.

A constructive feedback dialogue enables the student to take control of their own assessment by making them active participants in the process, not simply the recipients of it.

What should be included?

Feedback needs to explicitly state

what was done well (or badly) and why

where there is room for improvement and why

what steps to take to improve

Good feedback is fair, honest and clear. The feedback wording, the mark and the aspects of the work the feedback refers to, need to be aligned or consistent.

Reflecting the language of the assessment criteria in your feedback, and ensuring your comments are linked to the areas identified in the rubric, will help students to see how you have come to the grade awarded.

It is important to note what was done well. Many students find it hard to self-assess and so cannot identify for themselves where they have done well which can makes them unable to repeat their success in these areas.

When suggesting what to improve, it is good practice to pick out no more than three aspects of the work. Giving students a longer list can lead to them just 'shutting down' and ignoring all your advice.

These three aspects should:

be the key things that would make a difference to the quality of the work

be achievable within the students' time and other work constraints

refer to material which the student can reasonably access.

Ways to provide feedback

Feedback can be provided to students in a wide variety of ways. Students respond differently to feedback in different formats, think about using a combination of approaches to provide both individual and generic feedback.

In a lecture provide verbal general feedback and post the ReCap recording on Blackboard.

Generic feedback or common mistakes posted in a document on Blackboard.

Audio recordings can be made, edited and uploaded quickly and easily at your desk through PCap, the personal capture version of ReCap.

Blackboard tests allow general feedback to be written ahead of the assignment which are automatically applied to incorrect answers.

GradeMark enables you to build a bespoke library of feedback comments for a given module or assignment which can be quickly and easily added to the work. GradeMark is an efficient way of marking online which is well received by students.

Individual verbal feedback in a tutorials can expand on the written comments on an assessed piece of work.

Students can give each other feedback through peer assessment exercises, which encourages students to be reflexive.

How LTDS can help:

We can provide one-on-one advice and guidance for staff on providing high quality feedback. Contact us at ltds@ncl.ac.uk.

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Feedback should be a dialogue rather than one-way communication. It should clearly link to the learning outcomes and encourage students to reflect on their learning.

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This is very general, worth a read as contains some valid key points.

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Feedback can be a difficult business. When it is used in the right way, it can be one of the most effective strategies to improve learning, according to The Sutton Trust. But research also suggests that, if handled badly, it can do more harm than good.

We all want our feedback to be encouraging and constructive, yet it can be misinterpreted as judgement and criticism. So how you save yourself - and your students - from potentially damaging comments?

When a student has repeatedly struggled, it is tempting - and natural - to want to heap lots of praise on them when they achieve some level of success, no matter how small it is. But this can actually do more harm than good. For starters, insincere praise is easy to detect and can be massively off-putting. What's more, too much praise can convey a sense of low expectation and, as a result, can be demotivating.

Teenagers care a lot about what their peers think of them. Constructive feedback given in front of others, even if it is well-intended, can be read as a public attack on them and their ability. This can lead to students developing a fear of failure and putting up a front.

One way to overcome this is what author Doug Lemov calls private individual correction. This limits the attention drawn to the feedback while getting the message across clearly. This is similar to the technique he calls the whisper correction - the feedback technically takes place in public, but the pitch and tone of voice is designed to be heard only by the individual receiving it.

It is far better to focus your feedback on a student's individual development and improvement rather than comparing them to their classmates (or anyone else, for that matter). A recent study found that being positively compared to others can lead to narcissistic behaviour. This sort of comparison can also reduce motivation and result in lower confidence, emotional control, academic performance and increased anxiety.

When we say something is "good", we often assume that people will know exactly what about it was good. This is not always the case - especially when you're talking to teenagers, who, as a result of their brain restructuring, can find it harder to understand other people's perspectives and thought processes. The more detailed and specific your feedback is, the better, to remove any ambiguity. Rather than "good work", say "The way you did X was really good."

Praising effort instead of intelligence increases intrinsic motivation and provides a template for students to follow next time. Researchers have found that the type of praise children receive drives the type of feedback they seek out themselves. In this study, 86% of children who had been praised for their natural ability asked for information about how their peers did on the same task. Only 23% of children who had been praised for effort asked for this type of feedback, with the vast majority of them asking for feedback about how they could do better.

The problem with closed questions - "Were you nervous before the exam?" - is that if the answer is no, the conversation can grind to a halt. You may find out that the student wasn't nervous, but you won't find out what they were actually feeling (sad, angry, not bothered, tired and so on). Open questions - "How were you feeling in the morning of the exam?" - encourage pupils to tell their stories and develop ownership of the situation.

But you should aim for a combination of open and closed questions in your feedback, along with statements. Closed statements are useful for conveying key information and keeping the conversation focused.

This is one of the key points from the What Makes Great Teaching report. Any feedback that doesn't lead to a change in behaviour change is redundant - there must be a point to it. What do you want them to do differently? What are they going to do after the conversation to improve? The more detailed and specific the action points, the better.
Follow us on Twitter via @GuardianTeach. Join the Guardian Teacher Network for lesson resources, comment and job opportunities, direct to your inbox

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Seven ways to give better feedback to your students

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Feedback can be a difficult business. When it is used in the right way, it can be one of the most effective strategies to improve learning, according to The Sutton Trust. But research also suggests that, if handled badly, it can do more harm than good.

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"Explicit disagreement is better than implicit misunderstanding."

"It doesn't matter how much authority or power a feedback giver has; the receivers are in control of what they do and don't let in, how they make sense of what they're hearing, and whether they choose to change. Pushing harder rarely opens the door to genuine learning. The focus should not be on teaching feedback givers to give. The focus-at work and at home-should be on feedback receivers, helping us all to become more skillful learners. The real leverage is creating pull. Creating pull is about mastering the skills required to drive our own learning; it's about how to recognize and manage our resistance, how to engage in feedback conversations with confidence and curiosity, and even when the feedback seems wrong, how to find insight that might help us grow. It's also about how to stand up for who we are and how we see the world, and ask for what we need. It's about how to learn from feedback-yes, even when it is off base, unfair, poorly delivered, and frankly, you're not in the mood."

More quotes...

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"Explicit disagreement is better than implicit misunderstanding." "It doesn't matter how much authority or power a feedback giver has; the receivers are in control of what they do and don't let in, how they make sense of what they're hearing, and whether they choose to change.

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A few stats for you (from OfficeVibe 2017):

39% of employees report that they don't feel appreciated at work while 98% of people will fail to be engaged when they receive little or no feedback.

But...

65% of people said they wanted more feedback at work while 78% of people said being recognised motivates them in their job.

Also, we find that the keyto unlocking potential and efficiency is three-fold (according to Towards Maturity's "Unlocking Potential" 2016 Benchmark Report) and it includes:

1. Gathering Feedback

2. Measuring Impact

3. Communicating Success

Feedback does not always have to come from above. It can also come from below, or from the side. Take a look at your seniors and juniors, managers and partners, and ask yourself just one question:

"What one piece of feedback/advice to someone may help me get my job done better or make my life a lot easier?"

Don't wait for someone to come to you - take the first step.

Some Tips:
Giving Feedback in the Workplace (less than 2 mins): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Id_uG8Djdsc 5 Steps to Giving Good Feedback (3-min read): https://www.themuse.com/advice/5-steps-to-giving-good-feedback

Published By

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A few stats for you (from OfficeVibe 2017): 39% of employees report that they don't feel appreciated at work while 98% of people will fail to be engaged when they receive little or no feedback. But...

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Check Your Motives

Before giving feedback, remind yourself why you are doing it. The purpose of giving feedback is to improve the situation or the person's performance. You won't accomplish that by being harsh, critical or offensive.

You'll likely get much more from people when your approach is positive and focused on improvement. That's not to say feedback always has to be good, but it should be fair and balanced. Use tools like the Feedback Matrix and the Losada Ratio to help you get the exact balance right. (Note that the statistics behind the Losada Ratio are in doubt but the principle is not.)

Be Timely

The closer to the event you address the issue, the better. Feedback isn't about surprising someone, so the sooner you do it, the more the person will be expecting it. Think of it this way: it's much easier to provide feedback about a single, one-hour job that hasn't been done properly than it is to do so about a whole year of failed, one-hour jobs.

Take a look at our article How to Deliver On-the-Spot Feedback to help you judge the right time.

Make It Regular

Feedback is a process that requires constant attention. When something needs to be said, say it. People then know where they stand all the time and there will be few surprises. Also, problems don't get out of hand. It's not a once-a-year or a once-every-three-month event. Though this may be the timing of formal feedback; informal, simple feedback should be given much more often than this - perhaps every week or even every day, depending on the situation.

