Feedback is essential. To improve performance, our employees need to know where they are going wrong, so they can avoid problems in the future. 

David Patient – Professor and Academic Director in The Lisbon MBA.

To stay motivated, our employees need to know what they are doing right, so they can keep doing it. Employees also deserve to know where they stand, in terms of meeting expectations and compared to other people, so they will not be surprised by the evaluation, bonus, or promotion they receive – or not. This is why our best employees want more feedback. This is why our worst employees need more feedback.

As a manager, your job is about achieving results through the performance of the individuals on your team. No longer are you an individual performer, judged primarily on your own, direct contributions. This makes improving the motivation and performance of your employees especially important. An important way to do that is through the feedback you provide. Regular and specific feedback is essential to improving employee performance, motivation, and commitment to the organization, not to mention to the employee’s learning and career advancement.

In giving feedback, focus on three specific goals. First, the person receiving the feedback needs to understand it. Second, the feedback needs to be accepted as fair and reasonable. Third, the way the feedback is provided should motivate employees to change and improve their behavior.

Here are 10 ways to make giving feedback easier, more powerful, and more effective.

1. BE CLEAR. Above all, make sure your main point is understood. Illustrate with concrete examples.
2. FOCUS ON BEHAVIORS. This will reduce defensiveness. Remember that behaviors can be changed; personality can not.
3. BUILD UP TO NEGATIVE FEEDBACK. Start with a positive opening. This could be a relevant common goal, a point of agreement, or positive feedback.
4. LISTEN AND EXPLORE. Ask for their view on why a problem is happening. They may have information that you don’t know about negative external factors, perhaps including your own influence!
5. BE PROMPT. Feedback is most powerful when it immediately follows behavior. Don’t make negative feedback worse by making the recipient the last to know.
6. BE COURAGEOUS. Don’t delegate negative feedback. Don’t avoid discussing what is most important or “sugarcoat” the message so the feedback loses impact and specificity.
7. PREFER FACE-TO-FACE. In person feedback is more interactive, sensitive, and likely to be accepted.
8. ACCEPT FEEDBACK YOURSELF. Be open to feedback, and accept your share of responsibility. People will be more likely to accept feedback from you if they feel genuinely welcome to give you feedback too.

Receiving feedback and changing behavior can be difficult for employees. Giving feedback can be difficult for managers. But if you focus on your three goals, and try to use the strategies above, you will help employees to accept areas in which they need to improve,  understand what they need to do to improve, and feel motivated – and supported – in their efforts to become even better contributors.