Feedback - pre-conditions

Giving negative feedback is hard.  There are so many ways managers typically mess it up and just make things far worse.

Here are tricks I use to make it a success.  Let's focus first on the important pre-conditions:

1) Check yourself

• What's my emotional state?  What baggage might I be bringing?

• What was my contribution to this?   This isn't likely 100% their fault.  What did I do to create or perpetuate this situation? 

2) Check the facts


3) Build a listening* state

• Open them up:  Remind them that you value them.  After all, this feedback is a personal investment in making them better.  (It isn't?  Check yourself again.)

• Check your positive to negative ratio.  People truly listen when in a positive relationship.  They don't listen to constant naysayers.

• It's a good time to talk.  Plan a good time.  Veryify by asking if this is a good time.

4) *Listening

• Lincoln said, "Listening is allowing yourself to be truly changed."  Try to get them in this state, and allow yourself to be in this state too.
  

OK.  Enough about pre-conditions!  When you're ready to tackle it, check out the next article:  Feedback "SBIR"