Leadership Insights has focused on receiving feedback, both from individuals and groups. Continuing this theme, let's focus on an often overlooked or misused tool and talk about positive feedback. There are three common pitfalls to avoid so your feedback leads to the result you’re looking for—continuous improvement.
Pitfall #1: Overlook accomplishments
People tend to focus on shortcomings and may pay more attention to bad feelings than the good ones. We’re all guilty of it—whether it’s the end of a meeting, presentation, or project, we jump to “lessons learned” and think about how a project can be improved or streamlined. Even when receiving positive feedback, it’s common to gloss over it and ask,“Yes, but what do you really think?”
Instead: Acknowledge and celebrate accomplishments
Don’t pass over or take them for granted. People take pride in what they do, and the feedback doesn’t have to be big. It can be as simple as starting a meeting by asking about something they’re feeling good about at work.
Pitfall #2: Soften the blow with positive feedback
Sandwiching constructive feedback between positive feedback is tempting, but it can undermine both types of feedback and come off as insincere.
Instead: Separate positive and critical feedback
Celebrating strengths and accomplishments does not mean ignoring areas that need improvement and the value of critical feedback. Instead, acknowledge the opportunities for improvement, and make space to highlight one to three areas to celebrate, leverage, and sustain. If you see improvements, acknowledge progress and provide positive feedback as well.
Pitfall #3: Give generic praise
“Nice work!” and “good job” are pleasant but vague, lacking real information about what they’re doing well. Faint praise may come off as condescending or insincere if people think that you’re not really paying attention to how they do their job.
Instead: Add value with the Situation-Behavior-Impact (SBI) model
As with constructive feedback, this model will make positive feedback more meaningful. Compare: “Good job on that presentation!” versus, “I like how when you were presenting to new employees, you made a point to avoid acronyms and intentionally stopped to explain the jargon. It made it easier for people to connect to the material.” This is a valuable approach to raise awareness of behaviors that you want them to be aware of so that they can continue doing them.