Do we have a habit of giving honest feedback?

Do we have a habit of giving honest feedback?

by  Tharindu WEERASINGHE[MSc.Eng, BSc.Eng(Hons)]

Almost all of us like others praising us; on the other hand, many of us don’t like somebody criticizing us or giving negative feedback on something we have done. Even kids feel very happy if we praise them. Parents are advised to appreciate their children after a good work that they have done. It is a morale booster. It is natural that all human beings like praising. But in reality, we don’t find appraisals all the time.In a nutshell, we need feedback on our work, our behavior, and our attitudes to develop ourselves. To build up a good personality and character feedback is essential. Accepting honest feedback is our duty. Acting upon those feedback are our responsibility. 

Feedback can be seen in two formats. They are Positive feedback and Negative feedback. Both are pretty much important for the development of human beings.

Appreciation (goes as positive feedback) upon a good work is something what we normally expect and constructive criticisms on our mistakes are indeed essential to build up our careers. On the other hand, direct criticisms on something bad we have done (goes as negative feedback),are also important to emphasize that is a “should not do again” type of act.Parents should give direct feedback to their kids. Whether it is positive or negative children should be aware of the fact that their good work is highly appreciated while their bad work is highly criticized in a civilized way! Not only parents, but also teachers, partners, employers, in fact all of us who are involved in various types of relationships (civil and business) should have a mindset of accepting feedback and giving feedback. Otherwise daily work that we do seem to be ill-treated! It is good if you practice the habit of requesting feedback on something you did from an observer who is in the form of your spouse, parents, teachers, colleagues, lovers and so on. It will help you to identify the nature of what you have done; whether you have done something pleasant or unpleasant.   

Positive and Negative: in two formats:

As far as my opinion is concerned, “Positive” and “Negative”feedback can be seen in two forms each. If I further explain, one can give you positive feedback honestly, upon a good work that you have done. So it is one form of positive feedback. Another can give you positive feedback upon a bad act of yours, but he or she wants you to continue that bad habit or work. So, in that sense the particular person who gives feedback, is not honest; he or she is not genuine!  

On the other hand, if we consider negative feedback, one can give you true negative feedback to improve yourself. They can be regarded as constructive criticisms. We all need constructive criticisms as we all are not 100% perfect. So it is one form of negative feedback. The other form is, giving negative feedback upon a truly good work that you have done. It is not genuine. The person who gives that feedback is not honest and he or she is not fond of seeing you doing the same type of good work again.

Thus, it is clearly obvious that we need to identify the attire of feedbacks that we receive. We need to think deeply and take them for granted! It is important to note the nature of the person who gives feedback. After analyzing them we can decide whether we need to continue the particular work or behavior or else correct them.

Feedback can pivot around, Outcomes or Consequences of your behavior/action/work,Feelings of the observers and finally your Comments and Suggestions towards them. It is so important that you spin out and emphasize these three factors when you give feedback. If there is room for improvement then these three factors will be highly important!    

At work:

Most of us receive formal feedback on our daily work at our work places. Your immediate responsible (manager) and/ or your senior responsible (group/general manager, CEO) give feedback on your work/ how you have performed/ how you contributed towards the growth of the company/institution. They come in the form of annual reviews or 6 months reviews. This scenario is pretty much the same for almost all the private companies. In my opinion it is so important for both the parties (employee and employer) to receive/give feedback. Management should give honest feedback towards their subordinates and at the same time the employees (team members) should accept the feedback (may be come to conclusions after discussions with the management) and try to build up on them! It is very important that both parties are humble and honest! And more importantly, the management must be in a position to accept any true feedback that an employee gives and act upon that! Thus many of us experience a proper mechanism of receiving and giving feedback at our occupation(especially in private companies) which is pretty essential.  But it is so good that if we practice the same at the government institutes as well because it will surely boost performance and it will improve the personality of employees. When we think of cost-effective work and productivity of employees of the government sector, there should be a proper mechanism of giving feedback and accepting them. 

At home:

Do we have habit of giving feedback at home? Do you asses the behavior of your spouse/children in a way that you can give proper feedback? Do you think that we can improve our living standards if we practice giving feedback on our daily work at home? I think so! Tell your husband or wife or children to give you feedback on your behaviors, thinking pattern, attitudes and work. And tell them that you also will give honest feedback. It is so nice that we behave in a way that others like us to behave and more importantly you should be keen on that behavior. I think that mentality and environment can be created if we have a proper mechanism for giving feedback at each other! 

Think about this and act soon!

-Tharindu WEERASINGHE[MSc.Eng, BSc.Eng(Hons) - Peradeniya]

The writer is a software engineer working at a leading software company