What do you do if you want to enhance feedback and evaluation with mindfulness techniques?

Mindfulness is a way of living life; the practices are empirically proven to support one develop the mental muscles for adopting a curious yet non-judgemental attitude while staying in the present moment. Mindfulness isn’t about the destination but it offers to be a compass that helps us navigate through our lives experiences - some smooth and some not-so-smooth. Mindfulness can enhance our state of wellbeing and also help us be once more resilience to deal in face of difficult situations.

Your mindfulness practices inevitably increase your awareness, empathy, and actions with people. Mindfulness begins with you, and should positively carry forward in your interactions (feedback, personal, etc.) with your employees.

In this world of constant distractions, mindfulness provides the ability to stay with yourself, and observe your emotions without getting lost in the reactions.

Mindfulness is a daily tool to help me to navigate my daily routine to stay present in doing my daily chores.This is to achieve by simply focusing on one task at a time without being distracted by other things.Just simply letting go of overthinking and simply be accepting of my life without any judgement and live life as if it's my last day and to practice gratitude and self compassionate. Yoga, meditation and breath work to enhance my mindfulness religiously.It has allowed me to stay in tune ,aware and become one in nature,animals and people.My challenges in life become easier and cultivating self love and compassion for myself and other sentience beings that I encounter to stay grounded and grateful with my beautiful evolving life.

I've found that Mindfulness programs are directly linked to employee well-being and the principles can be applied during the ideal evaluation process by all parties. Simply taking a moment to bring some calm is a lovely way to begin. As I continue I focus on allowing myself to keep an open, curious mind; to respond rather than react to employee reactions; and to remember that although evaluating, my thoughts are not facts and the employee is a fellow individual. Additionally, I've discovered that building healthy habits myself by following my Practices fairly rigorously allows me to cultivate the greater creative potential in others, and give compassionately thoughtful feedback, balancing any negatives with sufficient positive input.

Feedback can sometimes trigger the ego, resulting in an array of negative emotions sometimes even anger, self- doubt and questioning your own worth. Mindfulness helps to keep things in perspective, and provides an objective lens to evaluate the situation.

It can be nerve racking prior to a review or evaluation in your work place. Some suggestions - 1. Know your worth, you are an integral part of a team. 2. Write down your positive contributions to your role, and any further training you’d like. 3. Write down challenges within your role or department and include any ideas and suggestions for improvement. 4. Be brave, calm, and open to an honest discussion with the intention of a positive outcome. 5. Before you go into your meeting ground yourself. Bring your notes and a pen and paper. Preparation and being present is imperative. Being mindful and present allows us to hear praise, and ensures us the opportunity to be heard and listened to. You’ve got this!

Mindfulness is ultra-critical for feedback and evaluation. Either as feedback providers or a feedback receiver, we must apply mindfulness. The reason - Without mindfulness, we generate bias as a feedback provider. - Without mindfulness, we get defensive as a feedback receiver. So, the best approach is to be mindful as a feedback provider or receiver.

I've found that by practicing Mindfulness I can be at peace and aware of my reactions, neurologically regulated and neither triggering nor triggered. By staying in the ventral, I don't feel the need to over-experience or express my needs. This helps me tremendously, as I can listen more objectively, respond appropriately, and genuinely motivate the employee, rather than provide an intimidation Session (not that I would!!). I am more able to model focused activity and how to conduct business while being co-relational with others with appropriate boundaries. The key is working with my own mindful awareness, first and always, and that helps me deliver a kinder, more uplifting evaluation even when negative aspects need to be addressed.

Mindfulness plays a crucial role in feedback and evaluation by equipping individuals with the tools to manage their emotional reactions. By fostering a state of non-judgmental awareness, mindfulness helps individuals approach feedback with openness and curiosity rather than defensiveness or anxiety. This mental state enables a more objective analysis of feedback, encouraging constructive self-reflection and growth. Furthermore, mindfulness enhances emotional regulation, allowing for calmer, more thoughtful responses to feedback.

