How to Give Feedback Effectively

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Give the employee a goal to work for, not a legacy to overcome.

—Hal Plotkin

In general, when giving feedback, concentrate on improving performance—don’t use feedback simply to criticize by stating your preconceived judgment. Make sure the feedback is future-focused; pick issues that can be reworked in the future. For example, if a behavior or action was a one-time event, you might let it go.

Establish a receptive work environment

As a manager, you establish the tone, the feel, and even the culture for working in your group. Take advantage of this prerogative to adopt a broad and general acceptance that feedback ...

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