With frequent, informal feedback like this, nothing said during formal feedback sessions should be unexpected, surprising or particularly difficult.

Prepare Your Comments

You don't want to read a script, but you do need to be clear about you are going to say. This will help you to stay on track and stick to the issues.

Be Specific

Tell the person exactly what he needs to improve. This ensures that you stick to facts and there is less room for ambiguity.

If you tell someone that she acted unprofessionally, what does that mean exactly? Was she too loud, too friendly, too casual, too flippant or too poorly dressed?

Remember to stick to what you know first hand: you'll quickly find yourself on shaky ground if you start giving feedback based on other people's views.

Criticize in Private

While public recognition is appreciated, public scrutiny is not.

Establish a safe place to talk where you won't be interrupted or overheard.

Use "I" Statements

Give feedback from your perspective . This way you avoid labeling the person.

Say, "I was angry and hurt when you criticized my report in front of my boss" rather than "You were insensitive yesterday."

Limit Your Focus

A feedback session should discuss no more than two issues. Any more than that and you risk the person feeling attacked and demoralized.

You should also stick to behaviors he can actually change or influence.

Talk About Positives Too

A good rule is to start off with something positive. This helps put the person at ease. It will also allow her to "see" what success looks like and what steps she needs to take next time to get it right.

Try to end on a high note, too. Otherwise, she may be left feeling despondent and worthless.

Provide Specific Suggestions

Make sure you both know what needs to be done to improve the situation. The main message should be that you care and want to help the person grow and develop. Set goals and make plans to monitor and evaluate his progress. Use the SMART acronym and define specific steps and milestones, or the GROW model to motivate him to deliver the change that you want.

Follow Up

The whole purpose of feedback is to improve performance. You need to measure whether or not that is happening and then make adjustments as you go. Be sure to document your conversations and discuss what is working and what needs to be modified.

Infographic

See our infographic of a popular feedback tool, the CEDAR™ Feedback Model.

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Giving Feedback - Boosting Your People's Confidence and Ability

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Before giving feedback, remind yourself why you are doing it. The purpose of giving feedback is to improve the situation or the person's performance. You won't accomplish that by being harsh, critical or offensive. You'll likely get much more from people when your approach is positive and focused on improvement.

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Collaborative Feedback: The CEDAR™ Feedback Model

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This Infographic illustrates how you can use the CEDAR™ Feedback Model to create a culture of feedback based on collaboration and trust.

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Feedback that is constructive is vital to employees' ongoing development. Feedback clarifies expectations, helps people learn from their mistakes and builds confidence. Positive feedback is easy - it's not hard to find the right words to tell someone they've done a good job, or congratulate them on meeting a sales target. When things are going well it can be easy to become complacent about giving praise but stopping and smelling the roses is important to build employee confidence and encourage a culture in which employees nurture and support one another. However, giving negative feedback is not so easy. It's human nature to put off difficult conversations or to try and soften the blow however the problem with doing this is that the issue is not addressed, the problem compounds and eventually you find yourself dealing with a much bigger problem. Like all things, practice makes perfect when it comes to providing feedback. Feedback should be spontaneous and regular. For more serious issues a formal meeting is appropriate or a discussion as part of performance review, but building feedback into your day to day encounters with employees is a great way to develop rapport, and encourage an environment in which people feel comfortable to give and receive feedback. Constructive feedback is one of the best things managers can provide to their employees. When delivered properly it can, reinforce positive behavior, correct any negative performance and ensure a strong culture remains in your team. Some managers, however, are reluctant to provide constructive feedback, thinking that it may turn negative or be perceived as a harsh criticism by the employee. HR Central regular Contributor Sarah Tidy revisits previous HR Central Blogs on how to provide constructive feedback - without the anxiety to both giver and givee!
How to provide constructive feedback without the anxiety!

Act immediately

Feedback is best given shortly after you've observed the behavior or event. Don't wait weeks or even months to pull someone up after a bad incident or observed behaviour. Depending on the severity, perhaps it can wait until your weekly meeting to broach the subject. However, if the incident was more severe, address it as soon as possible. Make sure you are properly prepared beforehand so you can provide solid, actionable feedback. The same goes for positive reinforcement - praise your employee's work in a timely manner. Productive feedback means giving it frequently.

Pick the right time and place to provide the feedback

Picking the right time and place is essential in providing feedback to your employee. How serious is the matter? Do you need to schedule a formal meeting to discuss the issue or can you have an informal chat in the tearoom? Wherever you decide to talk, make sure it's private so you can have an open and honest conversation without worrying about others overhearing you.

Be specific and use examples

No one likes receiving vague feedback. For example telling an employee he has lousy people skills is neither constructive nor effective. Make sure you prepare some specific examples of the behavior or incident you observed. Explain the effects it has had on you and/or the team. By providing clear suggestions as to how the employee could do things differently will help foster a positive relationship with the employee for the future.

Avoid negative language

Avoid using negative phrases that discourage and exclude, such as "You shouldn't ...," and "I don't think..." when speaking. This kind of language puts people on the defensive. This may cause the employee to shut down, ignoring and disregarding your feedback. Always try to be encouraging and use phrases that start with "Maybe you could try...", or "Have you considered doing...?"
Use positive language
When we receive feedback using positive language, it stimulates our brain and leaves us open to taking on new ways of learning. Try to give at least as much positive feedback as you do negative. Providing only negative feedback can turn on the threat response in people's minds and defensiveness may set in. You don't need to avoid negative feedback altogether- many times you have to address negative behaviour when giving feedback- just make sure you follow it up with a suggested solution or outcome. It has to be clear from the start that you're providing this feedback to help the other person - not to hurt or embarrass them.

The Importance of Feedback in the Workplace

Feedback from the Frontline. You need to hear this...

The do's and don'ts for providing feedback

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The Importance of Feedback in the Workplace | HR Central

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Feedback that is constructive is vital to employees' ongoing development. Feedback clarifies expectations, helps people learn from their mistakes and builds confidence. Positive feedback is easy - it's not hard to find the right words to tell someone they've done a good job, or congratulate them on meeting a sales target.

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Providing feedback to your employees can be difficult, especially if that feedback isn't positive.

How do you provide feedback to your employees? Here are the do's and don'ts for providing feedback to your employees...

Some employers opt to provide negative feedback in the form of a 'feedback sandwich' providing positive, negative and then positive feedback again. This acts to 'soften the blow' for what the employer actually wants to tell the employee. However, this can come across as insincere and confusing for an employee who is being provided with the feedback.

So how do you provide feedback?

Positive feedback

Providing praise for your employees when its due is an integral part of ensuring that your employees stay engaged and motivated. Telling your employees when they have done something well shows your employees that you value their efforts, dedication and commitment to the business. Praising your employees also promotes and endorses the displayed behaviour which means it is more likely to be repeated.

Small gestures of appreciation and acknowledgement can go a long way in increasing motivation, performance and at its greatest reach, employee morale and culture.

So how can you provide positive feedback to your employees?

Timing - Tell the employee right away when they do something well, don't wait

Frequency - Don't just provide praise because you feel like you have to. Be genuine and don't overdo it.

Be Specific - Provide an example of what was done well so that your employee understands what they did well. A simply 'good job' can come across as vague and insincere.

Communicate it - Make sure that other employees also know when someone is doing a fantastic job, this will show other employees what the desired performance/behaviour is. Small gestures of appreciation and acknowledgement can go a long way in increasing motivation, performance and even employee morale and culture.

Constructive Feedback

So how do you provide constructive feedback? And yes there is a very clear reason that we refer to this as 'constructive feedback' rather than 'negative feedback'. You should never just provide your employees with negative comments, instead you should try to let your employees know where they may have fallen short and how they could do better next time.

Providing constructive feedback is an important and often absent part of effective performance management.

So here are the key things to remember...

Choose the right setting - Ensure that you are in a private space, away from other employees and colleagues. Public shaming or drawing attention to poor performance reflects poorly on you as a manager.
This can also have a detrimental affect on the employee, and those that can hear the conversation.

Describe and clarify the specific situation - Tell the employee how the performance/behaviour was not up to the expected standard. Explain to the employee what they did and how they did it.

Describe the impact of the behaviour - How did this affect the business, clients or their co-workers.

Tell your employee what the desired outcome was - How could the employee handle the situation better or how could they have meet your expectations.

Providing feedback and managing your staff can be difficult but HR Central is here to help. Give us a call at 1300 717 721.

