{"id":30699,"date":"2021-03-23T13:45:13","date_gmt":"2021-03-23T17:45:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=30699"},"modified":"2021-04-03T14:01:27","modified_gmt":"2021-04-03T18:01:27","slug":"providing-feedback","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/providing-feedback\/","title":{"rendered":"Tips on Providing Feedback to Your Employees"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

What are the best methods for providing feedback to your employees? How can you deliver feedback tactfully? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a business owner or manager, you should always be evaluating your employees. Providing feedback has many benefits including improved performance, showing your employees you care, and creating an open communication model.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Keep reading for advice on how to provide feedback<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Providing Feedback<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

As a manager, you should constantly be evaluating people and giving feedback. As a CEO, you should have an opinion on everything in your company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Constantly giving feedback has a few benefits:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  • It gives people ways to improve. In turn, this makes them more productive and makes them feel you care about their development. <\/li>
  • It makes personnel decisions easier, such as writing performance reviews and deciding compensation and promotions.<\/li>
  • It makes it OK across the team to give feedback. If you model the behavior, your team will be comfortable sharing bad news and telling each other how to improve.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n

    You should develop a personal style around giving feedback based on your own personality. However, here are general pointers that apply to everyone:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    • Come from an earnest desire to improve the person.<\/strong> When someone trusts your intentions, she will be much more receptive to what you have to say.<\/li>
    • Be honest.<\/strong> Believe in what you say. People detect inauthenticity, and that kills trust.<\/li>
    • Customize the feedback to the person.<\/strong> Some people are delicate; others are thick-skinned. Some people get the point right away; others need a message drilled in. Delivering the message the wrong way for the person will be counterproductive.<\/li>
    • Be clear, not vague.<\/strong> Vague feedback is useless (\u201cit\u2019s good, just needs one more pass\u201d). Point out precisely what needs work (\u201cyour conclusion is confusing because it doesn\u2019t logically follow from the earlier slides.\u201d)<\/li>
    • Avoid the \u201cshit sandwich.\u201d <\/strong>This is a rookie manager tactic where you start with a compliment, give the feedback, then end with a compliment. Over time, your compliments will start sounding inauthentic, and you will sound rehearsed.<\/li>
    • Don\u2019t be mean.<\/strong> Don\u2019t use feedback to bully someone or assert your dominance. If you come from an earnest desire to improve the person, this shouldn\u2019t be an issue.<\/li>
    • Don\u2019t embarrass someone in front of the team.<\/strong> Some feedback can be delivered in a team setting, but embarrassing someone will cause her to resent you.<\/li>
    • Open up discussion. <\/strong>Be open to the idea that you might be wrong. Encourage the person to share her opinion and argue where you\u2019ve misjudged. Resolve the discussion so that you both understand the quality bar better.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n

      Feedback in One-on-One Meetings<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

      One-on-one meetings are private meetings between a manager and her direct report. Compared to email or group meetings, they\u2019re relatively informal and intimate, and thus provide a good avenue for communication.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Some people think one-on-one meetings are pointless, but they\u2019ve usually been victims of bad ones. In reality, one-on-ones are fantastic opportunities to learn about problems, both in the company and with the employee. They\u2019re also a place to bounce new, unformed ideas around before they\u2019re ready for formal presentation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Here\u2019s how to run a one-on-one:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      • Adopt the mindset that the one-on-one is a meeting for the employee, not for the manager<\/strong>. As a manager, you should talk only 10% of the time and listen 90% of the time.<\/li>
      • Ask your direct report to set the agenda and send it to you in advance.<\/li>
      • During the meeting, try to read between the lines and draw out the important issues. The more soft-spoken the person is, the more important this will be. <\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n

        Here are questions to ask in one-on-ones:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        • What\u2019s our number one problem? Why?<\/li>
        • If you were me, what would you do differently?<\/li>
        • What\u2019s the biggest opportunity that we\u2019re not chasing?<\/li>
        • Are you happy working here? <\/li><\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

