Mastering the Art of Constructive Feedback

Contents

• The purpose of constructive feedback
• Understanding constructive feedback­
• Principles of constructive feedback
• H.O.N.E.S.T Model
• BOOST Model
• ART model
• SBI Model (Situation-Behavior-Impact)
• 360-Degree Model
• The Sandwich Principle (Ineffective Model)
• Delivering constructive feedback

Feedback is an integral tool that helps us maintain positive behavior and actions. At ETG, we work on identifying skills, positive attributes, and growth opportunities. This culture of freedom and responsibility is reflected in our value of “Embrace Freedom.”

We also believe in celebrating individual wins and creating an environment of recognition and praise. This belief is strongly embedded in our value, “Appreciate our people.”

Finally, we work with the approach of collective growth, which comes under our value of “Grow Together.” We believe effective feedback provides the opportunity for change, improvement, and personal development, thus helping individuals and organizations to grow together.

Olesya, Human Capital Director

“Our company values transparency and open feedback. Everyone is encouraged to share their thoughts on everything. We show the impact of feedback by discussing changes we’ve implemented as a result of constructive input.”

The purpose of constructive feedback

Employees yearn for feedback from their managers and peers to determine their work performance. Studies indicate that when feedback is constructive, employees tend to perform better. This is because constructive feedback prioritizes objectivity, which acts as a motivating factor for employees to work harder.

Feedback is best when given frequently and with ease and comfort. It’s a great way to share one’s perspective and understand ways to improve oneself. In a work culture where feedback is shared frequently, we often see:

Increased efficiency: Feedback stimulates an increased sense of respect and trust. We enjoy frequent interactions and better work relationships, which improve our communications, make us more involved, and expand our capabilities.

Improved understanding: With frequent feedback, communication and understanding improve. Our perspectives expand, and we can see the differences and compare performance.

An achievement culture: In workplaces where employees are respected, frequently apprised of performance, and given growth opportunities — we witness a culture of achievement and growth. Employees engage in more positive behaviors focused on self-improvement, motivation, and goal achievement.

Davide, Regional Director Southern Europe

 

“Our eco-feedback principles are trust, love, and action. We effectively use feedforward and the sandwich method in my team.”

 

 

Through this article, we aim to provide managers and leaders with practical tips and strategies for delivering constructive feedback that helps to motivate employees, build better relationships, and drive performance improvement.

Constructive feedback is actionable, direct, and specific advice that empathically and positively improves performance or deliverables.

Understanding constructive feedback­

Constructive feedback is actionable, direct, and specific advice that empathically and positively improves performance or deliverables. Individuals need to be careful while offering feedback, ensuring they don’t get carried away by negativity or personal grudges.

Remember, criticism often focuses only on the problem or the person itself. It talks about “what went wrong” without offering any steps to achieve a practical solution. Feedback, on the contrary, addresses the problem and outlines steps to resolve issues and move ahead.

Constructive feedback paves the way for self-improvement and development. It helps us identify areas for improvement and ways to improve or develop new skills — a win-win situation for both the individual and the organization. Companies with a culture of giving frequent and meaningful feedback often benefit from continuous and conscious efforts by employees to perform better. The result? We see improved communication, a shared vision, better productivity, and more goals being achieved.

Christopher, Area Manager, Germany

 “Green feedback is about recognizing areas for improvement and collaboratively developing solutions with colleagues, starting with acknowledging their accomplishments.”

Principles of constructive feedback

H.O.N.E.S.T Model

The key to effective feedback is to focus on communication that allows improvement, growth, and goal achievement. An ideal method for managers and leaders to adopt is the H.O.N.E.S.T Model:

• H (Helpful): “Have Open Conversations.” Feedback should aim to help the person improve. It needs to focus on positive change rather than simply criticizing.
• О (Objective): “Operate Transparently.” Feedback should be based on observable behavior or facts, avoiding personal opinions or assumptions about someone’s intentions or character.
• N (Necessary): “Nurture Growth.” Feedback should address important issues rather than minor or irrelevant points and focus on areas where improvement is genuinely needed.
• E (Empathetic): “Express Candidly.” It’s important to deliver feedback with understanding and empathy. The person receiving feedback should feel supported and respected.
• S (Specific): “Show Trust and Love.” Feedback should be clear and focused on particular actions or behaviors rather than being vague or general.
• T (Timely): “Take Feedback Positively.” Feedback should be given as soon as possible after the relevant behavior or action so that the person can relate to it and make necessary improvements promptly.