You may also be interested Maximising productivity in the workplace

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The do's and don'ts for providing feedback | HR Central

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How do you provide feedback to your employees? Here are the do's and don'ts for providing feedback to your employees... Some employers opt to provide negative feedback in the form of a 'feedback sandwich' providing positive, negative and then positive feedback again. This acts to 'soften the blow' for what the employer actually wants to tell the employee.

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When I mediate teams in conflict, or help a manager improve their team's performance, one of the things I most often find is that there is a lack of empathy between people.

This inability or unpreparedness to step into the other person's shoes means that what should be a straightforward discussion ends up getting way out of control. The end result? Organisations spending money on specialists like me and my colleagues to come in and help turn things around.

But it needn't be that way.

At a time when budgets are becoming even tighter, helping managers improve how they handle different situations could make a big difference. Not just to performance but also to the level of employee commitment and engagement.

One of the most important activities of managers and leaders is giving feedback to their staff. Get this right and employee motivation, morale and performance can go from strength to strength. Get this wrong and you'll have unhappy staff who are unlikely to improve performance and who may well be looking for a role elsewhere.
Helpful research, published in the December 2017 edition of the Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, explores the impact of how leaders give negative feedback.
The research

The American research team explored the extent to which a leader displaying empathic concern would impact the recipient's response to that feedback, along with the subsequent promotability of that leader. The researchers suggest that,
"Leader empathic concern helps employees cope with performance feedback and therefore, impacts their emotional reactions to the event."
The research was split into two separate but complementary studies.
Study one
177 people participated in this study. Participants were recruited via Amazon's Mechanical Turk (MTurk), an online marketplace for work.

A video based scenario was used, showing a leader providing negative feedback. Part one of the video, which all participants watched, showed a leader giving them negative feedback.

For part two of the video, participants were split into two groups (with one operating as the control group). Those in the experiment group watched the final bit of negative feedback with the displaying empathic concern. The control group watched the final bit of negative feedback without the leader displaying empathic concern.
Study two
360-degree feedback was gathered on 306 leaders, from Canada, on a leadership development programme.

The researchers were interested in how variable leaders were in how they were seen to give negative feedback. They were also interested in how promotable leaders were, in relation to their use of empathic concern when giving negative feedback.

Key concepts used

Affective events theory (AET): The physical and emotional reactions a person has in response to work events influences their attitudes and behaviour. For more on this, see the 1996 work of Howard Weiss and Russell Cropanzano.

Empathic concern: A focus on the other person with genuine care and concern for their welfare, underpinned by kindness and interpersonal warmth. See C.Daniel Batson's 2011 book, Altruism in Humans, for more on this.

Four dimensions of empathy: Mark Davis (1983) identified four different aspects of empathy. These are (i) empathic concern (ii) personal distress (iii) fantasy and (iv) perspective taking.

Model of leader emotion management behaviour: The specific behaviours that a leader uses to prevent negative emotions in others (e.g. tactful messaging) which are different from those used to elicit positive emotions (e.g. providing support). See the study by Kaplan et al (2014) for more on this.

Reappraisal: A relatively stable tendency for people to reframe how they think about a potentially emotion-inducing situation in order to manage any emotional impact. See Richard Lazarus' and Elizabeth Alfert's 1964 work on this.

The findings
Study one findings

1. People who received negative feedback from a leader displaying empathic concern reacted more positively than those receiving negative feedback without. However, the decrease in negative reactions was not that different between the two groups.

2. Reappraisal had little impact on how positively or negative a person responded to the feedback received. Nor did it have an impact on how a person would rate the leader's effectiveness at giving feedback.

3. Those who responded positively to the feedback saw the leader as being more effective at giving feedback than those who responded negatively. The leader's display of empathic concern had more of an effect on the ratings of those who reacted positively.

Study two findings

The quality of negative feedback given to a person has a strong link to how promotable that leader is seen as being. This is made even stronger when empathic concern is shown to be high.
"The fact that empathic concern increases positive affect suggests that it is particularly important for determining what an employee decides to do with the feedback that he or she receives"
Implications and suggestions

Leaders and their relationship with their staff has a big impact on performance. The ability to give negative feedback well can make a difference. When empathy is added in to the mix, it seems this can make a significant difference in how that employee then goes on to use that feedback.

Recruiting into leadership roles: For HR teams, this is an opportunity to think about the approaches you use when recruiting people into leadership roles. If the ability to give negative feedback well is a key factor in employee performance, commitment and turnover then it must make sense to hire people who can do this in an empathic way. Role play simulations can be a good way to surface this during recruitment.

Talent management: All too often, I come across people who've ended up in leadership positions because of their technical expertise and not their managerial or leadership qualities. This is where learning and development teams can help. By clarifying the skills and qualities needed to be a successful leader, this can help those recruiting into leadership roles select the best people who exhibit those qualities.

Leadership development: Empathy is a key component of emotional intelligence (EQ) and a good leadership development programme will have EQ at its heart. A really effective way for leaders to develop and strengthen their EQ is through 360-degree feedback. One organisation I worked with ended up using 'graduates' of their leadership programme to run 360-degree feedback meetings with subsequent cohorts. This is a great way to hone feedback skills. More importantly, it enables the leader to empathise as they have sat where the feedback recipient has sat and therefore, know how vulnerable 360 can make a person feel.

Feedback culture: In the work I do with organisations, one of the key things I emphasise is that it is as important for staff to know how to receive feedback as it is for leaders to be able to give it well. Workshops on giving and receiving feedback can assist in creating the right kind of mindset. Role modelling by leaders can also help in creating a feedback culture. For example, a leader asking employees for feedback at the beginning of 121 discussions along the lines of "How have I helped you this month? How have I hindered you this month? What can I do more of or better to help you?" Key is for the leader to react in a constructive way to the feedback.

If you've found this post interesting, you might find these other blog posts helpful:

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How empathy can improve the impact of feedback

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When I mediate teams in conflict, or help a manager improve their team's performance, one of the things I most often find is that there is a lack of empathy between people. This inability or unpreparedness to step into the other person's shoes means that what should be a straightforward discussion ends up getting way...

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Find new ideas and classic advice for global leaders from the world's best business and management experts.

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Avoiding or delaying difficult conversations might bring short-term comfort but can destroy the ... [+]
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Managers who can effectively approach and navigate difficult conversations help develop struggling workers into thriving employees. Delivering negative feedback is the key to keeping organizations in alignment. When everyone knows where they stand and what's expected of them, they're more likely to remain engaged and productive.

While having difficult conversations is essential to leadership, most managers try to avoid it at all costs. Instead of addressing issues immediately, they leave it until the annual performance review. In turn, employees feel punished for something they didn't even know was a problem. As a result, they become disengaged due to feeling attacked and that their development isn't a priority.

Tammy Perkins, chief people officer at Pacific Market International, stated "if managers can deliver feedback in a clear, sincere, empathetic way, they can shape these conversations into powerful action plans." A successful outcome depends on two things: how a conversation is approached and what was said during it.

Here are seven ways managers can improve the way they deliver negative feedback.
Know The Desired Outcome
Before approaching the employee to deliver feedback, review the situation and understand the desired outcome. The goal of delivering feedback is helping employees understand what success looks like for their role, the team and the company. Additionally, each person should walk away knowing what they're working toward and what the desired result is.

Managers who approach difficult conversations without a plan risk letting the discussion stray from the desired outcome. To prevent this, managers can ask themselves two simple questions: "what is the purpose of this conversation?" and "what is the ideal outcome?"
Create A Safe Environment
All feedback, whether positive or negative, should be delivered in real-time to be the most impactful. While public praise is appreciated, negative feedback needs to be delivered privately.

Creating a safe environment means knowing the difference between healthy and unhealthy ways to deliver negative feedback. The former creates a safe atmosphere where the employee is more receptive while the latter puts the employee on the defensive and makes them shut down and disengage.

Dr. Stacie Freudenberg, licensed psychologist at Luminate Psychological Services, said "yelling at or belittling workers for their poor performance only creates resentment, increases anxiety and reduces future performance." The key is staying calm.

Most times, managers deliver feedback as a threat with little to no support. Fear provoking statements such as "you didn't do..." or "you need to..." immediately puts employees on the defense causing them to withdraw from the conversation. Using the right language is vital to delivering negative feedback. Likewise, managers will benefit greatly by checking in to see what the employee thinks as well as seeking their feedback and opinions for potential solutions.
Ditch The Assumptions
Oftentimes, managers lead with their emotions and end up unintentionally criticizing a persons character. In most difficult conversations, the individuals have different perceptions of an event. It's common for managers to assume others interpret information the same way they do. However, this assumption is what often leads to conflict.

