Good feedback

Copywriters, editors, designers, developers, and many others cannot do without a review. They are used to getting feedback on their work and giving it. Even if you are not a manager, you can give feedback to a colleague, this is a common practice.

I do both — in large quantities. Observing my feelings and the reaction of people to criticism, I wrote down a few thoughts.

How to get feedback

1. Before asking for feedback, tell us what problem/task you solve. “I need to write a newsletter that will help us motivate people to buy the course, so the end goal is to sell the course.”
2. Specify the stage of the project/task. “So far I have only written down the structure and a couple of theses for each item. As soon as I get feedback, I’ll move on to writing the text.”
3. Pay attention to those points for which you need feedback. “So far I have only written down the structure and a couple of theses for each item. Look if it’s ok in terms of logic and structure.”

With these three simple rules, you will greatly narrow the focus of a person’s attention and avoid unnecessary comments that are not needed or irrelevant now.

☝️ All this is important to say BEFORE receiving criticism.

Don`t make excuses after each comment by saying “I haven’t finished it yet, there’s still some text left from the old performer, and I don’t like it myself”. It looks pathetic and unprofessional, immediately the desire to give normal feedback disappears, and an atmosphere of struggle arises: I throw balls at you, and you fight back. There should be an atmosphere of collective brainstorming and mentoring.

4. Don’t redo everything all at once. Some rush to edit the layout right during your feedback. This shows that you do not have a professional opinion, and you are ready to completely trust anyone. To trust, of course, is important, but it is even more important to think everything over. Thank you for the idea, write it down, and promise to think about it. No need to edit right there, it’s just an outside idea.

☝ And in general, always say thank you. Infrequently, but it happened that after the feedback the person didn`t answer me anything. And it’s unpleasant. I spent time helping. At least for this, it is important to say thank you. Whether you like ideas or not. Whether you’re upset after criticism or not, say thank you. Then, when you come to your senses, you will regret that you get into emotions and didn`t say thank you.

How to give helpful feedback

1. Make sure your feedback is needed. “Do you mind if I leave a couple of comments?” Let the person give you consent to criticism. This way you don’t attack with your comments, and the criticism will be taken more easily.
2. Make sure you understand the purpose/problem of the project. Ask again “Did I understand correctly that we needed to collect contacts of new customers firstly?”. Without a clear understanding, you run the risk of saying too much impertinent.
3. Formulate an opinion in the form of a question. “Maybe it’s better to paint here in more detail …?” or suggestions, “I think it’s better to move the survey form a little to the right here, so it’s more noticeable. What do you think?”.
4. Be sure to mark what you like. Otherwise, only the aftertaste of criticism will remain, criticism is unpleasant for everyone. In addition, a person may decide that you don`t like the work. He will take it and redo it from scratch, though you only wanted to fix a couple of places.