- Listen. When somebody is giving you feedback, it’s important to listen carefully to what they’re saying. …
- Wait to react. …
- Ask for more information. …
- Request time. …
- Create an action plan that starts with visible change. …
- Find an honest confidant. …
- Follow up in the long term.
There may be times when you want to add a comment to feedback you’ve already left for someone else or respond to feedback a customer has left for you. You cannot alter the feedback you’ve provided to a customer, but you can request that they reconsider the feedback they provided to you.
How to Properly Respond to Feedback (Real Examples)
Why is feedback important?
The processes of giving and receiving feedback are crucial to assisting teams in succeeding and generating high-quality work. Organizations can track overall effectiveness and promote growth in peers, employees, and leaders when feedback opportunities are a regular part of a team’s workflow. Feedback can do this by assisting you in understanding your personal performance as well as providing crucial information about your strengths and areas for skill improvement in order to succeed in your role. Here are a few examples of what using feedback in the workplace can help you achieve:
Even though receiving and processing critical feedback can be difficult for some people, it can be very beneficial. Many people may feel exposed and immediately defensive in response to this kind of feedback. While these emotions are understandable in these circumstances, particularly if you are surprised by the feedback, it is crucial to keep in mind that coworkers frequently provide feedback with the best of intentions. They might do this to assist you in realizing your objectives and developing in your position because receiving constructive criticism can be incredibly beneficial for career advancement.
It’s a good idea to learn how to accept feedback gracefully because it’s essential for advancing your professional development, even if you don’t always share your colleagues’ viewpoints. Even though receiving negative feedback can be uncomfortable, try to give it serious consideration. You might be able to enhance your performance and work more effectively with your coworkers with its assistance.
How to respond to feedback
You can respond to feedback in a variety of ways, and the one you should take will largely depend on your specific circumstances. Despite this, there are some fundamental guidelines you should adhere to as you react to constructive criticism in order to advance both professionally and personally. Following these seven steps will help you effectively respond to feedback:
1. Listen
It’s crucial to pay close attention to what someone is saying when they are providing you with feedback. Your first instinct might be to explain what you did, but doing so is unnecessary and probably won’t be of long-term use. Colleagues frequently provide feedback to help you improve your performance, so try to listen to them out completely and refrain from interrupting or offering your own viewpoints.
Try to take down the main points from their specific feedback as you listen. You can more effectively formulate your response if you comprehend their motivation for providing feedback and their specific growth recommendations. You should actively listen to your trusted colleagues’ feedback because it’s likely that you’ll learn something new from it. To keep your ideas organized, you can take a mental note or even write them down as you speak.
2. Wait to react
After hearing your colleague’s criticism, you should give yourself some time to process what they said. You should take some time to thank your colleague for their feedback before getting into a discussion about the criticism and how you can apply it.
From here, you can internally practice mindfulness and self-affirming techniques. Before thinking and responding, you might pause for a moment to tell yourself that your company values you and that you are committed to your job. These affirmations, which increase your sense of security in risky situations, may enable you to put your coworkers’ feedback into perspective and center your thoughts as you get ready to respond to them.
3. Ask for more information
Once you’ve considered your coworkers’ feedback, you might think about getting more details and clarification from them. You might be curious about how your actions have affected your team’s overall effectiveness or you might have questions about the specific instances where you exhibited the behavior they’re describing. Getting more information on feedback can help you truly understand your colleagues’ perspectives and determine how you might grow from learning such information, regardless of what information you’d like to clarify.
Additionally, it can be useful to request that your coworker send you their feedback in a more formal manner so that you can refer to it and get clarification as necessary. They might be able to send you a written account of their ideas via email or another channel. Here is an illustration of how you might put forth such a demand:
I really appreciate you taking the time to consider these matters and provide me with helpful criticism. Regarding the first point you made and how it affected our team, in particular, I was hoping you could give me some clarification. If you could be more specific, I might be able to apply your advice in similar circumstances more effectively. It would be great to have a written copy to refer to as I process your thoughts, so if you could send me a copy of your feedback and clarifications via email later today, that would be great.
