Stop saying "Good job": How to give powerful feedback
Want to give feedback that peers will love you for? Use this advice
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Q: You can disagree and still be kind. This is 7 ways on how you can give powerful feedback at work.
“If you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all” is polite advice, but not always practical when giving feedback. Not all feedback is positive to give or easy to receive.
But skipping critical feedback isn’t the solution — knowing how to effectively provide it is.
Like any conversation, a little strategy can go a long way in reaching your desired outcome. Here are five pieces of advice to consider when giving feedback in a workplace setting.
In today’s Newsletter, we will explore how to give powerful feedback. Since I’m still learning about this, we are going to pull in the expert’s advice from, Zach Adams, Content Designer at Grammarly, to answer your question and to share his hard-earned negotiating wisdom with us. Zach has over a decade of experience in Content Writing and worked in companies like Google and Spotify. I suspect this is where he continues to hone his skills with stakeholders. 👀 As you’ll see below, has incredible insights into giving feedback. I can honestly say this is the most useful post I’ve ever encountered on the topic, and I’m excited to share it with you all. Enjoy!
You can find Zach on LinkedIn and Website, and don’t miss Zach’s original article on this that highlights the most important pointers to note when giving feedback and beyond! 🙏
As a UX Writer (and a Gemini), I have a love-hate relationship with sharing my work for critique. I love discovering when the words aren’t doing what they should be — I love improving products! But, I hate that sometimes I sense my peers don’t have any particular feedback — they’ll either remain silent or say something like “looks good!” This feedback is very hard to build on. My hypothesis about what happens is that people are looking for flaws and if they can’t find any, they forget to give praise about what was done well.
To help you learn how to give better feedback, here’s a series of concrete actions you can take today to try at your workplace:
Be Specific
Focus on the process, not the outcome
Avoid praising people for things they don’t control
Say what you see
Ask questions
Recognize that honesty fosters credibility - Jen Mueller
Learn from the entire experience - Jen Mueller
We’re going to explore these in detail below for each pointers.
You need to stop saying “Good Job” - here’s why.
I’m here to ask you to praise your peers because the silence is deafening when you don’t. And, it’s much easier to repeat something done well than to find a quick fix for something that doesn’t work.
Giving praise can be as simple as saying “I like your use of the color plum.”
This sentence signals praise at the start, and goes beyond the superficial with tangible evidence. In one fell swoop, it acknowledges praise, the effort that goes into decision-making, and a specific decision.
I learned this schema when I worked for a program that paired college students with preschool kids to encourage fundamental learning and social skills. Our goal was to build up the child’s confidence by asking them to explore and seek validation from themselves. Healthy design teams have a similar goal in my opinion — to encourage growth among peers.
I find the five principles from Alexia Dellner’s article “Stop Saying ‘Good Job’ to Your Kids (and What to Say Instead)” really inspiring. They’re based on research by the University of Florida and Columbia University, and they taught me that you can give praise that has an impact and builds a healthier culture around critique.
1. Be specific
Give someone a specific example of how they did well. This makes it easy to repeat that behavior in the future, and get the same positive outcome. Try starting this type of praise with “I like how you…” or “I admire it when you…”
2. Focus on the process, not the outcome
It takes months, sometimes years, to build a product. Yet, the end result is a product of the process. That’s why there’s a higher value in commenting on the effort and process. Instead of “great job getting your project done,” you might try saying, “you must have worked so hard and managed your time well to meet this tight deadline!”
3. Avoid praising people for things they don’t control
Consider, for example, that praise about the visual attractiveness of a design can easily lack value when it’s based on a subjective opinion or immovable requirements like your brand’s design language. Praise what’s within someone’s power like the effort, generosity, and attitude that they put into the work.
I often worry that the praise I get from my coworkers will dry up if my strengths and knowledge in a particular subject don’t translate to other projects. But, what I try to remember is that I actually control and want to be praised for how I approach problems and create spaces for people to share ideas. I don’t always need to be the subject matter expert.
4. Say what you see
A simple, evaluation-free statement lets someone know that you noticed. It allows them to take pride in what they did and gives them a moment to expand on what you’re seeing. Remember to be specific, so your statement has depth for the receiver.
5. Ask questions
Allow someone to decide for themselves how they feel about their accomplishments by asking questions. Doing this allows someone to reward themselves, and encourages them to internalize what they observed about their own efforts. You could uncover a fascinating conversation by asking, “what was the hardest part to design?” or “I’d love to learn from your process, how did you approach this problem?”
And we wanted to add two important points too from Jen Mueller, a professional speaker and communicator.
6. Recognize that honesty fosters credibility
[From Jen Mueller] If giving negative feedback still makes you cringe, consider the positive side and how it can help establish your credibility at work.
“Say what you feel in a respectful way, especially if you were asked to provide feedback. If you don’t provide real information, no one trusts you in the future,” says Shannon Vetto, principal/owner of SV Consulting in Mercer Island. “Honesty is really important but how you say it is probably the second most important part of feedback.”
Tactfully saying something unpopular confirms you’re a good sounding board in the future. Taking the path of least resistance doesn’t help people or companies grow.
7. Learn from the entire experience
[From Jen Mueller] Feedback goes beyond the words that are said. The entire experience shapes the way the conversation plays out. For that reason, spend a few minutes after the exchange to take notes and learn from the whole interaction.
“There have been times I’ve left a meeting feeling empowered even when I was given constructive criticism because it was delivered well,” Knox says. “I take notes after those experiences and use them going forward, even if it’s just advice to myself, and then adapt those as a leader.”
Mentorship can help you learn how to give better feedback on ADPList! Thank you, Zach, for sharing your wisdom with all of us.
Have a productive week to start your year! 🙏
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Written with ❤️,
Felix Lee
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