The perils of positive feedback.

The perils of positive feedback.

It’s the day after your company’s user conference and everything went splendidly. Your customers were happy and the event really presented your organization in a positive light.

You set up a Zoom with your Chief Marketing Officer to celebrate the success and think this will be the easiest meeting of the day.

But a trap awaits if you don’t do it properly.

As leaders, we have spent many hours training and practicing to improve our skills at giving negative feedback, but it is also surprisingly hard to give positive feedback.

Why is that?

When giving negative feedback, we are prepared for a two-way conversation in which both sides can discuss areas of improvement.

On the flip side, we often think of positive feedback as a one-way street where we’ll praise our employee and then bask in their smile.

But what if your team member wasn’t as happy about the event as you were? What if they felt members of the executive team could have done more to support it - even you?

Are you prepared for that?

If not, using negative space will greatly improve the chances of it being a productive conversation.

Give your praise, but allow the conversation to breathe. Make sure you listen as much as you speak, if not more.

Ensuring the right balance and wording is an art and a skill we should all work on as much as we do for difficult conversations.

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