4. Request time
Ask your colleague for some time to consider their feedback after you’ve clarified your question and taken a moment to consider your response. Requesting time to consider your coworkers’ ideas can be very beneficial in the long run if the feedback you’ve received cannot immediately be put into practice. This technique not only diffuses a potentially awkward situation, but also gives you more time to formulate an appropriate response to the feedback you’ve received.
Furthermore, requesting more time can demonstrate to your coworker that you value their input and are carefully considering it. This is crucial because it’s likely that your colleague is looking for confirmation of their feedback. From here, you can even start thinking about how you might implement their suggestions. Here’s an illustration of how you might ask for more time in response to feedback:
I value your opinions and your time spent speaking with me. The fact that you can approach me politely and confide in me about your viewpoint means a lot to me. As a result, I’d like to seriously consider what you’ve said and get in touch with you the following week to set up a face-to-face meeting. After that, we can discuss how I can put your advice into practice and enhance my performance. How does that sound to you?.
5. Create an action plan that starts with visible change
While you contemplate your coworkers’ suggestions, you should begin putting together your actual response in the form of an action plan. Try to see the situation from their point of view, even if you don’t initially agree with everything they said, and identify at least a few things they mentioned in their feedback that you’re willing to work on. You can then develop an action plan for how you’ll incorporate their feedback into your regular tasks. You can put your strategy in writing and share it with your colleague during your subsequent check-in to aid in organizing your action items.
Your action plan ought to begin with initiatives that produce observable change. While you devote yourself to other, less obvious professional development activities, this can help your colleague see your improvement practically. They’ll probably recognize your efforts right away and value the initiative you’re showing to develop personally. Refer to your colleagues’ initial piece of feedback as you work through your action items and try to find more ways to improve.
6. Find an honest confidant
Receiving constructive criticism and going through implementation processes can frequently be difficult to do on your own. Therefore, you should seek out a confidant—a friend or coworker you can trust—with whom you can discuss the recent feedback in an open and honest manner.
While you might be tempted to share your reactions to the feedback with them, you should instead use this chance to discuss the feedback items with a person who isn’t personally invested in them. This kind of conversation may be able to provide you with insightful information about whether the feedback is accurate and how you might take such information. Furthermore, your confidant might be able to provide you with more suggestions for how to act and use the feedback in your regular work.
7. Follow up in the long term
It’s crucial to realize that receiving constructive criticism and effectively responding to it takes time. Give yourself time to implement the change, as it won’t happen overnight, and plan times to check in with your colleague occasionally, like 30 or 60 days after receiving the feedback. By following up, you can keep yourself accountable for improvement and demonstrate to your colleague that you carefully considered their feedback. Here’s an illustration of how you can stay in contact with your colleague over time:
I’ve given your feedback and the action items we agreed upon in our second meeting a lot of thought. I’ve changed my workflow procedures significantly over the past 30 days and I hope you can see my improvement. Would you like to meet to discuss my progress?”.
FAQ
How do you respond to good feedback at work?
- “Thank you, it makes my day to hear that.”
- “Thank you for noticing, I put a lot of thought into this.” ”.
- Thank you so much for taking the time to say that; it means a lot to me. ”.
- I appreciate you saying that, and I’m glad you feel that way.
What do you say after receiving feedback?
Thank you so much for your comments regarding how I performed on our previous project. I really value the information you provided about my areas for improvement. This knowledge will be very beneficial to me as I approach our upcoming project together. I value your advice, and I hope we can soon find more chances for feedback.
What does it mean to respond to feedback?
Answer. Feedback is constructive criticism or information that can be used to improve something, such as a performance or a product, etc. To let another person or business know how well they are performing their duties or how good or bad a product is, someone provides feedback.
