Avoiding Feedback Mistakes

[00:00:00]
>> All right, let's talk about some mistakes to try and avoid when giving feedback. I think it's always good to think about the mistakes that I've absolutely made. But yeah, what are things to kind of avoid, especially just specifically around the critical feedback? I think about it, is don't pile on a ton of feedback all at once.

[00:00:22]
You may need to see a lot of changes happen. But piling on a ton of things that need to change, I don't think people are gonna be as successful. And maybe it is that there's too many things for this person to change and address to meet your expectations.

[00:00:38]
And maybe that is where you might have to let someone go, or it's not the right fit for the team, maybe they are a better fit in another team. It might be that there's just too many things, but piling on a bunch of feedback is really difficult. It gets muddy, they only hear certain things, or also just becomes hard to address them all.

[00:00:59]
Avoid using harsh or hurtful language. You can be direct without being harsh. Direct is important, you want it to be clear, concise, but you don't wanna be hurtful. Avoid making the feedback personal. It's more about the work or the outcomes. It's not like, you suck at this. It's like, okay, well, that's kinda not helpful.

[00:01:22]
But hey, I'm seeing that you're not able to deliver this or maybe you don't have the depth in this. It's a little bit different in that scenario. And avoid being vague with the feedback there, again, clear, concise, make that clear. I honestly, when I'm having to have these conversations, I sit back and think about it before going into those conversations.

[00:01:45]
Sometimes I'll write it down. I don't read it as a script, but I find it helps to just write it out and think about like, how is this message gonna be interpreted, how can it be very clear? Because ultimately, having these really hard conversations, the best outcome can happen is that you set the expectations and then the two of you can work on those together.

[00:02:05]
And ultimately, I've been there, where it's like, it got better, things are working. And that's where I wanna be as a leader, is, how can I get someone to where I need to see them, get you, and things are good? Don't wait to get feedback. I mentioned that, yeah, six months ago, you did this.

[00:02:24]
.Don't wait. Sometimes you may not see it as a problem right away. I've found sometimes where I'm giving a little bit more of the growth feedback, where I'm like, yeah, this could be better. You could be a little bit better about prioritizing your work or thinking about timelines, doing a little bit better on estimates.

[00:02:44]
But over time, it might start to become like, wow, you're just not meeting expectations on that. And so that one's a little muddy where it's like, yeah, I've given a little bit of feedback, but it might not be the critical side, and that's okay, it's like, but you're still giving in-the-moment feedback.