The term ‘feedback’ is used to describe the helpful information or criticism about prior action or behavior from an individual, communicated to another individual (or a group) who can use that information to adjust and improve current and future actions and behaviors.

Giving effective feedback is a vital part of communication, whether inside or outside the boardroom. A feedback-rich culture, where people are comfortable asking for and receiving feedback from their colleagues and managers, can really change how a workplace operates.

But too often feedback is something that happens only once a year, during annual reviews or appraisals. Do you remember the last time someone gave you any feedback on your performance at work? If you had to think about it for more than a few seconds, it was probably too long ago.

Feedback helps us understand things like:

• What we can change to get better results
• The rate of progress towards a goal
• What needs to happen to improve relationships
• Whether something is worth doing
• How well we are doing
• What others think of us or how they value us
• Our level of performance against a target

Feedback can be used for a variety of management purposes, including to:

• Influence someone to do something differently or to change their approach
• Show people that you appreciate what they did and give them recognition, which helps to motivate them
• Get information from your manager, team or others regarding your own performance and behavior
• Improve the quality of an individuals’ work or the work of teams
• Show people that you value them and their input
• Help people back onto the right target when they have misunderstood a goal or task
• Build and maintain relationships with an open and honest dialogue, fostering trust and support
• Set and explain expectations regarding behavior and performance, enabling people to meet and exceed their objectives.

Basically feedback is a tool used to reinforce positive behavior and support behavioral changes in the workplace. While it is beneficial to give and receive healthy criticism about areas for improvement, using positive feedback is equally necessary. In this article, we will discuss what positive feedback is, how to give and receive it, and the benefits of using positive feedback in the workplace.

For positive (or negative) feedback to be impactful, it should be well-thought-out before presented to the individual. If you’re in a position to give positive feedback, think about how you can include specific details so your audience understands exactly why what they did was good.

While positive feedback is certainly necessary, it is also important to let others know when they have the opportunity to improve the skills and qualities that will help them succeed in their career. As opposed to positive feedback, however, it can be difficult to know exactly when and how it is appropriate to offer a healthy critique.

Unlike negative feedback, constructive criticism helps an employee see where he or she needs to improve and why it’s important to make those improvements. Constructive criticism presents both a critique and a solution, giving the employee a clear idea of how to improve.