Tweet

Basic Feedback Should Be BASIC

Guest post by: Ben Nash

Article Overview: One of the key skills of supervisors is giving feedback to employees about their performance. Feedback, of course, includes praise for a job well done as well as constructive observations about how things could be done better. Apprehension about providing feedback to employees is particularly acute among newly promoted supervisors. This is often the result of a lack of the supervisory training.

Basic Feedback Should Be BASIC

One of the key skills of supervisors is giving feedback to employees about their performance. Feedback, of course, includes praise for a job well done as well as constructive observations about how things could be done better. Apprehension about providing feedback to employees is particularly acute among newly promoted supervisors. This is often the result of a lack of the supervisory training. Cathy Lee Gibson of Cornell University came up with the BASIC feedback model to help supervisors provide great feedback to their employees. Feedback, she said, should be:

• Behavioral – measurable and/or observable rather than attitudinal
• As soon as possible– that means in close time proximity to the employee’s behavior and it should also be delivered with minimal emotion on the part of the feedback provider – so take the time you need to calm down!
• Specific and Single Subject – focus on one or two behaviors at a time so the employee can relate to what you are saying
• Interactive – feedback is a dynamic; two-way interaction not just a one way monologue. Give the employee space to respond throughout the discussion
• Consistent – be consistent in the way you provide feedback to different employees. Consistency does not mean sameness. Don’t be a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde when providing feedback to different employees

Using the BASIC feedback model can provide supervisors (both new and experienced) with a great framework for getting past their anxiety for providing employees with the feedback that they need.

Related Articles
  Maximise the use of your basic rate tax band (UK limited companies)
  1.12 Ensuring incomes and basic social security: Working Out of Poverty
  Back to Basics: HR Lessons the Boss Needs to Know
  Salesmanship
  Help Me Keith: My Feedback Makes People Defensive!
  Is My Time More Valuable Than Yours?
  Basic Understanding of HTMLs
  Top Online Business Opportunities For 2010
  Tips to Increase Profit - Ask your customers what they want
  Win More Sales by Returning to these 5 Basics with Flawless Execution
  Basic Operating Question (BOQ) for Empowerment
  Basic Eldercare Realities
  VAT - When 15% should be 17.5%
  Running a Work At Home Business: Do you have what it takes?
  Sales Training Techniques that Work!
  Work from Home Business Opportunity – How to Find a Successful One in Any Economy – Recession Proof Business
  Brevity and Clarity
  Can Concentration Really Improve Memory?
  Network Marketing Explained
  Successful Home Business Explained

Article Tags: apprehension, giving feedback, job, key skills, performance feedback, providing feedback, supervisory training



Related Forum Posts
Re: How Important is Feedback in eBay? - Feedback is VERY important to me when purchasing on eBay and similar sites. If they don't have several transactions and a 100% feedback (or close to it) then I most likely will not purchase from them.
Re: What newsletter program to use? - Just did a quick review of GetResponse and v6.0 is impressive! but you should go with the Premium package which is $10 more than the Basic package per month. Does anyone know if they require Opt-in confirmation on imported contacts? I noticed they also include video emails and twitter integration. Nice product offering.
Subject Line Etiquette - For myself, it's not so much "etiquette" as common sense. If you're emailing someone with a business offer or to strike up a relationship, you do not put "Hello" or "Hi" or something cryptic in the subject line. You make it clear what your email is about - just as you would on a message board. So instead of "wff" for example, the guy who emailed me a couple of days ago should have said, "Feedback on Your WFF Article" - so that I would have known what it was about without having to look at it and try to think...
Re: Book Review - The Freedom Formula - Hi Shri, Thanks for your input. I have read a bit of the book. Now I say something which many may know, true freedom comes from the true source of Freedom. We read this in Luke 4v17-18. ......has sent me to proclaim freedom for the....proclaim of the Lord's favor. Later it reads, the people were amazed. She mentions God, but what about his son Jesus, who died and rose again. Jesus. Powerful. More and more people asking questions, why are we here and what is the purpose for our life. All the answers are in the Bible, which stands for Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth. A very successful guy in the US is Joel Osteen from Houston Texas, with over 40'000 people meeting every week. He has written a book: "Your Best Life Now" Well worth reading, too. Regards Beat
Contingency Planning and Disaster Recovery: A Small Business - Contingency Planning and Disaster Recovery: A Small Business Guide Donna R. Childs, Stefan Dietrich 2002 "Among the countless tragic lessons of 9/11, an overlooked but important discovery was the lack of preparedness among small and midsized businesses for responding to disaster. While most of the media attention was naturally devoted to...., the very existence of thousands of small businesses was determined by whether or not they had adequate insurance, sufficient technological support, and viable disaster contingency plans." (People who live in hurricane prone areas need this as well...and who knows when a fire might not strike...) Table of Contents 1. Preparation 2. Response 3. Recovery 4. SAmple IT Solutions Basic safety practices Okay, the TOC isn't [i:2fu76idt]too [/i:2fu76idt]helpful, but there's lots of valuable info in this book, as to ensure that [i:2fu76idt]your [/i:2fu76idt]losses won't be catastrophic. How people cope with suddenly seeing their homes and all their possessions gone, what kinds of insurance to get, etc. etc.


Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.

Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

Unharnessing Creativity in Business

Ask All to Buy!

Five Ways to Show Honest Appreciation

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.