Misinterpretations are common and it's crucial for managers to stick with the facts and focus on the situation rather than criticizing a person based on an assumption. Brian Cairns, CEO of ProStrategix Consulting, impressed the importance of depersonalizing the situation. Cairns said by documenting the facts before providing feedback, it allows managers to refer to them when emotions are raised or use them as examples while teaching. Additionally, managers can describe the impact it had on the team, client or organization.
Seek To Understand Their Perspective
Dr. Stephen Covey said it best "seek first to understand, then to be understood." Some employees may shut down or respond defensively when given negative feedback. To prevent this from happening, managers should first give employees the opportunity to share how they thought they handled a situation or why they completed a task or project the way they did.

Giving employees the space to share their perspective gives managers insight into where a potential misunderstanding or challenge occurred. Active listening is fundamental. Even though a manager is delivering constructive criticism, the conversation should still be balanced between both parties.

Studies show, 47% of employees admitted their personal problems sometimes affect their job performance. By taking the time to build relationships with their employees, managers can better understand the root cause of their poor performance. Together, they can create a solution that works for everyone.

Perkins emphasized the importance of managers being authentic and leveraging their own experiences when delivering feedback. Not only is it a great way to offer perspective, but Perkins said it helps "set the stage for an open back-and-forth by talking about your own setbacks, challenges and failed attempts."
Use This An Opportunity To Teach
Employees want to know they're valued, supported and respected. Nobody wants to feel like they're a child being reprimanded by an angry parent. Difficult conversations are a great opportunity to coach employees.

Mattson Newell, senior partner at Partners in Leadership, recommended managers to "cite areas in which employees are currently excelling, then ease into a discussion of areas where they could improve." Newell explained managers should look at the present and toward the future when speaking with employees about their productivity. Conversely, they should revisit the employees past when speaking about improvements they've made in their quality of work.

Dr. Brooke Wachtler, licensed psychologist and founder of BEW Consulting and Training, LLC, stated managers should "collaborate with the employee to define these action steps so both parties are on the same page and there is an agreement on the new goal."
Establish A Culture Of Feedback
Negative feedback isn't the only feedback managers should be delivering. In fact, O Great One! author, David Novak, shared results from a recently commissioned survey with the Harvard Business Review and discovered 82% of Americans feel their managers don't recognize them enough for their efforts. Another study conducted by Socialcast (now VMware) revealed 69% of employees say they would work harder if their work was recognized.

Perkins said "ongoing, continuous feedback is far more desirable and constructive than any other form." Justin Havre, realtor at Justin Havre & Associates of RE/MAX First, added "the best feedback comes from someone who regularly lets you know what the expectations are, when you're doing something right" and where you can improve.
Drive Accountability And Change
Managers can ensure accountability by following up frequently to make sure employees are improving. According to Partners In Leadership, 91% of employees reported accountability to be a top organizational need. Managers who involve employees in the process of creating a plan for the desired outcome ensures they're held accountable to achieve it.

Setting milestones, shared goals, offering support and following up with employees will help keep them motivated. Questions such as "how can I support you?" or "what do you think you need more training on?" gives managers direct answers in how they can help their employee to achieve their goals.

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7 Successful Tips To Help Leaders Give Negative Feedback Effectively

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Managers who can effectively approach and navigate difficult conversations help develop struggling workers into thriving employees. Delivering negative feedback is the key to keeping organizations in alignment. When everyone knows where they stand and what's expected of them, they're more likely to remain engaged and productive.

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Introduction

360 feedback is a method of performance appraisal which gathers feedback from a number of sources, including peers, direct reports, more senior colleagues and customers. This variety of feedback can offer line managers a wide-ranging perspective and help to make performance management a more objective and fair process.

This factsheet offers guidance on how to make 360 feedback work and identifies a number of factors to consider when building a 360 feedback process, including an overview of feedback questionnaires and feedback reports, and an analysis of the potential benefits of adopting an online system.

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This factsheet was last reviewed by Steve George.

Steve George: HR Content Manager

Steve joined the CIPD in 2016, bringing his wide experience and expertise in developing online learning programmes. He works across the HR portfolio on managing and developing content for our qualifications, short courses and publications. Steve is an Associate member of the CIPD and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.

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360 feedback is a method of performance appraisal which gathers feedback from a number of sources, including peers, direct reports, more senior colleagues and customers. This variety of feedback can offer line managers a wide-ranging perspective and help to make performance management a more objective and fair process.

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No matter what we do or how well we do it, some criticism is eventually going to come our way.

And those moments are often some of the toughest we all face in work and life. Hearing potentially negative things about yourself is probably not your favorite activity, and most of us would rather avoid the awkwardness that comes with telling someone else how they could improve.

But what do we lose out on when we avoid these tough conversations? One of the fundamental skills of life is being able to give and receive advice, feedback and even criticism.

If given and received in the right spirit, could sharing feedback-even critical feedback-become a different, better experience than the painful one we're accustomed to? Could feedback become a valued opportunity and even a bonding, positive experience?

In this post, we'll explore how to give and receive feedback at work in the best ways possible, along with some of the psychology behind handling critical feedback (in both directions). I'll also share with you some of the methods in which we offer and receive feedback at Buffer to try and make the experience less scary and more loving.

What happens in our brains when we receive criticism

It's hard for us to feel like we're wrong, and it's even harder for us to hear that from others. As it turns out, there's a psychological basis for both of these elements.

Our brains view criticism as a threat to our survival

Because our brains are protective of us, neuroscientists say they go out of their way to make sure we always feel like we're in the right- even when we're not.

And when we receive criticism, our brain tries to protect us from the threat it perceives to our place in the social order of things.

"Threats to our standing in the eyes of others are remarkably potent biologically, almost as those to our very survival," says psychologist Daniel Goleman.

So when we look at Maslow's famous hierarchy of needs, we might suppose that criticism is pretty high up on the pyramid-perhaps in the self-esteem or self-actualization quadrants. But because our brains see criticism as such a primal threat, it's actually much lower on the pyramid, in the belonging or safety spectrums.

Criticism can feel like an actual threat to our survival-no wonder it's so tough for us to hear and offer.

We remember criticism strongly but inaccurately

Another unique thing about criticism is that we often don't remember it quite clearly.

Charles Jacobs, author of Management Rewired: Why Feedback Doesn't Work, says that when we hear information that conflicts with our self-image, our instinct is to first change the information, rather than ourselves.

Kathryn Schulz, the author of Being Wrong, explains that that's because "we don't experience, remember, track, or retain mistakes as a feature of our inner landscape," so wrongness "always seems to come at us from left field."

But although criticism is more likely to be remember incorrectly, we don't often forget it.

Clifford Nass, a professor of communication at Stanford University, says "almost everyone remembers negative things more strongly and in more detail."

It's called a negativity bias. Our brains have evolved separate, more sensitive brain circuits to handle negative information and events, and they process the bad stuff more thoroughly than positive things. That means receiving criticism will always have a greater impact than receiving praise.

How to offer criticism the best way possible

So now that we know what a delicate enterprise criticism can be, how can we go about offering it up in the right spirit to get the best results? Here are some tips and strategies.

Reflect on your purpose

The most important step is to make sure that your potential feedback is coming from the right place. Here's a list of some of the main motivating factors behind offering up feedback.

"When we have difficult feedback to give, we enter the discussion uneasily, and this pushes us to the side of fear and judgment, where we believe we know what is wrong with the other person and how we can fix him," writes Frederic Laloux in his book Reinventing Organizations. "If we are mindful, we can come to such discussions from a place of care. When we do, we can enter into beautiful moments of inquiry, where we have no easy answers but can help the colleague assess himself more truthfully."

Focus on the behavior, not the person

After entering the conversation with the best intentions, a next guideline is to separate behavior or actions from the person you're speaking to.

Focusing the criticism on just the situation you want to address-on what someone does or says, rather than the individual themselves-separates the problematic situation from the person's identity, allowing them to focus on what you're saying without feeling personally confronted.

Lead with questions

Starting off your feedback with a few questions can help the other person feel like an equal part in the conversation as you discuss the challenge together.

Neal Ashkanasy, a professor of management at the University of Queensland in Australia, shared with Psychology Today the story of overcoming a tough feedback challenge-firing an assistant-with questions:

Ashkanasy began by asking her how she thought she was doing. That lead-in gives the recipient "joint ownership" of the conversation, he says. Ashkanasy also pointed to other jobs that would better match the skills of his soon-to-be-ex employee. That promise of belonging helped relieve her anxiety about being cast out of the group she already knew.