          What are the best methods for providing feedback to your employees? How can you deliver feedback tactfully? As a business owner or manager, you should always be evaluating your employees. Providing feedback has many benefits including improved performance, showing your employees you care, and creating an open communication model. Keep reading for advice on how to provide feedback.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":18200,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[45,34,30],"tags":[252],"class_list":["post-30699","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","category-communication","category-work","tag-the-hard-thing-about-hard-things","","tg-column-two"],"yoast_head":"\nTips on Providing Feedback to Your Employees - Shortform Books<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Providing feedback to your employees has many benefits. Here are some tips on how to provide feedback tactfully and professionally.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/providing-feedback\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Tips on Providing Feedback to Your Employees\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Providing feedback to your employees has many benefits. Here are some tips on how to provide feedback tactfully and professionally.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/providing-feedback\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Shortform Books\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-03-23T17:45:13+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-04-03T18:01:27+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/wordpress.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/what-color-is-my-parachute-22-scaled.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1707\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Hannah Aster\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Hannah Aster\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/providing-feedback\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/providing-feedback\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Hannah Aster\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/f39f52830e4f7039a16e45d12354542f\"},\"headline\":\"Tips on Providing Feedback to Your Employees\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-03-23T17:45:13+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-04-03T18:01:27+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/providing-feedback\/\"},\"wordCount\":646,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/providing-feedback\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/what-color-is-my-parachute-22-scaled.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"The Hard Thing About Hard Things\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Business\",\"Communication\",\"Work\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/providing-feedback\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/providing-feedback\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/providing-feedback\/\",\"name\":\"Tips on Providing Feedback to Your Employees - Shortform Books\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/providing-feedback\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/providing-feedback\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/what-color-is-my-parachute-22-scaled.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-03-23T17:45:13+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-04-03T18:01:27+00:00\",\"description\":\"Providing feedback to your employees has many benefits. Here are some tips on how to provide feedback tactfully and professionally.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/providing-feedback\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/providing-feedback\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/providing-feedback\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/what-color-is-my-parachute-22-scaled.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/what-color-is-my-parachute-22-scaled.jpg\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":1707},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/providing-feedback\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Tips on Providing Feedback to Your Employees\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Shortform Books\",\"description\":\"The World's Best Book Summaries\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Shortform Books\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/logo-equilateral-with-text-no-bg.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/logo-equilateral-with-text-no-bg.png\",\"width\":500,\"height\":74,\"caption\":\"Shortform Books\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/f39f52830e4f7039a16e45d12354542f\",\"name\":\"Hannah Aster\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0302cb2690b70a21639bc6873e587f42d39d02385b7e59d8efd0d3e000ae7681?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0302cb2690b70a21639bc6873e587f42d39d02385b7e59d8efd0d3e000ae7681?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Hannah Aster\"},\"description\":\"Hannah is a seasoned writer and editor who started her journey with Shortform nearly five years ago. She grew up reading mostly fiction books but transitioned to non-fiction writing when she started her travel website in 2018. When she's not writing or traveling, you can find Hannah working on home reno projects, crafting, or taking care of plants.\",\"knowsAbout\":[\"Graduated summa cum laude with a bachelor's degree in English and minors in professional and creative writing\"],\"jobTitle\":\"SEO Team Lead\",\"worksFor\":\"Shortform\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/author\/hannah\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Tips on Providing Feedback to Your Employees - Shortform Books","description":"Providing feedback to your employees has many benefits. Here are some tips on how to provide feedback tactfully and professionally.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/providing-feedback\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Tips on Providing Feedback to Your Employees","og_description":"Providing feedback to your employees has many benefits. Here are some tips on how to provide feedback tactfully and professionally.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/providing-feedback\/","og_site_name":"Shortform Books","article_published_time":"2021-03-23T17:45:13+00:00","article_modified_time":"2021-04-03T18:01:27+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2560,"height":1707,"url":"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/wordpress.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/what-color-is-my-parachute-22-scaled.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Hannah Aster","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Hannah Aster","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/providing-feedback\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/providing-feedback\/"},"author":{"name":"Hannah Aster","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/f39f52830e4f7039a16e45d12354542f"},"headline":"Tips on Providing Feedback to Your Employees","datePublished":"2021-03-23T17:45:13+00:00","dateModified":"2021-04-03T18:01:27+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/providing-feedback\/"},"wordCount":646,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/providing-feedback\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/what-color-is-my-parachute-22-scaled.jpg","keywords":["The Hard Thing About Hard Things"],"articleSection":["Business","Communication","Work"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/providing-feedback\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/providing-feedback\/","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/providing-feedback\/","name":"Tips on Providing Feedback to Your Employees - Shortform Books","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/providing-feedback\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/providing-feedback\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/what-color-is-my-parachute-22-scaled.jpg","datePublished":"2021-03-23T17:45:13+00:00","dateModified":"2021-04-03T18:01:27+00:00","description":"Providing feedback to your employees has many benefits. Here are some tips on how to provide feedback tactfully and professionally.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/providing-feedback\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/providing-feedback\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/providing-feedback\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/what-color-is-my-parachute-22-scaled.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/what-color-is-my-parachute-22-scaled.jpg","width":2560,"height":1707},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/providing-feedback\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Tips on Providing Feedback to Your Employees"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/","name":"Shortform Books","description":"The World's Best Book Summaries","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization","name":"Shortform Books","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/logo-equilateral-with-text-no-bg.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/logo-equilateral-with-text-no-bg.png","width":500,"height":74,"caption":"Shortform Books"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/f39f52830e4f7039a16e45d12354542f","name":"Hannah Aster","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0302cb2690b70a21639bc6873e587f42d39d02385b7e59d8efd0d3e000ae7681?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0302cb2690b70a21639bc6873e587f42d39d02385b7e59d8efd0d3e000ae7681?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Hannah Aster"},"description":"Hannah is a seasoned writer and editor who started her journey with Shortform nearly five years ago. She grew up reading mostly fiction books but transitioned to non-fiction writing when she started her travel website in 2018. When she's not writing or traveling, you can find Hannah working on home reno projects, crafting, or taking care of plants.","knowsAbout":["Graduated summa cum laude with a bachelor's degree in English and minors in professional and creative writing"],"jobTitle":"SEO Team Lead","worksFor":"Shortform","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/author\/hannah\/"}]}},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/what-color-is-my-parachute-22-scaled.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30699","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30699"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30699\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31258,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30699\/revisions\/31258"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18200"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30699"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30699"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30699"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}