Stop Giving Useless Feedback
In the late fall of 2009, an hour couldn’t pass without a radio station playing Lady Gaga’s song, Bad Romance. Critics praised Bad Romance for its chorus, beat, and hook. It is regarded as one of Gaga’s best songs and became a best-selling chart-topper worldwide, selling 12M copies.
An indisputably and exceptionally talented musician, writer, and vocalist, Lady Gaga, a.k.a. Stefani Germanotta, revealed that she wrote Bad Romance in about 30 minutes while on her tour bus. Yes, this huge international hit was written in less than an hour. The amount of time it took the artist to write the song had nothing to do with its performance, its resonance with fans, or its financial success.
Bad Romance is a clear example of an instance when the time spent on a task is wholly irrelevant to the results. It is also an example of why feedback that says, “It doesn’t look like you spent a lot of time on this” or “I think you need to go back and spend some more time on this” is neither useful nor valid. However, many managers default to this and other ineffectual feedback. Criticism like “You didn’t spend enough time on this” does nothing to help an employee improve their performance. If you dole out commentary such as this, please stop and give a helpful critique. Here are some more examples of meaningless feedback and what could be said instead:
Great job. Vague words of encouragement are not tied to a specific outcome. Give a specific example of what was done well so that the behavior can be repeated.
I don’t like it. Are you supposed to like it? Is likability a critical success factor? Rather than making a subjective statement, get specific about what you find objectionable and why.
This is sloppy work. Any feedback focused on the person or that person’s personality and not the work is problematic. For example, women are often described as “difficult,” “opinionated,” or “abrasive,” indicating that they don’t fit stereotypes of homogeneity. It is unsolicited advice and does nothing to improve performance. Again, be specific.
This was not what I was expecting. A commentary such as this is almost always the result of poorly communicated and articulated expectations. In other words, that’s on YOU, not on the person receiving the message. Be clear and cogent.
This won’t resonate with our customers. How do you know that? This statement is another riff on “I don’t like it.”
Useful feedback is constructive, specific, and actionable. If your feedback does not check these three boxes, do not offer it. Keep your mouth shut and work on crafting some valid feedback that will help your employees improve. And don’t get caught in a bad romance, whatever you do.