Inject positivity: The modified 'criticism sandwich'

"Sandwich every bit of criticism between two heavy layers of praise." - Mary Kay Ash

One well known strategy for feedback is the "criticism sandwich," popularized by the above quote from cosmetics maven Mary Kay Ash. In the sandwich, you begin with praise, address the problem, and follow up with more praise.

In fact, the more of the conversation you can frame positively, the more likely your recipient is to be in the right frame of mind to make the change you're looking for.

The blog Zen Habits offers up some phrases to try to inject more positivity into your feedback, like: "I'd love it if ..." or "I think you'd do a great job with ..." or "One thing that could make this even better is ..."

Follow the Rosenberg method: Observations, feelings, needs, requests

In his exploration of the next phase of working together, Reinventing Organizations, Frederic Laloux explores some of the world's most highly evolved workplaces. One of the cultural elements common to all of them is the the ability to treat feedback as a gift rather than a curse.

As Laloux puts it, "feedback and respectful confrontation are gifts we share to help one another grow."

Many of these organizations use the Rosenberg Nonviolent Communication method, pictured here, to deliver feedback.

This method provides a simple and predictable framework that takes some of the volatility out of giving and receiving feedback.

The best way to prepare for and receive criticism

So now we know some strategies for offering feedback with an open heart and mind. How about for receiving it?

Ask for feedback often

The best strategy for being caught off guard by negative feedback? Make sure you invite feedback often, especially from those you trust. You'll be better able to see any challenges ahead of time, and you'll gain experience in responding positively to feedback.

You can begin by preparing some open-ended questions for those who know you well and can speak with confidence about your work. Here are some great example questions:

If you had to make two suggestions for improving my work, what would they be?

How could I handle my projects more effectively?

What could I do to make your job easier?

How could I do a better job of following through on commitments?

If you were in my position, what would you do to show people more appreciation?

When do I need to involve other people in my decisions?

How could I do a better job of prioritizing my activities?

Ask for time to reflect on what you've heard, one element at a time

When receiving feedback, it might be tempting to become defensive or "explain away" the criticism. Instead, let the other person finish completely and try to listen deeply. Then ask questions and reflect thoughtfully on what you've heard.

Stanford Professor Nass says that most people can take in only one critical comment at a time.

"I have stopped people and told them, 'Let me think about this.' I'm willing to hear more criticism but not all at one time."

So if you need some time to reflect on multiple points of feedback, don't be afraid to say so.

Cultivate a growth mindset

While some of us have a hard time hearing negative feedback, there are those who thrive on it. This group has what's known as a growth mindset. They focus on their ability to change and grow-as opposed to those with a fixed mindset-and are able to see feedback as an opportunity for improvement.

You can learn more about how to develop a growth mindset here.

Take credit for your mistakes and grow

It's easy to take credit for our successes, but failure is something we don't like to admit to. For example, we're more likely to blame failure on external factors than our own shortcomings.

But lately, the idea of embracing failure has emerged, and it's a great mindset for making the most of feedback.

"Continual experimentation is the new normal," says business psychologist Karissa Thacker. "With risk comes failure. You cannot elevate the level of risk taking without helping people make sense of failure, and to some extent, feel safe with failure."

Take a page from the "embracing failure" movement and treasure the opportunities you're given to improve and grow.

How we give and receive feedback at Buffer

As with many of the things we do at Buffer, the way we give and receive feedback is a continuous work in progress as we experiment, learn and grow.

Previously, the feedback process was more or less formalized in a process we call the mastermind. Each team member would meet with a team leader every two weeks in a format with the following structure:

10 minutes to share and celebrate your achievements

40 minutes to discuss your current top challenges

10 minutes for the team lead to share feedback

10 minutes to give feedback to the team lead

This process had a few really good things going for it: Feedback was a regular, scheduled part of our discussions, which removed a lot of the fear that can surround it; and feedback always went both ways, which made it feel like a sharing process between two equals.

These days, masterminds happen weekly between peers and we've moved away from the formalized feedback section altogether as we strive for a more holacratic, less top-down way of working together.

But feedback is still an important part of the Buffer journey, and it is offered and received freely by any of us at any time it is applicable.

Since feedback often can be sensitive and personal, it tends to be one of the only elements we exempt from our policy of radical transparency. It most often takes the form of one-on-one Hipchat messages, emails or Sqwiggle conversations.

Our values guide the feedback process

Buffer's 10 core values are our guide to offering and receiving feedback with joy instead of anxiety.

Looking at our value of positivity through a lens of feedback, I see lots of great instruction on offering constructive criticism, including focusing on the situation instead of the person and offering as much appreciation as feedback.

Since we each take on this goal of positivity, it's very easy to assume the best of the person offering their feedback to you and that their intent is positive.

Additionally, our value of gratitude means that we each focus on being thankful for the feedback as an opportunity to improve in a particular area.

Finally, our value of self-improvement means we have a framework for taking feedback and acting on it in a way that moves us forward.

Although feedback isn't generally made public to the whole team, it's not uncommon for team members to share feedback they've received and the changes they're making as a result in pair calls or masterminds.

I'm sure our ideas will evolve even further on this idea (in fact, during the time it took me to write this we opened up a whole new discussion on feedback and resolving issues). Maybe you can give us a hand?
I'd love to hear your best tips for giving and receiving feedback in the best spirit, or to learn how you handle feedback at your workplace! Share your thoughts with me in the comments. Image credits: Wikimedia Commons, 7Geese, In the Library with the Lead Pipe, Visual.ly, Puddle Dancer Press, Brain Pickings
Originally written May 9, 2018. Last updated Sep 14, 2018

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Step-by-Step: How to Give and Receive Feedback at Work

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No matter what we do or how well we do it, some criticism is eventually going to come our way. And those moments are often some of the toughest we all face in work and life.

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It's time to kill the performance review.

The traditional performance review process is like going to an angry, bitter dentist upset at having to spend hours writing up reports about each patient. Instead of examining your teeth, they read you the report about your teeth. They tell you your teeth are rotting - but don't tell you which ones. Then, they ask you to leave and come back in six months' time.

This approach to performance management is an outdated model, a relic of the industrial age. It was designed for an era where top-down control of individual employee performance was the priority. "Disruption" hadn't been invented yet.

In our digital age, where collaboration is the new normal, this model doesn't work. In Deloitte's 2019 human capital trends survey, 96% of employees reported engaging in some kind of team-based work, and for good reason: It's effective. Almost three-fourths of respondents reported some level of improvement in performance because of the shift to a network-/team-based organization.

Forward-thinking companies realize that they can't let performance management impede managing performance. A number of the 2020 Glassdoor "Best Places to Work" have abandoned the traditional performance review. Adobe, for instance, has replaced the formal clunky traditional review process with a real-time feedback conversation it calls "The Check In."

Want a tool to structure your own check-in conversation? Try this model. If you want better performers, each leader needs to be a better C.O.A.C.H.:
C: Connect
At its core, leadership is a relationship built through authentic connection. Spend some time genuinely engaging with your team members on a personal, human level. It's important to build trust before jumping into task mode. If you don't, your team members' walls will go up - and their coachability will go down.
O: Observed
The key to good feedback is specificity. Ideally, you should coach someone on performance that you've observed firsthand. For example, if you're coaching someone to become a better written communicator, pull up or print out an email he or she wrote, and refer to it in your conversation.

Viewing all feedback through a behavioral lens - what the person said or did - is key as you get into the details of the feedback conversation.
A: Ask
Most leaders have a genuine desire to be helpful and are keen to jump into the conversation and start giving feedback right away. But the goal of the conversation isn't to give feedback. The goal is the employee's growth. Your team members should walk away from your coaching conversations feeling inspired and armed with a clear plan to improve. Asking them first sparks ownership and inspiration.

Let's return to the earlier example of coaching on written communication. Pull out the email, and start by asking the employee to give himself or herself feedback. Ask, "What do you think worked well? Why?" Then, ask, "What do you think could be better next time? Why?"

By asking for self-feedback first, you can accomplish two goals simultaneously: You learning how self-aware the employee is when it comes to the skills you're discussing, and you gain a good indicator of how to adjust your feedback. Your employee's responses will help you choose how much you should share and how deep you should go.
C: Collaborate
The "C" step of the model is the part when you can share your feedback. Here are some tips to make it sure it's effective:

This conversation is a dialogue, not a monologue. Find ways to draw the employee into the feedback conversation. For example, you could say, "In this first paragraph of your email, I didn't read a clear central message, so I wasn't sure of your point right away. How might you do it differently next time?"

Be as specific as possible. Pull on your details from "O" (observed). Share what the employee said and did (or didn't say or do). Share the impact that those behaviors had on you.

