This is not a linear process, you will go back and forth between different stages and skip some.
• Understand your intention for giving feedback.
Ask - “how can this contribute to the person hearing it? How can this contribute to the whole?”
Can you genuinely see that this feedback would support the receiver or do you have a need to be heard?
Do you have an emotional charge about this person’s actions? If so make sure you have done the inner work to understand your feelings and needs (self-empathy, ‘’ exercise, NVC transforming enemy image (LASER) exercise, journaling etc.). This will also reduce the likelihood of a defensive response.
If the intensity of feelings remains after inner work – you may need a different process than feedback
• Check you’re ready to give feedback - Use the Dare to Lead
• Ask for consent before you talk, share the topic of the feedback
• Offer appreciation and/or care early on (only if it feels authentic)
• Speak from your experience with ‘I’ sentences (NVC)
• Take responsibility for your own needs in the situation and your own emotional baggage (NVC)
• Don’t assume what happened for the other person, what they thought or felt (NVC separate observation from judgement/evaluation)
• Be specific – give a specific observation - focus on behaviours, actions and ideas not on individual characteristics (NVC)
Example: Instead of saying “You're an inconsiderate person” a concrete statement can be “Last week you spoke loudly in the office a number of times and distracted me from my work”...
Share the impact on you if you feel comfortable doing so (NVC feelings & Matrix).
Example: “The impact on me was that I became frustrated"
• Share the impact on your connection (Matrix).
Example: "It has made me feel like I can trust you less in an office environment."
• Tie the observation with why this matters to you (in terms of purpose and function, values, and relationships) (NVC needs/values)
Example: "This matters to me because I value having a space where I can focus. But it also matters to me that we have a space to socialise"
• Ask for the receiver’s perspective and respond with empathy
The receiver often wants to be seen for their intentions and efforts, and to experience care in the process. Empathy in those moments can shift the dynamic and make for fruitful dialogue designed to find solutions that work for everyone.
Example: In the above example, the person receiving feedback may say something like: “I have a naturally loud voice and I find it hard to speak quietly" or "I find short conversations in the office useful breaks to keep my long-term concentration. I wasn't aware and it wasn't my intention to distract others"
• Make a request or suggestion for what can be done to improve, not a demand. “Would you be willing to…..”
Suggestions work best when offered as the beginning of a search for solutions rather than as commands. Example: “Would you be willing to trial having these short breaks outside the main office" or "would you be willing to really focus on lowering your voice when you have these conversations"
Collaborate to find strategies that work for everyone
• Respond constructively and with empathy to defensiveness - put your NVC ears on and support the person with compassion and empathy - defensiveness usually comes from a place of vulnerability/insecurity.
Example: In the above example, the person receiving feedback may say something like: "I'm not that loud and I don't do it that often, I think you might be over sensitive" And the empathic response could be: “It sounds to me like you have a preference for a particularly quiet room to work in, I can understand if I we're in your shoes why my talking loudly might have impacted you in this way".
• Make it timely - not too soon when things might be raw, but not too late when they may have forgotten the incident
• Constructive feedback may need to be given more than once - be patient, it’s hard to change
• Give it in private first before giving it in public
• Let’s be gentle with our truth telling!