by Michael W.

Created on: December 27, 2008

Constructive feedback can benefit both parties, the person offering the feedback, as well as the person receiving the feedback, in several ways. No matter the situation, we all can benefit from proper constructive feedback, in one way or another. As with any act, there is a right way and a wrong way to deliver constructive feedback, and if delivered correctly, it should always prove extremely helpful.

The benefits of constructive feedback for the person offering the feedback are

1) Opening up a line of communication, - When one person offers constructive feedback to another person correctly, (s) he opens an ongoing line of communication becoming a source of answers and guidance for the person receiving the feedback.

2) Offering insight and knowledge, - When a person offers constructive feedback to someone, it gives them the opportunity to share their acquired knowledge in order to help someone other than themselves.

3) Establishes a positive position or willingness to help, - When a person offers their insight to another person, and it is delivered correctly, it will, in turn, demonstrate that the person is thoughtful and willing to be helpful to others, whether they be peers or employees.

If you are now, or ever, in the position to offer constructive feedback to a peer or employee, take full advantage of the opportunity; however, you must proceed with caution, as most people may easily mistake your feedback as personal criticism. When offering constructive feedback, be sure to find the right timing, for example, in front of everyone in the break room would not be an appropriate time to offer feedback. You also want to make sure to be very respectful in action and tone of voice. I recommend using the Build-Break-Build technique. For example, in a supervisor position it would go something like this, "Hi John, do you mind if I talk to you for a second? First of all, you are doing a great job and putting forth an awesome amount of effort and I'd like to thank you for that. Aside from that, I noticed a very small and fixable mistake in your last article and just wanted to offer some constructive feedback. In the article, you spoke from a first person point of view, and offered some absolutely great content, but the article called for a third person point of view. It's a spectacular article, but I need you to go back and write it from an outside looking in experience. You don't need to do too much, just change all the I's to he's. Other than that, it was a great article

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