Avoid blanket value statements. For example, saying, "That first paragraph is really great" isn't valuable. It's better to say, "In that first paragraph, you stated your central message immediately and outlined a clear agenda of the plan."

If you have 50 pieces of feedback on your list, identify the top three to share. Don't fall into the trap of trying to add too much value.

At the end of each piece of feedback, ask, "Does that make sense? Do you have anything to add or any questions?" Confirmation ensures understanding.

H: How
How will your team member take this conversation and move forward? The goal of the check-in is his or her business performance and personal growth. With "H," it's time to leave the specifics and look at the big picture. What lessons has your employee learned? How will they help him or her professionally and personally? This last step is an opportunity to come full circle, back to connection, and leave the conversation on a high note.

If there's any documentation that needs to happen, discuss it with full transparency. Any "formal" assessment that comes from this conversation should be seen as a mere write-up of what you've already discussed - no surprises.

It's 2020, and the performance review is broken. It's time to reimagine our workplace, our workforce and work itself. It's time to rewire our processes so they serve our people, instead of our people serving our processes.

The transformation to a fully human-centered digital workplace won't happen overnight. However, making the leap from performance manager to performance C.O.A.C.H. is taking a bold step in the right direction.

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Rewiring Performance Management for the Digital Workplace

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It's time to kill the performance review. The traditional performance review process is like going to an angry, bitter dentist upset at having to spend hours writing up reports about each patient. Instead of examining your teeth, they read you the report about your teeth.

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Think back to your time as a student. How did you experience feedback from your own instructors? Did reading their comments on your work bring moments of elation? Pride? Disappointment? Bewilderment? Do you still have a visceral reaction to a lot of red ink?

Feedback can be a powerful force in college classrooms, and there are ways to make the experience of providing and receiving it even stronger. That's especially important as students continue to report dissatisfaction with the feedback they get on assignments and tests - calling it vague, discouraging, and/or late.

Technology has the potential to make course feedback better - more effective, more engaging, more timely - but that won't happen automatically. Technology must be thoughtfully applied, not just used for the sake of using it. As an instructor you may have a variety of feedback tools already at your disposal, via your institution's online platform or learning-management system (LMS), such as Google Classroom, Blackboard, Moodle, Desire2Learn, or Canvas. But that doesn't mean you know how to use them to improve your feedback.

Welcome to The Chronicle' s guide on how to use technology to better evaluate and comment on students' work. Whether you're a novice or an expert user of technology, you will find useful tips and answers to common questions here.

A frequent misperception is that the only people who should worry about how instructors provide feedback are the instructors. However, feedback is an important consideration for all learners, instructional designers, future teachers, technologists, academic deans, and others. It's not uncommon for students to be asked to provide feedback to their peers in class. So whether you teach online or in a face-to-face classroom, whether you work with students or support teachers, whether you're a designer or a technologist, there's something in this guide for you.

Essentials

We've all been the recipient of feedback that was more painful than productive. One of us (Holly) remembers nervously sending off an article for peer review as a graduate student and receiving two positive critiques with specific advice on areas for improvement. The third reviewer, however, was not so kind and wrote, "Cauld kail het" (a.k.a., cold food reheated). The reviewer "helpfully" explained what that phrase meant but offered no suggestions on how to move the work forward.

When it comes to feedback, students and instructors often are not on the same page:

Students want feedback with specific, detailed directions for future improvement, offered in a manner that is both constructive and encouraging. And they want that advice sooner rather than later. Many studies have shown that the ideal time for learners to receive feedback ranges from two to 15 work days. Beyond that point, students have moved on to other topics and learning activities and the feedback is much less helpful.

Meanwhile, instructors, according to one study, "tended to believe their feedback was more useful, fair, understandable, constructive and encouraging and detailed in comparison to what students felt they were receiving."

So let's start this guide by looking at the big picture. What do we mean here by feedback?
We mean the various types of guidance and direction that instructors provide: corrections or positive reinforcement after an exam, explanations on written work, details and notes included as part of rubric grading. Monitoring student learning through regular assessment is an important element of an instructor's job. By providing individualized feedback, you help students stay on track, personalize their learning, and build trust and connections.

As technology continues to advance, so does the opportunity to provide feedback via different tools. While that has some downsides, the good news is you can leverage those tools to help students. By "feedback tools," we mean digital applications or extensions used to give responses to your students' work. There are a number of options available:

Rubrics: online scoring guides to evaluate students' work.

Annotations: notes or comments added digitally to essays and other assignments.

Audio: a sound file of your voice giving feedback on students' work.

Video: a recorded file of you offering feedback either as a "talking head," a screencast, or a mix of both.

Peer review: online systems in which students review one another's work.

Each tool offers the opportunity to communicate directly with students and guide their learning. How?

Say you have to grade a lot of papers with extensive formatting, outline, or grammatical concerns. Embedded comments and tracked changes will do the trick. You can walk students through all of your concerns and show them exactly how to do something or what it should look like.

Looking for a way to provide fast feedback? Audio may be your best bet. You can quickly record your voice and send the files off to each student.

Maybe you have to help students through a complicated problem with multiple steps. Video feedback may be the solution. (We'll discuss this more below in the "When to Use Audio or Video Tools for Feedback" section.)

To put our cards on the table upfront: We are strong advocates of video and audio feedback, and that's what you will see most emphasized in this guide. Whatever your reservations about audio and video, we would urge every faculty member to give it a try.

Written feedback is so easy to misconstrue. Students often read it as harsher than you intend. By providing feedback with your voice, however, your students will be able to listen to your tone and understand that you are being encouraging and are directing their learning.

Over all, when instructors use audio or video technologies, they tend to provide more feedback than written text alone. Yet, we've found that - once you learn the ropes - using audio or video feedback can save time. There is a learning curve at first. But the more you become familiar with these feedback tools, the more time you will save, and the more productive you will become as an instructor.

It is normal to feel overwhelmed by the excess of options ( find tips here on how to make smart tech choices for your classroom). So before you get started with any new feedback tool, pause and remember: It's not the type of tool that matters, but how you use it. Students will not be wowed by your video feedback on their work if it doesn't make sense, is unhelpful, or took you three weeks to produce.

Our goal here is to present different ways of giving feedback. But the most important piece of the whole equation is the feedback itself. At no point should you use a tool just because it is cool or trendy - use it only if it helps you communicate better with your students. Good feedback should always be frequent, specific, balanced, and timely. Let's consider each in turn.

4 Key Qualities of Good Feedback

But first, a caveat: Feedback is not the same as criticism.

While often conflated, they are distinct activities with different end goals. Criticism involves judgment and faultfinding, while feedback is evaluative and corrective. Describing a student's work as "cauld kail het" without any actual guidance on how to improve it will leave her directionless and discouraged. Feedback should tell the recipients where they erred and how they can do better next time. Critique is an important skill for any academic to learn but not one you should use to assess students' work. So how should we evaluate their work?

The goal of any evaluation and feedback should be to support the learning process, help students understand where they did not meet established standards, and aid them in identifying what they can do better next time. Feedback should guide them toward building new knowledge and increasing their skills.

Two main types of feedback - formative and summative - work together in that process but have different purposes. Formative feedback occurs during the learning process and is used to monitor progress. Summative feedback happens at the end of a lesson or a unit and is used to evaluate the achievement of the learning outcomes.

For example: Perhaps you require students to submit a writing assignment that demonstrates their knowledge of a topic based on their own research and analysis. Maybe you set a series of deadlines along the way for their rough drafts and annotated bibliographies. You would give formative feedback on those rough drafts and bibliographies to make sure students were on the right track. The project's final grade and assessment is a form of summative assessment.

Throughout the course, students should receive ample formative and summative feedback, but let's consider some general principles. Good feedback should be:

Frequent. Students rely on your feedback to guide their learning. If they're not receiving it consistently and often throughout the course, they may have difficulty identifying where to focus their efforts. We recognize that frequency is relative to a number of factors: the type of course, term length, content, credit hours, etc. We recommend you provide students at least one opportunity a week to receive your feedback. It doesn't have to be a big weekly assignment - it can be something as small as giving an in-class quiz or responding to a student's discussion post. Weekly feedback may seem impossible in a big class. But most large courses come with teaching assistants who help manage the feedback load.

Specific. Good feedback not only details the areas for improvement but offers actionable advice. Merely telling a student "this needs work" does not provide any guidance on how to fix the problem. Here's a good example of specific feedback: "I would like to hear more details of why you chose this framework. You also assume the reader knows all about the theories you're using - but it would help to define what they mean here."

