Get feedback on Your Feedback

You give your employees feedback about their performance, and you expect them to improve as a result. But many managers don't realize how their feedback is received by the employees they are trying to help. It may be time for a reality check.

Here's how to evaluate the effectiveness of your feedback:

• Review the three most recent times you offered feedback to one of your employees. Answer these questions about those sessions: What prompted you to give feedback on that matter at the time? Did you check your facts first? What was the substance of the feedback? Did any concrete action result?
• Ask employees to answer the same questions. The comparisons make for interesting reading. You may find that your feedback isn't having the effect you anticipated. It may even be having the opposite effect of what you intended.
• Think of the people who work for you as "customers" for your feedback. Determine whether the feedback you're providing is working for them

- Adapted from "How to Give Good Feedback," Gina Imperato