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Quick hits
Berglas, Steven. “Don’t Sugarcoat Negative Feedback.” HBR.org, September 13, 2013. http://blogs.hbr.org/2013/09/dont-sugarcoat-negative-feedba/.
Managers can’t always count on praise. Sometimes, criticism is needed to effect positive change. This piece provides tips on how to share constructive feedback most effectively.
Goleman, Daniel. “When You Criticize Someone, You Make It Harder for That Person to Change.” HBR.org, December 19, 2013. http://blogs.hbr.org/2013/12/when-you-criticize-someone-you-make-it-harder-for-them-to-change/.
It’s important to focus on what needs to change, but positivity can go a long way. In this piece, Goleman argues that asking a feedback recipient about hopes, dreams, and possibilities can open him up to more effective work.
Pozen, Robert C. “The Delicate Art of Giving Feedback.” HBR.org, March 28, 2013. http://blogs.hbr.org/2013/03/the-delicate-art-of-giving-fee/.
People tend to respond most strongly to criticism. Pozen suggests the best approach to share negative feedback—and provides some tips on sharing positive feedback as well.
Books
Green, Marnie E. Painless Performance Conversations: A Practical Approach to Critical Day-to-Day Workplace Discussions. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley, 2013.
Most managers avoid tough performance discussions. Green helps readers conquer their fears so they can have effective feedback conversations with their direct reports. Filled with summary tips, reflection questions, conversation checkpoints, and case studies, her book helps managers find their confidence and create a workplace with a culture of accountability.
Grote, Dick. How to Be Good at Performance Appraisals: Simple, Effective, Done Right. Boston: Harvard Business Review Press, 2011.
This concise, hands-on guide shows you how to succeed at every task required by your company’s performance appraisal and management process. Through step-by-step instructions, examples, sample dialogues, and suggested scripts, performance management expert Grote explains how to handle appraisal activities ranging from setting goals, defining job responsibilities, and coaching to providing recognition, assessing performance, and creating development plans. He also explains how to tackle other performance-management activities your company requires, such as determining compensation, developing and retaining star performers, and solving people problems.
Harvard Business School Publishing. HBR Guide to Coaching Your Employees. Boston: Harvard Business Review Press, 2014.
This guidebook covers the basics for coaching. The HBR Guide to Coaching Your Employees explains how to match an individual’s skills with an organization’s needs; create realistic but inspiring plans for growth; give employees feedback they’ll actually apply; and provide support employees need to achieve peak performance. Readers also learn to tap employees’ learning styles to make greater progress; give their employees room to grapple with problems and discover solutions; and, ultimately, keep them engaged.
Harvard Business School Publishing. HBR Guide to Giving Effective Feedback. Boston: Harvard Business Review Press, 2014.
Filled with actionable advice on everything from delivering on-the-spot feedback to determining if your employee is ready for a promotion, this guide—a more in-depth look at the topic of this 20-Minute Manager—provides the tools readers need to master giving effective feedback. Readers will learn how to incorporate feedback into daily interactions with employees, highlight the impact of employees’ behavior on the team and the larger organization, reinforce organizational values and goals with recognition of individuals’ performance, deliver constructive criticism without generating anger or defensiveness, and motivate people even when financial times are tough.
Stone, Douglas, Bruce Patton, and Sheila Heen. Difficult Conversations: How to Discuss What Matters Most. Second edition. New York: Penguin Books Group, 2010.
Difficult conversations can cause stress and anxiety, admit the authors of this classic—whether you need to have them with a coworker, a store clerk, or an in-law. And avoiding confrontation is not always the best option. Now in its second edition, Difficult Conversations shows readers how to transform tough discussions into effective learning opportunities, both inside and outside the workplace.
Weitzel, Sloan R. Feedback That Works: How to Build and Deliver Your Message. Greensboro, NC: Center for Creative Leadership, 2000.
In this book, leadership development expert Weitzel recommends replacing vague statements, snap judgments, and personal attacks with objective commentary that will help improve performance and change ineffective behavior using the Situation-Behavior-Impact (SBI) technique. In addition to helpful how-tos, the book includes a section of “words with impact” to use during any feedback discussion, as well as a list of dos and don’ts for giving effective feedback.
Articles
Higgins, Jamie, and Diana Smith. “The Four Myths of Feedback.” Harvard Management Update, June 1999 (product #U9906E).
The biggest obstacle to giving constructive feedback is breaking down the myths about feedback itself. Contrary to popular belief, this article notes, defensiveness is okay, and mistakes should not be covered up or punished. Higgins and Smith provide four common misperceptions about feedback and how to overcome them to allow for more effective performance discussions.
Krattenmaker, Tom and Richard Bierck. “Is There Any Good Way to Criticize Your Coworkers?” Harvard Management Communication Letter, March 2000 (product #C0003F).
Criticism is a part of our work lives. It is generally viewed as negative, painful, and uncomfortable both to give and to receive. But many experts believe that giving and receiving positive criticism leads to continued growth. The authors of this article present tips on when and how to criticize.
Peiperl, Maury A. “Getting 360-Degree Feedback Right.” Harvard Business Review, January 2001 (product #R0101K).
For years, Peiperl studied 360-degree feedback and asked, Under what circumstances does peer appraisal improve performance? Why does peer appraisal sometimes work well and sometimes fail? And how can executives make these programs less anxiety-provoking for participants and more productive for organizations? In this article, the author explains how executives can use purpose and scope to improve 360-degree feedback.
Phoel, Cynthia Morrison. “Feedback That Works.” Harvard Management Update, February 2009 (product #U0902A).
Most managers say they dislike giving feedback and don’t feel it has the impact it should. Those on the receiving end say they don’t get enough feedback they can actually use. This article distills the wisdom of management experts into specific suggestions for creating positive and effective feedback sessions with direct reports.
Related topic: Receiving feedback
DeLong, Thomas J. “Three Questions for Effective Feedback.” HBR.org, August 4, 2011. http://blogs.hbr.org/2011/08/three-questions-for-effective-feedback/.
What should I stop doing? What should I keep doing? What should I start doing? DeLong expands on these three questions that readers should ask others to get a true evaluation of themselves for better performance and growth.
Folkman, Joseph R. The Power of Feedback: 35 Principles for Turning Feedback from Others into Personal and Professional Change. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley, 2006.
Hearing feedback is only helpful if the recipient knows how to turn that information into change. Drawing on years of research, Folkman presents 35 principles that can maximize the value of feedback and transform it into improved performance.
Heen, Sheila and Douglas Stone. “Find the Coaching in Criticism.” Harvard Business Review, January–February 2014 (product #R1401K).
This article focuses on making feedback more useful by teaching receivers, not just givers, how to engage in constructive feedback conversations. The authors explain why advice or assessments often don’t thoroughly penetrate the receiver’s consciousness, and they outline six steps to becoming a better receiver of feedback.