Balanced. You shouldn't shy away from pointing out weaknesses in students' work, but neither should you avoid highlighting their successes. Letting students know what they did well is empowering and reinforcing. Affirm their strengths to balance the flaws in their work. Some call that approach the "feedback sandwich" - corrective feedback sandwiched between positive feedback.

Timely. For it to be most useful, feedback should be given as soon as possible.

Formative feedback that meets all four principles is not just good practice but critical to student success. As Viji Sathy and Kelly A. Hogan explain in their guide on inclusive teaching, frequent, low-stakes assessments are an inclusive teaching practice. Incorporating lots of low-stakes assessments provokes less anxiety because they carry less weight in a student's grade than a high-stakes midterm or final exam. Frequent, low-stakes assessments also provide more opportunities for students to practice new skills or demonstrate knowledge and get feedback.

At this point you are probably nodding your head but thinking, "you said I was going to save time, but all of this sounds like it takes a lot of time." Just figuring out how to operate the technology will take time. Once you've conquered that, the efficiency comes, in part, from knowing when to use digital-feedback tools.

2 Time-Saving Approaches

We'll be diving into the when-to-use-technology question shortly. But first we turn to two time-saving techniques - rubrics and peer review - that are essential to providing specific and balanced feedback. Both can be used with or without technology. Our advice:

Use rubrics whenever possible. A rubric is helpful, not just for your own grading, but also to give students a clear understanding of the evaluation criteria before they even begin the assignment. Your grading is more transparent to students, and less prone to bias, when you use a rubric.

Traditionally, professors handed out print copies of their grading rubric, with a row for each criterion and columns that defined the various levels of performance. Now digital tools - standard on most learning-management systems - can be used to create and grade with rubrics. Say you are evaluating a student's paper. A digital rubric speeds up the grading process by allowing you to click on the appropriate criterion and automatically tally the points and calculate the grade.

Peer review can be a major time saver in large classes. The idea here is for students to evaluate one another's work. Peer review is especially useful when students are working on scaffolded assignments with multiple opportunities for feedback. With a lot of students, you might not find it feasible to provide frequent and robust feedback in a timely manner at each stage of the assignment. Instead, ask peers to evaluate the earliest drafts, so that students can make improvements before submitting their final version to you for grading.

Peer review can be a logistical challenge. However, most learning-management systems have peer-review tools that make it easier to assign peers and manage the process. Rather than randomly pairing students, some systems even allow the instructor to be strategic about it. For example, an instructor may decide to pair up a student with particular strengths and another who struggles in those areas to assess each other's work. Peer-review tools also allow instructors to assign peer reviews anonymously. In many systems, it is also possible to have students complete a rubric and comment on specific features of the assignment.

For a more robust set of peer-review features and analytics, it might be worthwhile to explore third-party tools, such as Peerceptiv. Check with your campus IT or online-learning departments to see which tools are already available to you.

When to Use Audio or Video Tools for Feedback

Finding the right time and place to use technology on this front is easier than you might think. Keep in mind: It's not just about doing this part of your job more quickly or efficiently - it's about making your feedback more effective for students. And, if you're worried about accessibility, read on. We'll cover this in our "Tips on Getting Started" section.

Let's consider a few scenarios in which audio and video feedback might be the best solution to a pedagogical challenge.

You want to personalize your feedback. A grading rubric may identify common trouble spots in an assignment, but won't necessarily highlight the specific errors holding an individual student back. That's where a video-feedback tool comes in handy. A screencast video of a student's assignment, coupled with you walking the student through the project using audio feedback, allows you to provide detailed, one-on-one support and build a closer connection with every student. Such a personalized approach works well in a small class of 30 students or fewer. It's more difficult to accomplish in a large class, unless you have TAs.

Or maybe, in evaluating a student's paper, you usually make handwritten notes and then refer back to them in deciding on the final grade and feedback. With audio or video feedback, you can record your observations, saving time since most of us speak faster than we can type. Audio and video notes typically are more detailed, too, as you explain verbally what you are seeing in the student's work.

You want to convey nuance. Speaking of voice, there are many times - and many content areas - in which conveying nuance is important. For example, if you are teaching a communications course that emphasizes tone, body language, and social skills, it's easier to show rather than tell. With video feedback, you can show students exactly what you mean.

The same goes for foreign-language courses. Instructors can use audio files to ensure that tones and dialects are being used or learned properly. Just as you would demonstrate good writing in a writing class, you should demonstrate best practices in a speech-related course.

It's difficult to evaluate verbal-presentation skills using written feedback alone. With digital tools, you can record their presentations (or have students record themselves) and then use screencasting software to insert your feedback. Besides pointing out content errors, you can use the software to show students when they are repeatedly using "um" to fill gaps, putting their hands in the pockets, or rolling their eyes.

You want to demonstrate a process. In some content areas, such as mathematics, chemistry, and physics, getting the right answer means completing steps in a certain order. Communicating to your learners exactly where an error occurred in a process can be challenging. By using screencasting software, you can point to the exact location of a student's error and show how it affected the outcome.

One great example of this in mathematics is this video on how to add, subtract, multiply, and divide positive and negative numbers. You can send such a video to a particular student who is struggling with the concept of negative numbers, or upload it for the entire class so that everyone can learn. Technology allows you to provide a mini, one-on-one learning experience.

You want to avoid miscommunication. We've all received an email or text that came off as angry or downright rude. Chances are that wasn't the sender's intention. If you find that students seem to misinterpret your written communication, or if you receive student evaluation data that show you are perceived as cold and impersonal, audio or video feedback may help to resolve those problems.

Audio and video tools allow students to hear your intonation, listen to you laugh, watch when you are serious, and see when things are OK but could use some polishing.

You want to improve your pedagogy. Faculty interest in classroom innovation is on the rise. Professors are trying all sorts of new techniques to improve the first few minutes of class, to make their teaching more engaging, to hold better class discussions. Buzzwords like active learning, authentic assessment, technology integration, and case-based learning are more and more a part of faculty discussions.

When you try innovative approaches, your usual evaluation techniques may no longer be sufficient. For example, if you assign a project in which the choice of content is subjective or open-ended, a one-size-fits-all grading process may no longer work. Here, again, audio and video feedback can come to the rescue, allowing you to personalize your feedback on a broad array of projects.

You want to be more connected and "present" in your classroom. Especially in an online classroom, audio or video feedback may help students feel less isolated. They may want a personal connection with their instructor for a number of reasons - they're new to college, they've never had an online course before, they're insecure about their abilities. Other students may feel uncomfortable "bothering" the instructor with questions or speaking up in front of their peers. When you use audio or video feedback, especially in online environments, students begin to see you as a real person giving feedback - not just someone behind a computer screen. You become human.

In face-to-face teaching, digital tools can help you provide feedback more efficiently. You may not have time to meet with students in your office as much as you (or they) would like (especially in the case of large class sizes). Students who can't attend office hours, for whatever reason, may feel motivated to learn if they are able to see and hear your voice giving them specific and personalized feedback. It also may help them to feel less separated from you as an instructor. In large classes, in addition to utilizing TAs, peer review and audio and video feedback can help learners feel connected to you and to one another.

You want to keep up with the times. Think of the last time you needed to fix something. Did you ransack the house looking for the owner's manual, or did you quickly search for a how-to video on YouTube? If you did the latter, think of all of your students who are probably doing the same.

Your learners may be more open to watching and listening to what you have to say, more so than reading it - so long as you don't send long recordings (we recommend you limit audio and video feedback to three to five minutes). By using video and audio feedback tools, you are helping students solve their study-related problems in much the same way that they (or you) would have hopped on YouTube to find out how to change a tire.

When to Stick to Text Feedback

Clearly we believe in the merits of audio and video feedback. But sometimes, written feedback is still your best bet. Even when that's the case, technology can help you provide that written feedback with greater efficiency.

For example, if your assignment requirements are clearly laid out, with straightforward and well-defined expectations, you might be better off using an online rubric that allows brief text-based comments. Here are a few digital options for text-based feedback:

Annotation tools. Some course-management systems have built-in annotation tools that you can use to leave comments and feedback directly on a student submission. You can use them without having to download each and every file, which saves a lot of time.

Built-in rubrics. You may have designed your own rubrics for assignments, but if your LMS or other learning platform has a built-in rubric tool, we highly recommend you give it a try. Built-in rubrics offer time-saving features such as reusable comments and a total-points column that will automatically add up the points you've assigned for each criterion of the rubric - another time-saver.

Automated feedback. Also known as "computer-assisted assessment," this tool basically lets you reuse your written feedback. Some LMS rubrics or other grading platforms allow you to save a comment you wrote for one student and use it again for others who made the same mistake or achieved the same success. In addition, your LMS may allow you to preprogram question-specific - or even answer-specific - feedback for your auto-graded quizzes. For example, for a correct answer, the automatic feedback might say, "Good job," and for an incorrect answer, it might say, "Please rewatch part two of this week's lecture," or, "Please revisit pages 27-29 of your textbook."

