In their book Thanks for the Feedback, Douglas Stone and Sheila Heen suggest there are three kinds of feedback: appreciation, coaching, and evaluation. A quick summary of each:
- Appreciation: Recognizing someone for great work. Appreciation motivates people; one of the critical factors for high performance.
- Coaching: Helping someone to expand their knowledge, skills and capabilities. Coaching can also address feelings, which helps strengthen relationships.
- Evaluation: Assessing someone against a defined standard, often providing a ranking or comparison against others.
One of the key insights in the book is we should be careful about providing multiple kinds of feedback at the same time, as the person receiving them might be confused by our intentions. The authors use a common example:
A college professor spends a large part of her weekend writing exhaustive comments on a student’s paper. When it is handed back, the student flips to the last page to see the grade. If he gets an A, he is overjoyed. If he gets a C, he mopes the rest of the day, muttering that the grade was unfair. In either case, he spends little time trying to learn from all the suggestions the professor had made.
The coaching is drowned out by the performance feedback.
In business this is one of the main challenges in the annual performance review process, especially for managers who don’t provide frequent feedback. Some managers mix all three kinds of feedback in the performance review: appreciation for notable achievements, coaching around items they expect improved, and a numerical evaluation which might be tied to a bonus. Even though the appreciation and coaching are well-intentioned, the employee mostly concentrates on the evaluation.
Consider separating the feedback and making it more in-the-moment. While congratulatory emails have their place, I prefer to catch people doing the right things and provide them with instantaneous appreciation. However, generic appreciation can be ineffective. Rather than a simple “Great job!” explain what you appreciated: “Despite the customer raising their voice multiple times, you kept calm throughout and found an effective solution for them.”
When you’re giving appreciation feedback, the focus is on the person receiving the feedback. On the other hand, when you’re coaching, the emphasis is on the task or process. This is especially important when things go wrong, as errors are rarely only the fault of a single individual. I call this “hard on the issues, not on the people.”
In summary, there are three kinds of feedback that should be used separately. Provide authentic appreciation whenever it’s warranted, periodic coaching to help people develop, and formal evaluation only when needed.
These are very relevant insights Jonathan. Intermingling constructive feedback with words of appreciation can be confounding to the recipient, diluting the desired impact of appreciation. A good reminder!