march 2015 BCBusiness 27 sabrina smelKo
It's Not Me, It's You
D - I - Y M a n a g e m e n t
We ask our workplace guru baldev Gill–vp operations and strategic development for the
b.c. human resources management association–how to give (and take) constructive feedback
by Felicity Stone
avoid delay
A common mistake is waiting
too long to provide feedback,
says Gill. Feedback is more
relevant and useful if it's
given in a timely fashion. "I
think that if it's negative feed-
back, you may want to wait
until you've calmed down—
not three weeks, but you
might want to wait a day."
Contain negativity
Negative feedback in public is not only
demoralizing for the recipient but also
for bystanders. Try to deliver it in a
closed-door meeting and make sure
you're not emotional. "I'll go for a cof-
fee, then I'll come back after I've con-
tained my thoughts and I'm objective
and not using words that are hurtful
but more constructive," says Gill.
sHare tHe praise
Recognize a job well done in person,
then follow it up with an email to
the rest of the staff. "It's also impor-
tant to inform those that may not be
part of your team that this person
or team has done a very good job….
It has to resonate within the office
too."
stiCk to tHe point
Sometimes managers confuse the
message. "They want to talk about, let's
say, tardiness, and then they throw
out two or three other things that have
caused them some heartburn about
that person," says Gill. Make sure to
stay objective and focus on a specific
event or issue.
listen to tHe otHer side
As a manager, you need to understand
your employee's rationale when some-
thing goes awry. As much as managers
are fond of giving feedback, some just
don't want to hear any in return. "If
you feel threatened by it, then people
will clam up and they won't give that
information or feedback to you," says
Gill, "but if you embrace it, there's an
opportunity to get better as a manager,
because I think it works both ways."
1
2
3
4
5
