Managing Feedback

Managing feedback can be an exhausting part of the review and approval process for employee communication.

Everyone has an opinion. Some people who were just supposed to verify accuracy decide to edit. Many times feedback is conflicting.

Of course, you should listen to all feedback with open ears. But knowing what to act on can be challenging. The article “How to Know What Feedback to Take, and What to Ignore” on the Fast Company website offers some good suggestions. The author, Laura Vanderkam, offers seven tips for sorting through feedback — and our reactions to it.

When it comes to communication, everyone has an opinion. Accept that fact and carry on.

What I especially like about this article is the universality of the tips. They can be applied to feedback about our performance as well as the content we create.

For example, the tip “Consider the Source” neatly describes how some people’s input outweighs that of others. In the world of employee communication, this tip also helps with unsolicited or inappropriate feedback. Some days it seems like everyone wants to edit and suggest tactics.

Another good reminder is the tip “Ask Follow-Up Questions”. I know from experience how tough that can be because it means you dig deeper into negative feedback. (Or, as I prefer to call it: feedback you weren’t hoping for.) Yet, I also know how valuable it is understand more about that negative reaction. Information and insights that come to the surface through questions often make the biggest difference to the outcome.

Learning how to receive, assess and respond to feedback is critical to good stakeholder management and a strong career in employee communication.

The Fast Company article is certainly worth the 2 minutes it takes to read it.