I recently worked with a top corporate executive and we were having a conversation about feedback.  She began telling me, that as a leader, she uses an authoritative style of feedback…sort of “this is the way it is done…do it this way.”  As a leader and coming from a non-American culture I became curious…so I asked…”How do you provide positive feedback?”  She looked at me perplexed.  Her response (which is not uncommon) was, “If they are getting paid, then they are doing a good job.”

Believe it or not, I hear this often and it surprises me.  How do you provide positive feedback to your team?

As a business coach and business owner, I believe, as humans, we need and yearn for deserved positive feedback.  With that said, this is not about kissing butt.  This is not about being inauthentic.  Au contraire…this is 100% about authenticity.

VERBAL

You don’t need to do it all the time, but be specific and let an employee know when they did something great or helpful…and be specific.  For example, “I really appreciated you helping Bob out and getting him up to speed on the XYZ project.”  or “Great job on the XYZ report…I know the owner was impressed”

EMAIL

Not a verbal person?  OK!  When creating an email, what would it take to write a quick one line of appreciation or gratitude…even a quick reply with “Nice job!  Thanks.”  or “Thanks…I appreciate the work you did on this.”  Just one quick line, when deserved, goes a long way.

GRATITUDE

I realize that we are all busy professionals, however, no matter what your role may be, you can never say “thank you” enough.  “Thank you…I appreciated your time today.”  “Thanks for getting back to me…”  “Great report…thanks.”  “Great meeting…thank you!”

YOUR JOB TITLE

No matter what your job title, there is always room for positive feedback…from your staff, to your peers and even, dare I say, to your boss…earned positive feedback is always good to hear (and see).

Finally…In a world where it can be difficult to deliver hard feedback, sometimes we need to remember to do a better job on delivering positive feedback as well.

Thank you for taking the time to read this post.  😉