Why it’s Important to Give Feedback

How often do you give feedback to your direct reports?

Weekly? Monthly? When it’s their annual review? Maybe you don’t provide feedback to your direct reports, or perhaps you think you do, but they don’t even know that’s what they’re receiving. It might be a compliment or a note on how to approach a situation. However, it’s not structured as feedback, even though it is.

Feedback is an important aspect of everyone’s development. When you give feedback, it helps your people become better, and it helps you evolve your team. But these are only a couple of reasons why it’s important to give feedback. Here’s why you should be doing it more frequently.

It Provides Your People Direction

Without any feedback, your direct reports will continue doing what they’re doing, whether it’s correct or not. If no one tells them to keep going or stop, they will just assume that they’re making the right decisions.

When you give feedback, you can help scale up their success or redirect them if they’re heading in the wrong direction. Without your guidance, knowledge, and feedback, your people will be left to tread water until they hear from you.

Giving Feedback Helps You Develop Alternative Communication Styles

The more frequently you give feedback to your direct reports, the better you’ll get at it. You’ll also begin learning what your people react well to and what goes over their head. This will help you develop new ways of communicating to get your message across.

Not only does this skill help with your direct reports, but it will also assist you when communicating with superiors. You will need to approach feedback with them differently from how you would with your people. The more communication styles you have in your toolbox, the easier it will be to get everyone on board and execute your strategy.

When You Give Feedback, it Improves Performance

Without any feedback, it’s unlikely that your team’s performance is going to improve. Your direct reports will continue to do what they think is right. They’ll miss blind spots and assume their approach is accurate.

Analysing their work and providing feedback helps improve their capability. In turn, this will enhance their performance. It’s essential to provide feedback whether your team are meeting their metrics or not. There’s always room for improvement, and the only way this can happen is through feedback.

It Strengthens Your Relationship With Your People

When you give feedback to your direct reports, it shows that you care about their career. Furthermore, it demonstrates to them that you’ve noticed and are looking for ways to make them better. As such, you’ll create a closer bond, and they will come to respect you more.

Relationships are essential in leadership roles. You want your people to not only respect you but trust you too. When you give feedback to them, good or bad, it helps strengthen your relationship and shows that you’ve got their back.

Looking for More Feedback Tips?

Articulating how to give feedback is a skill you should continue to develop. There are nothing but benefits that come out of providing advice, knowledge, and notes to your team so they can reach their full potential and help the business reach its goals.

If you’re looking for feedback on how to improve as a leader, then make sure you’re following the Better Boss Blog. You’ll find tips, tricks, and advice on how to evolve in your role and help your people. Follow pwf services on LinkedIn, Instagram, and Facebook, so you never miss a post.