From the course: Using Feedback to Drive Performance

Purposes of feedback

From the course: Using Feedback to Drive Performance

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Purposes of feedback

- Consider the last time that you received great feedback at work. What made that feedback excellent? One of the powerful elements of great feedback is knowing the purpose of your feedback. Because if we don't know the purpose of our feedback, then we are less likely to deliver our feedback most effectively and best improve performance. So, we must first identify why we are giving feedback in the first place. Because, as we better understand our purpose of feedback, we can better frame our feedback structure to achieve optimum results. Feedback has several purposes, so take a moment to identify the purpose of your performance feedback. One purpose of performance feedback is to reinforce good behavior. If John has done a great job on the new product launch project, then his manager can give positive and encouraging thanks and recognition. This feedback is enjoyable feedback to give and receive and will likely include praise and acknowledgment to encourage the continued desired behavior. Another purpose of feedback is to correct undesired behavior. If John is constantly behind on deadlines with subpar effort, resulting in an unpleasant product launch, the manager will probably have a conversation to discuss the undesired behavior. Corrective performance feedback is used to discourage undesired behavior. A final purpose of performance feedback is to coach or improve upon behavior. If John had a quality product launch but was delayed in troubleshooting product issues, then his manager may thank John for his hard work on the product launch and acknowledge the successes of the launch. Then, his manager might work with John to decide on tools, systems, or approaches to better troubleshoot product issues more quickly. Coaching performance feedback simply builds from an existing foundation of desired behavior. A great feedback giver can balance all three purposes for a more holistic approach. The purpose of our feedback dramatically affects the manner in which we deliver our feedback. So, here's what I want you to do. Look at the feedback that you give with your team and determine what is the purpose of your feedback.

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