If you want the people who work for you to do a better job, you’ve got to provide them with feedback. This is more than just rattling off a hasty opinion, giving them a thumbs up or a thumbs down. Providing feedback, whether to vendors or employees, is a real skill. And at times, it can be a real challenge — especially when your opinion is less than positive, and your mood is one of anger.
So how do you give good, meaningful, constructive feedback, even when you’re upset? I was thinking about this recently when I came across an article in Entrepreneur, which lists the four basic kinds of feedback. When used judiciously, each of these types of feedback can be advantageous, the article claims; working on your feedback skills means working on your understanding of these four basic feedback types.
I thought this advice was too good not to pass along, so here’s my summary of the four basic feedback skills.
- Remaining silent. Sometimes the best thing to say is, well, nothing at all! If your blood is boiling and you don’t trust yourself to be diplomatic or truly constructive, it may be best to just keep quiet. Just make sure not to overuse this approach; silence works best when you can follow it up with some measured and thoughtful feedback later on.
- Criticism. Criticism means offering comments about what the person…