Under this method, you keep an open and transparent communication channel. While you value your goals and objectives, you also believe in nurturing growth and development amongst your people. In this case, we can offer our feedback in the following manner.

BOOST Model

The BOOST feedback model aims to increase motivation and efficiency. If all criteria are met, this method allows the recipient of such feedback to form an understanding of what actions are effective, what results are produced, and what needs to be changed to improve efficiency. When providing feedback under this model, we focus on actions, not cash.

Davide, Regional Director Southern Europe

 

“Positive feedback should be specific, relevant, and timely. Red flags are vagueness, personal attacks, and non-actionable comments. It’s about actions, not personal traits.” 

• Balanced: Discuss the importance of balancing positive and negative feedback to encourage and correct simultaneously.
• Owned: Highlight the importance of delivering feedback with empathy and respect for the individual.
• Objective/Observed: We often discuss what we see and hear when we provide feedback. Clear examples that describe actions rather than emotions and sensations provide better clarity and help the individual understand what needs to be done.

Under BOOST model, any feedback is discusses real-time actions that an employee has performed.

Under this model, feedback is clear and does not leave any room for speculation and assumptions because it discusses real-time actions that an employee has performed. Thus, when our focus lies solely on the action itself, we tend to avoid negativity and bias, making our feedback more genuine and nonjudgmental.

• Specific: Keep your feedback detailed and specific rather than providing vague, loose-ended statements and comments.
• Timely: Reports by Gallup, indicate that a better and more approachable way to give feedback is quickly and frequently. This is where organizations need to step up and adopt the ‘Fast Feedback’ approach.

If all criteria are met, the BOOST method allows the recipient of such feedback to form an understanding of what actions are effective, what results are produced, and what needs to be changed to improve efficiency.

However, when we say that feedback should be timely, we need to take the following points into account:

Focus on actions: Provide feedback on the actions being discussed. Gauge your employee’s emotions to remain mindful. If an individual is upset and overly emotional, you may want to keep this discussion once they are more composed.

A better approach in this scenario would be to discuss their opinions and feelings. Perhaps they are already aware of the said actions and have already “given themselves feedback” on their performance.

Begin with a question: Start your conversation by asking a question to prompt a response and open a flow of communication. You can begin by asking, “I would like to discuss your presentation at DEMO with you. Do you have time?” Then proceed to ask — “How do you think the presentation went? Are you satisfied with the way things went today?”

If you feel your team member is not ready to discuss the matter at that moment, keep an easy hand and invite them to talk about the matter when they are slightly more comfortable. Timeliness is about “now” and “here” and your recipient’s willingness to receive feedback.

Let’s look at examples to help you understand how to give meaningful feedback under the BOOST Model.

ART model

The ART model is designed to provide clear, actionable feedback. It does this by giving concrete examples while focusing on the results. Under the ART model, we refrain from making personal and general statements.

Under the ART model, we refrain from making personal and general statements. Remain open, understand, and accept the good that is being said to you.

• Absorb: Here, we accept people’s perceptions as real. There is no wrong or right, but rather the acceptance that everyone can hold different viewpoints and share their perspective accordingly. Everyone has the right to perceive the world through their prism.

Unfortunately, we tend to believe that our perspective matters while disregarding the views and opinions of others. However, this criterion invites you to look at the situation from a different angle and consider what you can do to get people to give you feedback on your actions.

• Reflect: Don’t interrupt. Don’t argue. And don’t make excuses. Pause and ponder. Determine how much weight the statement holds. Is there any truth to this? At times, in our opinion, we’ve given the best shot and performed brilliantly but in reality, others around us may not feel the same. When reflecting on your actions, always ask yourself, “What has caused this individual to think this way?”.

Remain open, understand, and accept the good that is being said to you. Use it as a means to improve yourself and your desirable actions. Remember, in case of ambiguity, you can always ask questions to enhance the feedback you receive:

 “Can you kindly elaborate with an example so I can understand better?”
“Were there any other similar examples?”
“What can I do to develop this skill?”
“What result did this bring?”
“Could you please let me know if you notice this behavior next time?”

