When it comes to feedback, many people immediately think of negative feedback in the form of criticism, pointing out weaknesses, mistakes or problems. But feedback can be both positive and negative, encouraging and encouraging improvement, or discouraging and creating a bad working atmosphere. So there are different types of feedback. If you know what the different types of feedback are, you can give meaningful and constructive feedback at work and in your private life. Learn more in the post.
Definition of feedback
Feedback is information that provides feedback or judgment about an action, performance, product, or behavior. Feedback can be both positive and negative and serves to identify problems, enable improvements and motivate. In companies, an open feedback culture is closely linked to entrepreneurial success, growth and job satisfaction. Feedback can come in different forms and directions. The appropriate type of feedback depends on the situation, the goal, and the relationship between the sender and receiver.
types of feedback
Basically, feedback should help to drive personal or professional development and to fix weak points, to learn and to improve interpersonal communication. But this is not the case for all types of feedback:
Positives Feedback
Positive feedback expresses praise, recognition, or approval for an action, performance, or behavior. The person receiving feedback is encouraged to maintain and, if possible, expand on these positive aspects. Positive feedback can increase self-confidence, motivate and improve communication between feedback giver and receiver.
Example: Upon completion of a project, a project manager receives the following positive feedback, praising the employee for her performance and highlighting certain aspects of her work:
“Thank you for your great work! It was a challenging project and despite the time pressure you managed to do an excellent job, work effectively, manage the hybrid team and convince the customer.”
Negatives Feedback
In the case of negative feedback, weaknesses, deficiencies, problems and opportunities for improvement are pointed out. Areas that need improvement are highlighted. Although negative feedback identifies problems and is critical, it should be aimed at improving skills and performance and deriving appropriate actions.
Example: A team member receives the following negative feedback from the team leader:
“In the last few weeks you have had increasing problems completing your tasks on time. This ultimately has a negative effect on the overall progress of our project and is demotivating for your colleagues. It’s important that you work on your time management skills and make sure you work within our deadlines in the future. We’ve put together some online resources and tools that can help you with this. Let’s tackle this together.”
Constructive feedback
Constructive feedback is about suggesting actions that lead to improvement. A behavior, a performance or the abilities of a person should be positively developed and changed. Constructive feedback contains clear statements about what can be improved and which means are useful. It is designed to help a person achieve their goals and grow.
Example: An employee gives a test presentation to the team and receives the following constructive feedback to improve the presentation:
“Thank you for your presentation, which contains many interesting ideas. However, the lecture is not yet structured clearly enough and you repeat yourself in some places. Case studies and examples could further illustrate your ideas. You could also work on your pronunciation and body language to make yourself more convincing.”
Destruktives Feedback
When feedback is negative and derogatory at the same time, it is called destructive feedback. It can leave the feedback recipient feeling humiliated, discouraged, and unsettled. No problem solutions are shown or constructive suggestions for improvement are made. Often the focus is on the person themselves and not on their behavior or performance. Destructive feedback can negatively affect the working atmosphere and productivity and ultimately contribute to the failure of a company. It should therefore be avoided.
Example: A new employee receives the following destructive feedback after the first few weeks:
“Your cooperation in the team was really bad. Your social skills are lousy and the whole team doesn’t like you.”
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Feedback versus Feedforward
With feedback, you look into the past and evaluate what was good and what was bad in order to derive measures for improvement. With feedforward, on the other hand, the focus is on the future. Advice, suggestions and recommendations focus on future actions, performance and behavior. Information and suggestions are provided to optimize future performance and behavior. Feedforward should be constructive and based on past experience and learning.
Example: Before a presentation, an employee is given tips on how to plan the structure and structure and what has worked well in the past.
directions of feedback
The content of feedback is also determined by the direction in which it is given. Do supervisors or team leaders give feedback to their employees? Or the employees themselves? Can feedback also be given to a manager? Here is an overview:
Peer-to-Peer
In the case of horizontal feedback, employees on the same hierarchical level exchange information, e.g. B. in a team or in a department. It comes z. B. used in 360-degree feedback.
Top-down
Downward feedback is probably the most common. A supervisor or a team leader gives feedback to a subordinate employee. It comes z. B. in appraisal interviews, but also in 90-degree feedback. In order to avoid negative associations with top-down feedback, it is important to cultivate an open and constructive feedback culture. This is the only way both sides can benefit from the feedback.
Bottom-up
Feedback can also be given by the employee to superiors or team leaders, e.g. B. as part of the 90 degree feedback. With upward feedback, traditional balances of power and thinking in traditional hierarchies are balanced. When used correctly, this type of feedback can have a positive impact on a company’s success and growth. This requires an open feedback and error culture: employees should be able to give honest feedback without having to fear for their job, their salary or other professional disadvantages.
Further distinctions of feedback by occasion
Now we have already learned a lot about the type of feedback (positive, negative, constructive, deconstructive) and the direction of the feedback (down, up, peer-to-peer). In addition, feedback can also be differentiated by reason:
Formal Feedback
When feedback is scheduled, occurs at specific times, and follows a pre-defined process, it is called formal feedback. This can be the quarterly performance review or an annual interview between employer and employee. As a rule, both parties prepare well for a formal feedback discussion, there is a follow-up and evaluation, which is important for further development, e.g. B. the employee is used at work.
Informal Feedback
Informal feedback is the most common type of feedback in the workplace. It can include praise, criticism, and tips for work. Informal feedback can therefore be positive, negative, constructive and therefore productive, but also deconstructive, demotivating and therefore unproductive. Informal feedback can be given at any time and without being asked and has a significant impact on communication in the workplace and the working environment. In order to exploit the potential of informal feedback, employees should be made aware of the right way of giving feedback.
Pull versus Push
Another way of distinguishing feedback is to ask whether it is given after a request or unsolicited. Formal feedback is usually planned and prompted (push). Informal feedback can be either requested (pull) or unsolicited (push).
No matter what kind of feedback it is: Modern hybrid or remote working environments expand the channels and media with which feedback is given. In addition to the classic conversation, there are z. B. also the video feedback. Read more about possible feedback channels.
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