How many different ways can you say “Great Job”?
It’s the question I posed to my training group yesterday when we were discussing how to give positive feedback effectively.
The responses included:
- Well Done
- Good work
- Thanks for your effort today
- I really liked how you …..
- You achieved your KPIs today – well done
- Perfectly executed
- Nice work
I’m sure you’ve received this type of feedback on a number of occasions, maybe by your leader, and it feels good to know that you’re meeting or exceeding their expectations.
But how effective is it?
For praise to be effective it needs to be honest, sincere and balanced.
Saying “Good Job” to someone isn’t motivating if its followed up with a 10 minute detailed description of where they went wrong.
Positive feedback needs to be given just as specifically as developmental feedback. The person receiving the feedback needs to see it as being descriptive and balanced and a fair representation of their whole performance.
Effort vs Outcome
Another aspect of delivering effective feedback is to focus on praising the effort rather than the outcome.
Research shows that those that are praised for the efforts they make are more likely to be motivated to improve their effort than those that are praised solely on achieving a desirable result.
Someone who is making a genuine effort in performing their work needs to be recognised for it if we want them to continue to make an effort or change their behaviour.
Someone who is achieving outcomes also needs to be recognised for their effort and behaviours that contributed to their success. It gives them a sense of pride, it helps them to remain engaged at work and feel appreciated for the effort they put in.
As a leader it also helps to strengthen relationships within your team as you demonstrate your respect for others and the contributions they make.
So next time you catch yourself about to say “good job” to your team think about the specific effort they made and what they did that resulted in that “good job”
Praise often. Be specific. Focus on effort.
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