How do you motivate your team with feedback?

1 What is emotional intelligence?

Emotional intelligence (EI) is the ability to understand and manage your own emotions and those of others. It involves four skills: self-awareness, self-regulation, social awareness, and relationship management. EI can help you communicate effectively, empathize with others, resolve conflicts, and cope with stress. EI can also help you give feedback that is tailored to your team's needs, preferences, and goals.

2 Why is feedback important?

Feedback is essential for learning, development, and performance. Feedback helps your team know what they are doing well, what they need to improve, and how they can achieve their objectives. Feedback also shows your team that you care about their work, value their contributions, and support their growth. Feedback can boost your team's confidence, motivation, and engagement.

3 How to prepare for feedback?

Before you give feedback, it's important to take the time to prepare yourself and your team. Clarify your purpose and intention for giving feedback and choose the right time and place. Additionally, gather facts and evidence to support your feedback and anticipate reactions and emotions. Doing so will help ensure that the feedback is timely, relevant, appropriate, private, comfortable, respectful, and based on clear criteria, standards, or expectations.

4 How to deliver feedback?

When you deliver feedback, you need to use your EI skills to communicate effectively, empathize with your team, and build trust. For example, start with positive feedback by commenting on what your team did well and how it contributed to the team or organization. Additionally, consider using the SBI model (Situation, Behavior, and Impact) to structure your feedback in a clear, specific, and objective way. Furthermore, ask for input and feedback from your team to understand how they feel about their performance and what they need from you to improve. Lastly, agree on action and follow-up by determining the next steps for your team, how you will measure their progress and results, when and how you will check in with them, and when you will give them more feedback.

5 How to receive feedback?

Giving feedback is not enough; you must also be open to receiving feedback. Doing so can help you improve your performance, learn from mistakes, and develop emotional intelligence skills. When receiving feedback, actively and attentively listen to the message and intention behind it. Show appreciation and openness for the person's opinion and demonstrate willingness to improve. Ask questions and clarify any parts of the feedback that need further understanding or explanation. Reflect on the key takeaways and insights, then set actions and goals for yourself. Feedback is a crucial skill for any leader who wants to motivate their team and achieve success. By using emotional intelligence, you can give and receive feedback that is constructive, respectful, and inspiring, creating a culture of feedback that encourages learning, development, and performance.

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?