Mastering the Art of Giving Feedback: A Guide for Higher Ed Professionals

Giving feedback sounds simple, right? Just share your thoughts… well, not exactly. It’s more nuanced than that.

Providing useful feedback empowers others to improve and grow, and it’s also essential for working in collaborative spaces like higher education. Whether contributing within your department, collaborating across campus, or supporting students on their academic journeys, the ability to give constructive feedback is critical. Yet, mastering this art can be challenging, particularly for early-career professionals.

So, what does effective feedback entail? How exactly can you give feedback that empowers others without creating tension among your team? Here’s a look at some of the issues that can arise when giving feedback, as well as best practices for doing so.

Why Giving Feedback Can Be Tricky

There are several things that can go awry in the feedback cycle. Joe Jotkowitz, a communication consultant and executive coach, says these conversations are often “more stressful for the ones facilitating [them].”

Common challenges in giving feedback include:

Discomfort with the conversation (addressing a peer, for example, may elicit imposter feelings or concerns about creating future tension) Risk of miscommunications (such as unclear wording that confuses the recipient) Poor timing (such as waiting too long to provide valuable feedback)

Other challenges can arise on the recipient’s end, such as misinterpreting the messenger’s tone, which often leads to defensiveness.

Despite these potential complications in the feedback loop, well-delivered feedback can improve a team’s efficiency, productivity, and outcomes. Additionally, it offers recipients powerful opportunities for performance improvement and long-term career growth.

What’s the Secret to Giving Useful Feedback?

It’s important to remember that feedback is a two-way process. While a recipient’s response to your feedback is largely beyond your control, there are some strategies you can use to mitigate the chances of a negative reaction. Focusing on the delivery of your feedback can increase the likelihood of a productive conversation.

Effective and useful feedback originates from a good place — a genuine desire to improve team dynamics, a project or product, etc., or a desire to help the recipient grow in their career. With these goals in mind, careful consideration and articulation of your feedback are vital. You’ll want to:

Consider Your Language

Language matters. Imagine being told “You set this email up all wrong,” vs “This is a great start, but I’d like to see x, y, z…”

Acknowledging someone’s initial effort as opposed to immediate negative comments, which often result in hurt feelings and defensiveness, can prime the recipient for the constructive feedback you’re about to offer. For more ideas on specific language and phrases to use, I found this list of seven phrases particularly helpful.

Be Specific

Vague feedback, such as “You need to improve your attitude,” is not likely to be helpful. Aim to be specific and detailed so that the recipient can understand exactly what behaviors are problematic and how they might improve. A better statement might be:

“During our team meetings, sometimes it seems like you are sighing or using a dismissive tone. I know things can be frustrating, but sometimes this makes it hard for others to participate and share their thoughts. I think it will help if we can all be open-minded and considerate, even when we don’t agree.”

Similarly, giving positive feedback shouldn’t just be a simple “nice job!” Opt for specific feedback, such as “Your email was well-written, and the bullet points made it easy to skim and understand.” This gives the recipient a clear picture of what worked well and should be continued.

Refer Back to SMART Goals (If Applicable)

The SMART goal acronym stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound. Connecting your feedback to these goals helps professionals understand how their performance ties into these goals and how to make progress.

“Begin the conversation by sharing the purpose for the feedback or the reason behind the conversation,” Jotkowitz advises. “This can include the goal or objective that was intended in the situation. This can include the date and time of the circumstances that you are referencing. Grounding the feedback gives it more concreteness.”

For example, if you work in admissions, your team may set a goal to increase applications by 5% in the next cycle. When providing feedback, you could highlight how specific changes — such as refining the tone or content of an outreach email — may support this goal and ultimately enhance the department’s admissions yield.

When Possible, Give People the Benefit of the Doubt

Unless someone is repeatedly making the same mistake, it’s best not to jump to conclusions and to give them some grace.

“Especially if you are sharing feedback to improve performance, a short statement, such as, ‘I don’t think that was the impact you meant to create,’ can help the hair go down on the back of people’s neck and allow the feedback to be received a little easier with less defensiveness,” Jotkowitz says.

Reflect on Your Medium

Before offering feedback, take some time to consider the most suitable medium. Will you send an email? Meet on Zoom or in person? Set up a phone call? Send an instant message? Some feedback, particularly minor issues, may be effectively addressed via email or instant message, while other feedback, especially for recurring problems, will likely require a face-to-face meeting. However, keep in mind that each medium comes with benefits and downsides. A hastily sent email or instant message can easily be misconstrued, since it’s hard to judge tone, so craft your message thoughtfully. Even meeting virtually may require some extra considerations.

Make It a Conversation

While it’s important to prepare your key points and clearly explain the “why” of your feedback, Jotkowitz says it’s important to “finish feedback with a conversation.”

“I may be giving feedback to someone in order to illustrate what they did and the impact it had,” he explains, “but after I do, I should invite them into the discussion by asking why it happened or if they realized the effect they created. Then we can try and come up with solutions together.”

Remember

Giving feedback can feel uncomfortable at first, but it’s an essential part of personal and institutional growth. As Jotkowitz notes, “The most important conversations are usually the most difficult.” Constructive feedback not only supports individual development but also enhances team dynamics and contributes to broader institutional success. Part of working in a team is learning to share your thoughts and feedback with honesty and tact. Although much of the feedback process depends on the recipient, those giving feedback can increase the likelihood of a positive reception and make the process more effective by offering specific, goal-oriented insight, choosing words carefully, and approaching others with empathy.