Olympian Michael Phelps utilises both positive and negative visualisation techniques. Take a leaf out of his book and spend 85% of your preparation time envisioning the best possible outcomes of the feedback session, including receiving constructive insights and feeling empowered to grow. Dedicate the remaining 15% to contemplating potential challenges or negative feedback as a way to mentally prepare for and navigate through less favourable scenarios. This balanced approach enhances mindfulness and equips you to embrace feedback with a growth mindset, ready to capitalise on positive opportunities and tackle any hurdles with confidence and a plan of action.

Feedback is extremely important, but not every feedback will be positive. If we expect the feedback to be constructive, it will also depend on the receiver, how is the feedback being perceived. Mindfulness practice can offer that much needed “pause” to the hyper-stimulated amygdala especially in a situation like this. One of the well suited mindfulness practices that can be handy in such moments is a short practice of Coping Breathing Space; this practice equips the individual to expand their attention across their thoughts, body, their breath and widen their consciousness. It supports our overall system to respond than react in situations which could often trigger a fight-flight-freeze mechanism.

Whether you are the giver, or receiver, of feedback, the job of the Mindfulness Professional is assist people in finding, building, and using their strengths. Be grateful for the information received, and the blessings of lessons learned.

To foster a culture where mindful feedback thrives, craft an environment where it's embraced as an integral and affirmative part of the learning journey. Infuse variety and engagement in feedback practices through diverse methods like surveys and coaching sessions, and bolster it with mindfulness resources and success stories to guide and inspire.

Practising Mindfulness 🧘 on a regular basis can help ease you into any situation. Be it feedback or evaluation or anything else for that matter, Mindfulness gives you the edge. Simple mindfulness practices can help you navigate complex situations. You can’t be ready for a feedback and evaluation process at that very moment. So practising Mindfulness regularly can prepare you for it.

Part of being mindful is recognizing and respecting other’s experiences even when they’re different than our own. As an integrative trauma practitioner, I’ve noticed my clients with dysregulated systems can be retraumatized by feedback evaluations or procedures that aren’t mindful of trauma-informed language and awareness. Adjustments like asking if they’re ready and able to receive feedback, presenting choices that allow them to be part of the evaluation process at an equal level, acknowledging and allowing that the process might bring up some sensitive feelings, and giving space for emotional attunement can make a big difference in having a positive feedback experience for each person involved.

Mindfulness is more than a self-improvement tool to help you get ahead in the business world. So, don’t just use it to get you through a tough evaluation or interview. Don’t even use it to become a better person. Do it because it’s a good thing to do while you’re doing it. Don’t worry about the end goal; don’t worry about getting through something. Just be where you are and do what you need to do at that moment in time. Focus on the road, not the destination.

Good feedback is one that helps you grow in the right direction and perhaps structurally. I see two major challenges with this. 1. Not every feedback is going to be good feedback or have good intentions. I am sorry that's the world we live in. so how do you filter that? Evaluate if the feedback is better long-term, right now - tactically, useless, or even harmful. Mindfulness lets you march ahead in life without wasting any energy on intentionally negative feedback. 2. Not every feedback is going to be complete feedback. Sometimes, it only takes you halfway. Daily mindfulness clears the noise and helps you connect the dots but honestly, the most important is to ask for more clarity, and guidance, understanding the end goal.

To enhance feedback & evaluation with mindfulness techniques, start by cultivating awareness of your own biases and emotions. Practice active listening during feedback sessions, remaining present & attentive to the speaker's perspective without judgment. Encourage recipients to engage in mindful reflection on their performance, focusing on strengths and areas for growth. Incorporate mindfulness exercises like deep breathing or body scans to promote relaxation and openness to feedback. Foster a supportive and non-judgmental environment where feedback is viewed as an opportunity for learning and development. Regularly assess the effectiveness of mindfulness techniques in improving the quality and impact of feedback and evaluation processes.