• Test it out: Avoid being emotional. If the feedback ignites some negative feelings, be sure to share them with your manager. Try explaining why you’re unable to accept 100% of the given feedback. Perhaps you put in your best efforts and were expecting a better response.

Be honest with yourself. If several people are saying the same thing, there may be some truth in what you are hearing. So before completely rejecting the feedback, implement the recommendations to improve yourself. Remember, you can always return to the individual providing the OS and share your observations of your implementation.

Let’s look at a practical example that falls under the ART feedback model.

SBI Model (Situation-Behavior-Impact)

This model helps employees reflect on actions or situations using a different perspective. It helps them understand where they went wrong and identify an approach to improve themselves.

• Situation: Begin by describing the specific situation you are referring to. This will help the employee understand what you’re talking about.
• Behavior: Address the observed behavior.
• Impact: Explain the impact of the employee’s behavior and its effect on the team, project, or company.

360-Degree Model

The 360-degree model is also referred to as multisource or 360 review. This employee evaluation method derives feedback from different sources regarding one’s performance and behaviors. This form of evaluation involves taking feedback from other members of the organization who work closely with the individual under evaluation.

Davide, Regional Director Southern Europe

“I prefer 360-degree feedback, where inputs come from supervisors, peers, and direct reports. For example, I seek team feedback post-training sessions.”

The feedback process typically involves:

• Self-assessment: The individual reflects on their own performance.
• Manager’s feedback: The supervisor provides feedback from a leadership perspective.
• Peer feedback: Colleagues provide feedback on collaboration, teamwork, and interpersonal skills.
• Subordinate feedback: If applicable, subordinates share feedback on leadership, communication, and management style.

Olesya, Human Capital Director

“My favorite ecological feedback method is “coaching questions.” It helps individuals reflect on their actions and take responsibility for their development. For instance, instead of directly pointing out a mistake, I ask them to assess their performance, its impact, and how they might approach it differently next time. This fosters self-correction and avoids resistance and conflicts.” 

Let’s look at an example that falls under the 360-degree feedback model.

The Sandwich Principle (Ineffective Model)

The sandwich approach is a feedback technique with the desired actions sandwiched between two positive aspects. The Sandwich principle consists of three main components:

• Introduction (positive aspect): Feedback begins on a positive note.
• Main part (actions): This is the part where we discuss the actions that need to be changed.
• Conclusion (positive aspect): Feedback ends with a positive note again.

Why is this model considered ineffective? We believe that relying too much on kicking off on a positive note is like embellishing the situation or smoothening rough corners. Some participants fail to pick up the main points being discussed in the second part. Once we arrive at concluding our feedback, we tend to focus on adding positive comments again to ease the situation. This model fails to use any balance. Rather, it feels like one is simply beating around the bush.

The Sandwich Principle fails to use any balance.

Delivering constructive feedback

The culture of providing frequent and meaningful feedback brings great advantages to an organization. One must, however, exercise caution while delivering feedback to ensure you achieve your desired results. Here are some practical steps you can undertake for a smooth feedback process.

Prepare in advance

Do your homework and dig into the details. Some situations are comparatively more serious and stepping into deep water may be slightly difficult. It will help if you gather facts, note down instances (both positive and negative), acquire statistics, and obtain all relevant information that justifies your claims.

It will help if you gather facts, note down instances (both positive and negative), acquire statistics, and obtain all relevant information that justifies your claims.

Choose the right setting

Everyone values their self-respect. Be mindful of your surroundings and choose to have these discussions in private. As a good leader, you will also look into the best time to share your feedback with subordinates. If deadlines are near and pressures are high, you may want to wait a day or two.

Use the ideal feedback model

We’ve listed some of the best approaches to offer feedback. Take time to review each and understand them well. Run over examples and determine how you can follow a similar approach.

Encourage dialogue

Focus on maintaining healthy dialogue. By doing so, you are cultivating a sense of psychological safety in the workplace. Encourage your subordinates and peers to offer views and perspectives on your role as a manager. Invite them to give suggestions on how to improve yourself and perhaps the processes running in your team.

The art of sharing constructive feedback

A culture of sharing constructive feedback lays the foundation for growth and development in an organization. Leaders must, however, make an effort to engage in healthy discussions and offer feedback while remaining empathetic and positive. And in doing so, you’ll witness enhanced performance, improved communication, better work relationships, and team success.