Adjunct faculty member Kellie Jenkins shares lessons in feedback
If you’re working in the business world, you might have a negative association with feedback.
Maybe your boss showers you with non-specific praise, telling you that you’re a “rock star” or “superhero.” Perhaps you’ve been subject to constructive criticism that leaves you feeling blindsided, left wondering where it came from or what the intention was.
The reality is that feedback is hard for both the giver and receiver. Only 26% of respondents to a 2019 Gallup poll strongly agree that the feedback they receive helps them do better work. Kellie Jenkins, an adjunct faculty member for Executive Education at the Daniels College of Business, recognizes the challenges associated with feedback.
Kellie Jenkins
“There’s often a whole lot of emotion attached to it, which can affect the way we deliver it,” she said. “It’s very difficult to hear feedback if it’s not delivered well, and it’s very easy for the emotion to get in the way of how it’s delivered.”
Jenkins teaches workshops on feedback at Daniels and through her leadership development and coaching business. In this story, she’ll share key lessons on the importance and timing of feedback, as well as tips for providing helpful critiques and avoiding classic pitfalls.
The importance of feedback
Whether the lessons are positive or on the constructive side, Jenkins said providing and receiving feedback are crucially important to personal and business success.
“It’s important to both your personal development, but also to the culture of the organization,” she said.
While giving and receiving feedback flex different muscles, they both provide lessons to the involved parties and help inform future interactions. Jenkins said research shows that employees want more constructive feedback than their managers typically give.
“Most of us are wanting to learn and grow. We’re looking for those opportunities to hear how we can improve, provided they’re delivered in the right way,” Jenkins said.
Frequency of feedback
We know that feedback is an important part of our jobs, but how often should we be confronting it? How frequently should we be seeking and sharing feedback?
Jenkins believes feedback should be an ongoing conversation, not just something that’s left for the annual performance cycle.
“It really doesn’t take a lot to walk past someone in the hallway, or hop on a zoom call or send a quick email, to give some specific feedback, especially in an appreciative way,” she said. “There is no regular cycle, but it should be something that is always top of mind.” This also goes for constructive feedback. The key is finding balance.
To further that point, Jenkins said managers should be providing timely feedback, very soon after the behavior is observed (whether to compliment someone or share an observation of how the situation could have gone differently). When the annual review cycle does come around, Jenkins hopes this constant feedback will create for a more effective review.
“The annual performance conversation should be a summary of everything that has been discussed throughout the course of the year,” she said.
Qualities of helpful feedback
When it comes to providing helpful feedback, Jenkins is a fan of the Situation Behavior Impact Model. The model says that the situation should be specifically described, followed by a description of the observable behavior, and concluded with a description of the impact of the behavior. The goal is to provide the receiver with a non-biased, non-judgmental look at the situation, helping them to understand the context that the feedback giver observed.
However, the SBI model is only effective when used in a timely manner, meaning that the feedback isn’t delivered months after the situation. Jenkins also stressed the importance of using the model to start a dialogue, encouraging the feedback discussion to be a back-and-forth. That is especially beneficial for the receiver.
“When you are invited to share your perspective, you feel like you have some power in the situation,” she said.
And employees feel the difference between simple feedback like, ‘Great job in that meeting,’ and something more robust. Compare that to hearing, ‘When we were meeting with our stakeholders earlier today, I appreciated how you addressed their concerns directly and with data, because that instilled confidence in them. They seemed to really trust your decisions because they are grounded in research.’
Toss out the compliment sandwich
Should we employ the compliment sandwich in the workplace? The construction of this is to give one piece of good feedback, followed by a constructive comment, closed with another positive note. Jenkins shakes her head at mention of this.
“It’s too many pieces of information for anybody to take in, so it makes it difficult to understand what you want me to do.” she said. “Or people don’t hear the most important thing; the message you really wanted to convey.”
Instead, she proposes a balanced feedback approach that mixes positive and constructive feedback over a period of time. This process builds trust between both parties.
“We look at balanced feedback over the course of the relationship, so that people understand exactly where they stand.,” she said. “The positive feedback helps build trust in the relationship, so, when the constructive feedback is delivered, it lands better, because you know it’s being delivered with the best of intentions.”
This isn’t to say that you need to deliver positive feedback first in order to build trust now for constructive feedback later. Rather, both need to be part of your feedback strategy, bringing balance to the situation throughout the relationship.
What does unhelpful feedback sound like?
It can feel simpler to reach for the “easy” compliments, especially with the fast pace of a workday. But phrases like ‘rock star’ and ‘superhero’ are the type of feedback that are most unhelpful because of how non-specific they are. They are also based on opinion and filled with judgement.
This style of feedback will leave the receiver without a sense for why it was given, what the issue or positive situation in which they earned the compliment was and what exactly they’re supposed to do next. And it often comes far too late.
How to get better at feedback
For Jenkins, effective feedback starts and ends with trust.
“It all comes down to the trust in the relationship. That is probably the primary foundation upon which feedback can be delivered most effectively,” she said. “Once you have trust, there is a little more forgiveness and grace if the feedback isn’t delivered as effectively as we’d like.”
Jenkins adds that feedback is a skill like anything else and needs to be practiced to improve. The more these conversations are part of the way leaders operate, the better they are at it.
But how can you improve as a receiver of feedback? That’s slightly more challenging.
“It’s mostly about managing your emotions and reactions to the feedback,” Jenkins said.
She recommends taking a breath, and perhaps some time to react to the feedback. “
I think one thing we often overlook as receivers of feedback is that we don’t have to accept the feedback being given in the moment it’s being given,” she said. “We have some power to advocate for setting the feedback up in a moment or situation where we’re in the best place to receive it.”
That might mean setting up a meeting for a future conversation when you’re in a better space to react to the feedback. It also might mean a second conversation to unpack previous feedback when you’ve had time to think further about it. Ultimately, Jenkins said recipients should be empowered to advocate for what they need to hear and receive the feedback effectively.
She also wants to dispel the notion that all feedback needs to be said aloud, offering an opportunity for managers to consider the written form.
“We always assume it needs to be verbal, but that’s not always the case,” she said. “In many situations a combination of written and verbal feedback will better meet the needs of the recipient.”
