HBR Guide to Delivering Effective Feedback (HBR Guide Series)

Chapter 1

Giving Effective Feedback

If you’re like most managers, the prospect of giving feedback to your employees can be nerve-racking. Perhaps you’re worried about how your staff will react. Or maybe you’re doubtful that your comments will make a difference in their work or behavior.

But feedback is a vital tool for ensuring that your employees are developing in your organization. A feedback discussion is an opportunity for you to share your observations with your employees about their job performance and elicit productive change. Without it, they will have no idea of how you see them. Avoid having a tough conversation with your underperformers early on, and their performance (and possibly your team’s) plummets. Assume that your high performers ...