Language of Positive Feedback

Giving feedback is an art.  In the past, the term ‘feedback’ was associated with negativity and it scared everyone as the term was equated with postmortem or finding faults or warning someone against something.   Examples of such feedback are:  “You are not doing what you should be doing!  Your behaviour is not acceptable! If you continue to behave like this, you will have to quit the organization.”  This type of negative feedback has negative impact on those who receive it. 

Positive feedback is associated with reinforcement, appreciation encouragement, personal development, etc.    The purpose of giving feedback is to appreciate someone for some good work done, encourage them to continue to do so and give constructive suggestions to help them blossom.  If a person is said to have excellent communication skills, they are expected to be good at giving and receiving feedback. 

Giving positive feedback means using positive language and creating conducive environment for personal growth.  The following are tips for giving positive feedback.

·        Be fair in your comments. 

·        Use positive words and phrases.

·        Use gentle and polite body language.

·        Sound honest and make the person to whom you give feedback listen to you.

·        Establish and maintain good eye contact while giving your feedback. 

·        Make the person believe that you are interested in their growth.

·        Start with the positive.

·        State the negative in a positive manner.

·        Be generous in your appreciation and stingy in your criticism.

·        Show you have concern for the person who receives your feedback.

·        Suggest points for growth in a gentle manner.

Here are some examples of positive feedback:

-         Congratulations!  It was a wonderful presentation.  I liked the anecdotes. 

-         Great performance!   You have clarity of thought and clarity of expression.  You were quite audible too.  I liked your voice modulation. Keep it up!

-         Wonderful!   Your presentation was very effective. 

How to state something negative in a positive manner? Feedback is given not with the intention of hurting or discouraging the person who receives it.  It is given with the objective of helping the person become aware of the negative aspects or limitations of something, eg. oral presentation, and make efforts to improve on it.  Look at these examples:

-         The structure of your presentation was not good.

-         You were not audible.

-         Your voice modulation was not good.

The above are typical negative feedback.  These statements can be rephrased as below in order to make them positive feedback:

-         Your presentation would have been (more) effective if you had explained the structure of your presentation. 

-         We would have followed your presentation better if you had been more audible.

-         Your presentation was good.  You started well.  I would like to suggest a few points to make your presentation more effective.  You should improve your voice modulation.

The shortest word in the English language that contains the letters abcdef is feedback.    Let’s excel in it.