Getting honest, useful feedback is an important part of any project or career. Ok, sure, we’d all love to only give and receive positive feedback, but that’s not likely. Being able to deliver good feedback (especially negative feedback) means you have the opportunity to influence people and projects to make them better. But because many people shut down when receiving negative feedback, it's important to deliver that feedback the right way.
DO
- Show you care about the person/project. "I'm totally behind your efforts to help disabled athletes in
- Show you understand and are aligned with the project's goals. "I know you are focusing on just one market at this time..."
- Recognize the limits of your knowledge/expertise. "I don't work in your industry, but one thing that's worked for us is..."
- Be specific about the situation/thing you are giving feedback on. "When I was trying to send a picture to my girlfriend, it also shared on Facebook and I didn't expect that..."
DON'T
- Generalize or exaggerate. "Makes me throw up every time I look at it!"
- Indicate that there is one and only one possible solution. "There's no question that if you don't immediately build this feature, everyone is going to leave."
No, it isn't easy. But with some practice you'll become a pro at delivering the bad news in a way that people will thank you for it. Learn what else you should do here.
