In any leader’s toolbox, feedback has been and will always be one of the most effective tools he/she has to develop and manage a successful team. But at the same time, creating an effective feedback culture is a very tricky subject, and the line between good feedback and bad feedback is a very fine one.

Importance of feedback:

Well, why is feedback so important to begin with? For starters, let’s consider three different scenarios, a team with a good feedback culture, a team with a bad feedback culture and a team that doesn’t even have a feedback culture.

The main difference between the three would come down to the sense of belonging and personal growth. In a good feedback culture, members will feel more attached to the team because their voices have been heard, add to that the personal growth of each one of them and you have a good team in hand.

A bad feedback culture discourages people to work, and as researches found out would ultimately make the members avoid each other, thus creating a hellish atmosphere to work in. Similarly, a no feedback culture would halt the growth of its people, and make mistakes go unnoticed and unaddressed, which leads to poor performances and sometimes even irreversible damage.

Building a good feedback culture:

There’s a multitude of methods and ways to enhance your feedback culture, we will focus here on a few key points:

• Recruit people with a feedback mindset and try to develop it more in them from the get-go. A great starting point for that is AIESEC’s partners portal where can you find a massive varying network of youth ready for any challenge.
• Make sure they give feedback correctly, negative and improper feedback could backfire easily.
• Create safe and open spaces for feedback and try to host those spaces on a regular basis.
• Never force feedback, let the members naturally give it when they’re ready.
• Be more positive than negative, as Harvard business research shows that the optimal ratio should be 5:1 positive to negative comments.
• Set an example for them, embody what you’re preaching to them.
  
• Always make it a two-way road, ask for feedback as much as you give feedback.

With those points and more, you should be able to create a feedback that develops your people in the right way, while providing an important pillar to achieve great results.

In conclusion, a feedback culture is the gateway to find the warmth and sense of belonging usually missing from today’s corporate scene, and that warmth and sense of belonging are what so often drives outstanding results.

Once again, be sure to check out our partners portal, where you can find great youth power to add to your team or even help you kickstart your new endeavor.