Electronic surveys or live polling. Both have gained in popularity as a fast way to gauge how well your class as a whole is understanding the material. A thumbs-up rating, a star system, or a simple yes-or-no question can give you valuable feedback on class topics and help you tailor the content and emphasis. You can also use surveys and polls to get a quick read on how students think the course is going, and then make adjustments.

Tips on Getting Started

Now that you have a feel for when to use digital-feedback tools, here are a few tips and tricks to get you started.

Don't be afraid to ask for help. Most digital tools have online support forums, and most colleges and universities have dedicated staff members to help you learn the technology and adopt it in your courses. Technology is constantly evolving. We'd like to think this guide will tell you what you need to know on this front, but it's hard to keep up with every new feature, functionality, and gadget out there.

That's why it's important to ask for help, and keep asking. Think of your own classroom. You want students to reach out when they need help or don't understand content, right? Just as you support learners, there are people out there - e.g., instructional designers, educational technologists, information technologists - who want to help and support you, too.

Start with tools your institution already has. One of the easiest ways to get started is to use the digital-feedback tools integrated into your campus LMS. They've already been used and tested, meaning that many bugs or tweaks have been worked out and solutions to common issues are readily available. Your institution may have a plethora of resources - getting-started tips, reference videos, dedicated support staff, FAQs, and the like.

Try the digital-feedback tools of a system with which you are already comfortable. Instead of trying to learn a new technology, consider what screencasting software or web-conferencing tools you use for other work purposes. The transition may be easier because the learning curve is less steep. You know how to use the technology; you just have to figure out how it can help you give individualized feedback to your students.

Mix it up. One size does not fit all. There is no universal best practice for providing feedback. So vary your approach. Use a mix of rubrics, written comments, annotations, and audio or video. The feedback tool should fit the student and the activity. For example, you would not offer the same type of feedback for a multiple-choice quiz as you would for a 10-page paper. Context is critical when it comes to using technology in your classroom and giving feedback.

Make sure your choices are accessible for everyone. As with all course design, accessibility should be taken into consideration when giving feedback. If you create audio or video feedback, make sure all students can access it. If you are unable to provide captions or transcripts, ask students if they prefer written comments. If the tool you are using provides automatic captioning, make sure you speak clearly for the greatest accuracy. A broad range of students benefit from accessible feedback tools, not just those with particular needs.

Ask your students. They are happy to tell you how they feel about your teaching methods or other aspects of the course, especially when granted anonymity. So why not ask what they think about your feedback practices? That can be done via a survey or a poll. By asking for their views, you are helping put power in their hands over their own learning. And in the process you learn which feedback methods will work best for them

Expect a few roadblocks. That includes technology limits - on file sizes or on downloading or access issues (for those with slow or limited internet). You will also face cost limitations. But as with anything, the more familiar you become with these tools, the better they will work for you and your students. Experience using these tools, ultimately, will help you save time when providing feedback to your students and improve the quality of that feedback.

Common Pitfalls and Smart Solutions

Don't assume technology will solve every problem. It's worth repeating: Context is critical when it comes to using technology. If your course evaluations rate your feedback as lousy, delivering it via a shiny new digital tool is unlikely to fix the root of the problem. Maybe you need to reconsider the substance of your feedback. Audio or video feedback should not be used for all assignments, either. Try to vary your feedback techniques and select the most appropriate method for each assignment.

Avoid making long videos. Be sensitive to students' time and file-size constraints. Just because they prefer audio or video feedback doesn't mean they want to sit through an overly long recording. That may deter them from watching/listening at all, especially if it takes a long time to download. We would recommend that you keep your feedback recordings to under five minutes. Try to be concise and on topic in your feedback. This is not the time for a lecture.

Video and audio feedback doesn't have to be perfect. You can waste a lot of time trying to edit out every pause, "um," or mistake. You can't go back and delete those verbal tics in real time, so don't worry about doing so digitally. In fact, hearing your actual voice and tone is one element of audio and video feedback that appeals to students. We're not saying don't practice at all. Especially if you are new to this form of feedback, practice what you are going to say before you hit record.

There is such a thing as too much information. In creating videos, it's easy to overlook cognitive overload. In layman's terms, that is when you present too much information too fast. Make sure you only talk about whatever it is you are pointing to on the video. If you are talking about a paper's organization but suddenly start highlighting another element (say a table or graph), you risk confusing the student. To minimize that problem, use the cursor or a highlighting tool to point out exactly what you are talking about so that your voice and the image(s) align for the learner. That is called signaling, and it helps to reduce the cognitive load for your students.

Have a plan. Don't add a new digital tool at the last minute or without preparation. The technology may have limits or issues (i.e., user maximums, long download time, large file sizes, associated fees, etc.) that you need to be aware of. Become familiar with the tool and its limitations. Plan how you will use it. As you teach a course, take notes on what technologies would or would not work in different situations. Add a question to the end of the course that asks students for their point of view on adding or using a specific technology. Their feedback can guide your instructional choices when you next teach the course.

Resources

What follows is a list of applications and technologies that we've found most useful in providing feedback. We do suggest that you first check with your department and/or institution to see what is already available (and locally supported) for instructors on your campus.

SoundCloud: An easy audio-recording tool that you can embed in your learning-management system so students can click an arrow and play your recording.

Vocaroo: A simple, PC-friendly tool for recording your voice. You can immediately get a link to the recording and give it to students.

Screencast-O-Matic: A screencasting tool that allows you to record up to 15 minutes.

Kaizena: A site that helps you provide verbal feedback directly on student documents and track their progress by comparing your feedback history over multiple assignments.

Screencastify: A screen recorder for Chrome (via extension) that requires no download.

VoiceThread: A learning tool that allows the instructor and the students to participate in a pre-uploaded presentation by providing text, audio, and/or video discussions.

Snagit: A screenshot program by TechSmith that captures both video and audio.

Camtasia: Another program by TechSmith that allows users to create video via screencast or direct recording.

Panopto: A program that provides recording, screencasting, and video streaming for users.

Hippo Video: An all-in-one, cloud-based, video-management system that allows users to capture, edit, and share video, audio, and screen recordings.

A starter kit:
For newbies to digital feedback tools, here are the best resources to get you started:

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How to Give Your Students Better Feedback With Technology

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Think back to your time as a student. How did you experience feedback from your own instructors? Did reading their comments on your work bring moments of elation? Pride? Disappointment? Bewilderment? Do you still have a visceral reaction to a lot of red ink?

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Tom Barrett from Dialogic Learning has a great ebook on Feedback. Fabulous resource.  

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Tom Barrett from Dialogic Learning has a great ebook on Feedback. Fabulous resource.  

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Tom Barrett again - selection of blog posts.  :-) 

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Tom Barrett again - selection of blog posts.  :-) 

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When we are not ready to hear feedback, it does not matter how good the feedback is. This tension is a simple truth that often goes unnoticed during the process.

Prototyping is all about the process of generating multiple versions of a solution so you can continually improve it. Prototyping

If you are interested in this you should come along to my session at TeachTechPlay on the 13th April in

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When we are not ready to hear feedback, it does not matter how good the feedback is. This tension is a simple truth that often goes unnoticed during the process. Prototyping is all about the process of generating multiple versions of a solution so you can continually improve it.

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Another school based resource but some great ideas here from the Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership.  

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Another school based resource but some great ideas here from the Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership.  

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The research is clear: effective feedback practices can greatly improve student learning and teaching quality. Use these evidence-based, practical tools to introduce or enhance feedback in your setting.

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Hayley Lewis on LinkedIn: #bestadvice #leadership | 20 comments

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From the archive: This is a summary Brene Brown gives, in Dare to Lead, on the 10 ways to ensure you're ready to give feedback: 1. You're ready to (metaphorically... 20 comments on LinkedIn

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Constructive, Trauma-Informed Feedback Tips from Linda Crockett

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Constructive, Trauma-Informed Feedback Tips from Linda Crockett

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Linda Crockett Trauma-Informed Expert Solutions For Workplace Bullying

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Tough Conversations, Stronger Teams: Emotionally Intelligent and Trauma-Informed Leadership in Action

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Linda Crockett MSW, BSW, RSW, SEP One of the most empowering traits of a strong leader is the ability to have hard conversations and direct, honest discussions that address employee performance, problematic behaviors, or emerging workplace issues without causing harm. These are not easy talks, but w