Professionals in construction often find providing feedback stressful, especially if the feedback is negative. They don’t want to hurt people’s feelings. However, most employees appreciate constructive feedback. They want to have a clear understanding of where they stand, what they do well, and what areas they need to improve in. These tips will help construction employers give better feedback.
Show That You Care
In many ways, the key to providing excellent feedback is to take an empathetic approach. You want to be upfront about why your are providing employees feedback. Make it clear from the beginning that you aren’t giving feedback to be critical or question their competence. Instead, you’re providing feedback because you want them to develop new skills and make behavioral changes that will help them become better, more successful employees. You also want to think about why the feedback you are providing will help the employee so you can communicate it to them effectively. If your team members understand how the feedback will help them perform better, they are less likely to feel attacked.
Prepare in Advance
It is important to prepare before you give feedback to somewhere. A one-size-fits-all approach doesn’t work because people have unique personalities and respond to criticism in different ways. If you’re giving feedback for the first time, you can afford to be gentle and friendly in your approach. If you’ve given feedback in the past to an employee and they haven’t addressed the issues, you may need to be sterner in your approach. When you prepare your feedback, you also want to try to predict how the employee will react to your critique. Then, you can have responses prepared, which will allow you to minimize conflict and focus on improvement.
Encourage Conversation
You want to avoid doing all the talking so the recipient of the feedback doesn’t feel like you are lecturing them. Pause briefly throughout the session to make sure the employee understands the feedback and encourage them to ask questions if they need clarification. It is also a good idea to let the employee speak first before you launch into your feedback. Give them an opportunity to discuss concerns they might have about their performance. This will make the conversation feel cooperative instead of hostile.
Feedback is an essential part of the learning process in the construction workplace. Leaders can provide better feedback by showing employees that their main objective in providing criticism is to help, practicing empathy, preparing for feedback sessions in advance, and encouraging conversation.
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