A tip on giving constructive feedback...

[Mike.Phillips@Autogeek]

A tip on giving constructive feedback...

In-between my first tour of duty with Meguiar's and then my second tour of duty with Meguiar's I worked for Hewlett-Packard in Corvallis, Oregon and a part of my job included going to lots of meetings. We even went to meetings on how to hold good meetings.




One of the most important things I learned while working at Hewlett-Packard was the proper way to give constructive feedback. In a nutshell here's the skinny...

Balance
It's all to easy to give negative feedback, that is to tell someone what's wrong with an idea or with what's wrong with a procedure or a product. Anyone can do this, it's harder to take some time to also look for things that are positive and bring that to the table also.

Negative feedback is important information and needs to be shared, it helps a company or a person to make adjustments and improve. But what Hewlett-Packard taught their employees to do was that if you're going to offer constructive feedback to not only point out or present the negative, that is what's wrong with the idea... or product or procedure, but to at the same time point out and share the positive, that is what's right with the idea, or product or procedure. Bring balance to the table, not just one side of your opinion.

It's so easy to point out the negative and for some it's a challenge to point out the positive, but I learned from my years at Hewlett-Packard that while this "Best Practice" takes effort and practice in and of itself, it brings balance to a topic in a meeting and this same practice also works on forums to bring both sides or balance to a topic on a discussion forum.

It also helps others to improve themselves or their technique, or fill in the blank...

I for one appreciate any feedback I get via the forum or in a private message or e-mail, while it's more fun to hear positive feedback, it's the negative feedback or a better term is constructive feedback that when taken with the right attitude will help me to improve and grow and I know after years of working with a lot of different people in different industries from all backgrounds in life, it helps others to improve also.


For what it's worth...

[LincolnZephyr2006]

Exactly. Also, for what I have learned in college, as with balance, people need to also learn how to take the constructive feedback well in order to move on instead of just concentrating on the negative. That is, some people tend to only focus on the negative instead of the positive. Sometimes, it isn't always the person who is giving the constructive criticism that may conflict, but rather the person who cannot take it well.

[Emile]

I'm not gonna waste my time reading this...=P

[Grizzly]

I saw the post on the other board.

Mike,

I am more interested in your vast knowledge of detailing than I am in your acting skills.

For what its worth, I thought all of your videos were very professional and well put together.

[termigator]

This reminds me of the show "SuperNanny".

After observing the dysfunctional family for a day, she sits down with the parents. She starts off by saying they have beautiful kids, blah, blah, blah..... and then, BAM!!! Super long list of negatives!

[mikeb]

I saw in some post font is different then others...it looks odd and forums should have same font for all the posts and comment.

[S2K]

I had a boss once who really knew how to handle people, he knew that "balance" Mike spoke about. He could chew you out and have you walk away feeling really good about yourself. He always enforced the positive in a person after pointing out the negative. I really learned a lot from him.

[Paulie12ATT]

Mike, i can't believe you worked for a company that makes the worst products in their industry and has the worst customer service, HP. You did a complete 360, working now for a company who actually cares about their customers andmakes top notch products. Good Job! Never BUY HP or as they say never buy a throw away product(meaning once something breaks there aren't replacement parts for it). I really have nothing positive to say about HP, Sorry. Just stay away. But good article, sorry to get off topic, my $400 HP printer just stopped working after a year and six months and tech support just wanted to sell me another one.(OK give me 2 i told him, then hung up).

[rakkvet]

If you own a business and ever think about having employees I highly recommend reading The One Minute Manager. It presents a simple concept and it is really an effective way to get your point across and also encourage people to continue to strive for excellence without making them feel manipulated.

[Tiffanator]

I know this thread is a little bit older, but I thought I'd throw in my 2 pennies anyway. One thing I used to really work on when I taught wakeboarding and skiing lessons was to "oreo cookie" the criticism. First point out the good they are doing, or say good job, then throw in the criticism or whatever, then finish up with some encouragement.
Another thing is that it always makes people feel better if you have person experience with what they are going through. As someone who has wakeboarded for 14 years I have made all the mistakes, so I can tell the new riders... yeah, I know how that feels, but here's how I learned to avoid it...
If you are going to be critical at least have a backup reasoning. Don't just say... that looks terrible. Say, well you've gotten off to a good start, but you can make it look tons better by doing...
Hope all of that makes sense.