by Todd Pheifer

Created on: January 07, 2009

The concept of "constructive feedback" is an interesting idea because it can mean so many different things to various people. One person's constructive feedback is another person's personal attack, depending on context, delivery, and relationships. Oftentimes the effectiveness of constructive feedback is about how the information is presented, who conveys it, and when it is presented. Here are a few thoughts on how this sort of constructive feedback can be beneficial.

Delivery

The standard cliche is, "It isn't what you say, but how you say it." This is both correct and incorrect. What we say is important, because the feedback has to be constructive. This means that someone can't just say, "that's wrong." They have to give good suggestions for improvement and development and explain why they are giving that feedback. Also, the tone and environment are crucial. Dropping critique on someone when they are in a bad place emotionally can be devastating. This means that people should make some attempt to be aware of the person's frame of mind that they are critiquing.

Context

The situation of constructive feedback is also important. Giving constructive feedback can be a good thing, but timing is important. People shouldn't always give feedback right at the beginning of a process before the worker can get very far. Otherwise, workers might feel like someone is looking over their shoulder the entire time. Of course, giving feedback after a project is completed, bound, and printed can also be ineffective. Effective critique should be done at proper moments when things are not too far developed, but also not beyond change.

Individuals and groups

Constructive feedback should also be done in an appropriate relational setting. Giving thoughts in a group of people can be done, but it should be done with care. Again, someone may feel like they are giving constructive feedback, but the receiver may feel like they are being singled out, which can lead to embarrassment. Or course, some managers use this as a motivational technique because people are sometimes inspired to produce so that they do not receive feedback in a public forum.

Authority

Finally, the person giving feedback has to be aware of their relationship to the person. Obviously, a supervisor has the authority to give constructive feedback to an employee, but sometimes people forget their place and give feedback to someone who does not recognize them as someone who should be sharing their views. In addition, there is the issue of people who give unsolicited feedback. It is often fine for people to share their thoughts when they are solicited. However, when people just throw out their thoughts, they may be unwelcome. Again, constructive feedback is often about perception because the criticism must be from an appropriate person in a proper context that uses acceptable delivery methods.

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