Being Intentional with Positive Feedback

37% of managers avoid giving positive feedback.

So this week’s tip is about positive feedback, particularly about the need for feedback givers to put great care into the positive feedback they give.

As we covered in our 5 Feedback Myths video (see below), giving positive feedback:

1. Is not optional
2. Is not meaningless “fluff”
3. Is not a sign of your weakness
4. Can dramatically improve morale
5. Can highlight vital gaps

Indeed, many narratives have been created about why giving positive feedback isn’t worthwhile. As the authors of this Harvard Business Review article conclude:

“We can only conclude that many managers feel that… taking the time to provide positive feedback is optional.”

The belief that positive feedback is optional is despite the feedback research showing that positive feedback can have short- and longer-term positive effects on employee performance and morale. It can impact everything from immediate motivation to how effective employees are at remaining in flow state.

And then there's the mountain of anecdotal evidence from people managers everywhere who have told me about the positive changes they've observed when they prioritize giving positive feedback.

Organizations need it because how else are they supposed to know the feature they hope to be sticky and delightful… actually is? I’m now thinking of how Slack radically leveraged feedback to become a $1 billion company in two years. Here's how Stewart Butterfield , founder and former CEO of Slack , put it:

“We begged and cajoled our friends at other companies to try it out and give us feedback.”

Rest assured, this was not only feedback about what wasn’t working well. They needed positive feedback to know what scaled beautifully, what felt frictionless, and what truly improved a team's sense of connectedness and productivity.

People need positive feedback both for motivation and because many of us do not know our strengths. Those who highlight them through positive feedback shine a light on something we can’t see.

As I wrote about here, I honestly didn’t know my strengths even after years of writing classes until a professor directly called them out. How was I supposed to know when every paper I received back from a professor was covered in red pen notes on what to improve?

But what makes positive feedback effective? Intentionality and specificity. While a comment like “awesome work on our project last week” can provide value, a comment like this takes it all to a whole new level:

“Awesome work on our project last week. You showed an incredible ability to pull cross-functional teams together, keep everyone not only organized but even inspired, and the result was that we delivered ahead of time for our client who just sent me a message about how much they enjoyed working with us. Under your leadership, I’m already excited to see what we can do on our next project.”

Such specific positive feedback typically arises from intention, as in, while it’s easy to fling a relatively empty compliment out there, if a giver sets their intention to give specific positive feedback they will position themselves to capture meaningful details.

In the example above, that colleague may not have felt they did a great job. Or they may have known they kept folks organized, but they didn’t know they also kept folks inspired. And it might be the first time anybody has ever referred to their “leadership.” Any one of those insights could help that colleague have a fuller sense of their capabilities, access the inner strength they need to keep developing, or even set their career on a whole new path.

When we provide specific positive feedback we invite others to see their inner light and to recognize the inner light in others.

Doing so can create a positive ripple effect. And, as negativity bias impacts most of us, seeing a fuller positive picture of ourselves can help us pursue professional growth in a more balanced, sustainable way.

🔎 A few feedback findings:

1. Ryan Hoover , founder of Product Hunt , is encouraging others to seek out anonymous feedback. Here's the tweet. Below is the screenshot he posted:

2. Steve Schlafman , founder of Downshift , dropped some wisdom about how feedback can help you navigate transitions. Here's the tweet:

"Being in transition isn't about meticulously planning your path. It's about making contact with reality, probing the unknown, and making adjustments based on feedback from your body and environment. Does each step feel expansive and life-giving or draining and constricting?"

👋 Are you connected with any educators?

I'll be going deep on how feedback literacy can help build career-ready students in this free webinar with Harvard Business Publishing Education on June 27. Here's the link in case educators in your network may find it valuable: https://he.hbsp.harvard.edu/developing-career-ready-students.html