Business Bites: Structured feedback

There are many models of feedback available to gain insights from

There are a range of scenarios where structured feedback may be required for feedback to be effective – and to achieve the desired outcomes.

It should be recognised that feedback not related to specific facts – and not identifying how to improve (known as generalised feedback) – may be confusing for the recipient and unhelpful in identifying issues and addressing them. If this sounds familiar to you, either as a recipient or the giver of feedback, read on to find out more about models that can help you.

Certain factors will impact effective feedback and function as barriers to achieving successful outcomes. Communication skills are key, and it is incredibly important that the message intended by the sender is understood by the recipient.

Barriers to effective feedback, which you should be able to identify and remove, are shown below in List 1¹:

List 1: Barriers to effective feedback
• Generalised feedback not related to specific facts
• Lack of advice on how to improve behaviour
• A lack of respect for the source of feedback
• Fear of upsetting colleagues
• Fear of damaging professional relationships
• Defensive behaviour/resistance when receiving feedback
• Physical barriers: noise, or improper time, place or space
• Personal agendas
• Lack of confidence

To deliver effective feedback, List 2¹ gives a good outline for you to utilise:

List 2: Tips for effective feedback
• Plan
• Give promptly, right after the event
• Think about what you want to achieve and drive discussion accordingly
• One-on-one feedback is preferable
• Start gently
• Be specific
• Encourage self-reflection
• Be aware of nonverbal clues
• Self-reflect after the feedback session is completed

In additional to this outline, you should be able to utilise open questions such as those shown in List 3¹ which gives a few examples. These open questions will help to encourage self-reflection.

List 3: Examples of open questions
• How do you think things went?
• Did it go as planned? If not, why not?
• If you were doing it again, what would you do the same next time and what would you do differently? Why?
• How did you feel during the session? How would you feel about doing it again?
• How do you think the patient felt? What makes you think that?
• What did you learn from this session?

Unfortunately, many of us will recall situations where we have been on the receiving end of poor feedback, and some of us may even recall times when – upon reflection – we could have given better feedback. Giving feedback is not easy – especially if you are being careful not to hurt the feelings of your team.

The solution can be found in the use of feedback models, which are designed to constructively address issues and achieve the desired outcomes.

Feedback models

There are many feedback models all designed to offer specific, clear and concise feedback enabling useful change for your business. Here, we look at three such models.

STAR feedback model

STAR feedback helps the recipient to be aware of the right or wrong that they did and how it impacted others and the business. This structure for this model is:

• Situation: describe the situation or context in which the employee (recipient) was involved
• Task: focus on the specific task/item that you wish to give feedback on in detail so that the recipient understands the context
• Action: provide details on the action(s) taken by the recipient in the situation specified previously. How did they handle it? This applies if the action in question was positive or negative
• Result: what was the result/outcome of the actions of the recipient and if it affected others, how. Help the recipient understand if they did something right or wrong. If the action in question was a negative one, it is good to describe an alternative action that should have been taken in the first place to make it more effective/acceptable

EEC feedback model

The EEC feedback model differs from the STAR model in that it addresses what is expected of the employee (recipient) in future. This model is not just concerned with the historical behaviour or action, it is also concerned with the future and what the recipient needs to do differently next time.

This model is suited to feedback on both positive and negative situations. In the case of positive feedback, this will identify that an excellent job has been done and look to repeat this or build on this.

• Example: begin by giving an example of the behaviour or action. What did you see the person do?
• Effect: explain the effect of the action/behaviour in question
• Change/continue: what would you like to see the recipient do now? If the action was positive, let them know to keep working in that manner. If the action was negative, what should they change to make the required improvement?

This model is also sometimes referred to as the AID model where:

• A = Action
• I = Impact
• D = Do

Pendleton feedback model

Named after David Pendleton and introduced in 1984, this model originally focused on doctor-patient relationships. It became clear that it could also be used in business settings.

This model has the aim of creating a two-way feedback system rather than one individual giving another feedback. This means that the recipient becomes an active participant in the process and self-reflection is encouraged. The employee feels that they are valued as their opinion is being heard.

The original model had four steps, but this has since been expanded to the following seven step process:
1. Ensure that the employee is ready for the feedback
2. Allow the employee to offer their opinion on the observed situation or behaviour. How do they feel things went?
3. Let the employee identify what went well
4. The manager shares what went well as per their opinion
5. The employee talks about the required improvements
6. The manager tells what the things that can be improved
7. Both the employee and manager agree on a formal action plan that will ensure improvement by implementing/actioning the improvements discussed

What evidence is there?

In her article, ‘How to give tough feedback that helps people grow’, Valour² tells us that: “Powerful, high-impact feedback conversations share the following elements:

1. An intention to help the employee grow, rather than to show them they were wrong. The feedback should increase, not drain, the employee’s motivation and resources for change. When preparing for a feedback conversation as a manager, reflect on what you hope to achieve and on what impact you’d like to have on the employee.
2. Openness on the part of the feedback giver, which is essential to creating a high-quality connection that facilitates change. If you start off feeling uncomfortable and self-protective, your employee will match that energy, and you’ll each leave the conversation frustrated with the other person.
3. Inviting the employee into the problem-solving process. You can ask questions such as: What ideas do you have? What are you taking away from this conversation? What steps will you take, by when, and how will I know?
4. Giving developmental feedback that sparks growth is a critical challenge to master, because it can make the difference between an employee who contributes powerfully and positively to the organisation and one who feels diminished by the organisation and contributes far less. A true developmental leader sees the raw material for brilliance in every employee and creates the conditions to let it shine, even when the challenge is tough.”

As mentioned earlier, there are a plethora of feedback models that you may wish to investigate and compare with those in this article.

References
1.Lists 1, 2, and 3 taken from the article Hardavella G, Aamli-Gaagnat A, Saad N, Rousalova I, Sreter KB. (2017) How to give and receive feedback effectively. Breathe (Sheff). Available from: https://breathe.ersjournals.com/content/13/4/327?ctkey=shareline [Accessed 20 June 2024].
2.Valcour M. (2015) How to Give Tough Feedback That Helps People Grow. Available from: https://hbr.org/2015/08/how-to-give-tough-feedback-that-helps-people-grow [Accessed 20 June 2024].