Topic of the day: How feedback can help you grow

Source : ( strategy-business.com)

If people understand the importance of feedback in their daily life, they would use this powerful tool much often than they currently do. In fact, we naturally give feedbacks but typically in exceptional situations such as when something outstanding happened or in a very bad situation that we passed through. These feedbacks are also important, as they are a way for us to express our emotions. However, on this topic today I want to address a more broad view of feedback and how you can grow personally and professionally.

First of all, what is feedback? According to the definition, feedback is a way of someone to react regarding an input. A more business-oriented definition says that feedback is the information sent back to an individual or entity about a prior behaviour (can also be a service or a product received) in order to achieve a better result in the future. Both definitions are entirely true, and you can take great advantage if you incorporate it into your daily life.

Feedback is a process of giving or receiving hints on how to adjust the way.

Feedbacks can be positive or negative. In both cases, if well given, they turn out to be a great contribution to the receiving party. For positive feedbacks, for example, you should show what the other person did that truly matters to you. By doing this you present your true opinion and not only empty praises or compliments.

Feedbacks should be greatly appreciated when received and also well thought when given, particularly for negative feedbacks. You should think about how you would feel if you were receiving it and what you really want to say. Many people use inappropriate words for negative feedbacks and end up attacking the other person instead of stating what they did not like on the other person’s behaviour. As I learned and practice, feedbacks should be constructive and help the other person to improve, even in negative situations.

During a feedback process, the person is actually learning from a third person’s perspective, regardless of the subject. You learn much faster from feedbacks than only reading or studying about that topic, so you should really take them seriously!

So many problems can be avoided if proper feedback was given on time!

When receiving feedback you should be open for the hidden message behind what is being said. For example, in your job, if someone says that you did a great job finishing the task before the deadline, that means for the other person that time is a very important point. In the future, if you are doing something for this person again and expect to be delayed, you should inform this person in advance that you might be late, giving the reasons and trying to find a way to reach the goals on time. For every feedback, there is an important lesson behind.

Another important point in receiving feedback is the use of paraphrasing, a very important tool from communication. By repeating in your own words what the other person said, you have not only time to reflect internally but give also an opportunity for the other person to check whether their message was really understood.
You might be wondering on how often feedbacks should be given. In my experience, they should be given as soon as the situation happened. People’s memory tends to fade away over time and the message you want to pass might not be understood if given too late. I would say that for a positive feedback you should give it immediately. On the other hand, if the feedback is negative and you feel outraged, maybe it is better to understand yourself first, why you felt this way and find the right words to express your indignation.

Feedback is a tool that represents maturity in a person. You see this very often in persons who deal with other groups of people on a daily basis, for example, teachers and professors, managers, grandparents and persons involved in social works.

One final message: Don’t take feedbacks personally but try to see them from the other person’s view on how good or not so good you did, and what is important or not for that person.