Feedback from Teams

In order for any team to be effective, each member needs to feel comfortable when offering constructive feedback to each other and to the group. By receiving feedback about his or her performance, a member can utilize the information to grow and further develop in his or her position. However, feedback is not always easy to give or to receive. Many people are sensitive when they hear criticism about themselves. As a result, members of the team may feel apprehensive about offering suggestions for improvement.

It’s important to help team members feel more comfortable about giving and receiving feedback. One way this can be done is to provide them with some guidelines about how and when to give constructive criticism. The team should come up with the ground rules together, so everyone is in agreement. The following are examples, which have proven to be useful.

Feedback Guidelines

• Don’t criticize a basic personality trait or disability.
• Do offer suggestions on performance areas that can be improved.

• Don’t limit feedback to once a year.
• Do provide opportunities for feedback on a regular basis, whether if be weekly, monthly, or quarterly.

• Don’t use harsh or inflammatory words.
• Do be sensitive to the other persons feeling.

• Don’t use feedback to get back or deliberately hurt someone.
• Do provide suggestions with the purpose of improving the person and overall team’s performance.

• Don’t use generalities, like “Your work is terrible.”
• Do offer specific feedback and give examples.

• Don’t give feedback without offering assistance on how to improve.
• Do offer your help and follow-up with the person.

Sometimes, it’s helpful to have forms for team members to use, so that feedback is standardized and not too informal. With proper feedback and consideration for members feelings, teams can perform to their maximum ability, with each member improving along the way.