Don’t Want to Rock the Boat? Giving Negative Feedback for a Positive Impact, ETHRWorld

By Dr Sumagna Bhowmick

Research on feedback dates back to almost 100 years ago. Though the term ‘feedback’ was not used, early experiments were carried out to see if ‘knowledge of performance’ increased performance. Performance feedback can be explained in terms of a special type of a communication that help individuals to know about their performance. However, while feedback shared might raise awareness of gaps in a task, it does not necessarily lead to a behavioural/performance change.

If a supervisor is seeking for a desirable change in a subordinate’s performance, perhaps it is important for the supervisor to deliver performance feedback in a way that can directly lead to feedback acceptability. It is the feedback acceptability that influences change in performance or behaviour.

Therefore, it is important to understand what factors contribute to feedback acceptability. Do emotions displayed during performance feedback affect feedback acceptability? A supervisor while giving performance feedback would like to believe that the he/she is not emotional. However, it is almost impossible to supress emotions during a feedback exchange. For example, in a positive feedback exchange expressing positive emotions like joy or happiness are felt and displayed naturally which in turn serves as an incentive to work hard in future. And…