Feedback Thoughts

As a Communication major, feedback is one of those topics that comes up a lot.  We constantly talk about how you should give feedback and that you shouldn’t take negative feedback to heart.  It’s a way of bettering yourself by listening to the advice of others.  They may not always be right, but if you never listen to feedback, you can never learn what you need to work on in your life. 

I have one recommendation for feedback that I have tried to use in my life.  Always provide some negative feedback.  No one’s work is absolutely perfect, so there is always something that they need to work on.  It doesn’t hurt them to be told that they need to work on something.  Believe me, it will help them in the long run.  However, if it is someone who doesn’t necessarily take negative feedback well, sandwich it between some positive feedbacks.  It can never hurt to highlight what people are doing right, so provide a little bit of good with the bad.

Now, everyone feels a little put down when they receive negative feedback.  Just remember, they are not criticizing you as a person.  They are trying to help you in the work that they are reviewing.  They are not saying that you are a bad person or anything, but everyone can better their work. One of my professors really taught me this.  It kind of relates to the Growth Mindset viewpoint.  If you listen to negative feedback and keep it in mind as you are moving forward, you will only better yourself.   

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