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Last week we gave you some best practices to use in your performance appraisal process, and we promised that we would share some dos and don’ts when delivering feedback. Take a look at these examples of a bad way to give feedback and how to be more effective: Bad way: ‘You're always late for meetings.’
  • Alternative: ‘I've noticed that you've been arriving late to a few meetings recently, could you let me know if there's anything that I can do to help or if there's something we could work on to improve punctuality in the future.’
Bad way: ‘Your work is not up to par.’
  • Alternative: ‘I've noticed some areas of your work that could use improvement. Can we schedule a time to go over specific examples and discuss ways to improve the quality of your work?’
Bad way: ‘You're not a team player.’
  • Alternative: ‘I've noticed that you tend to work independently and don't always collaborate with your colleagues, can we discuss ways to improve your teamwork skills and participation in team activities?’
Bad way: ‘You're not meeting expectations.’
  • Alternative: ‘I've noticed that your performance is not meeting the goals and expectations that we set for your role. Can we schedule a time to review your progress and discuss any challenges you may be facing and ways to improve?’
Bad way: ‘You're not good at this.’
  • Alternative: ‘I've noticed that you're struggling with this particular skill or task, can we discuss what resources and training you may need to improve and develop your abilities in this area?’
It's important to remember that feedback should be delivered in a constructive and professional manner. Avoiding blame or criticism, being specific about the areas that need improvement, and providing suggestions for how to improve are all ways to deliver feedback in a more effective and productive way. If you’re not comfortable delivering feedback, especially negative feedback, one of the best things you can do is PRACTICE! Get a peer and role play giving the feedback and have some fun with it…practice responding to different reactions from your practice partner. If you are afraid of how your employee is going to respond, your practice partner can help you work through that. Our success stories and case studies tell our story from the clients’ perspective…they provide the best endorsement of our capability and work product. Contact us to learn how we can help you improve your performance management process…we’ll be pleased to share with you how our work has exceeded our clients’ expectations.