8 Easy Ways to Give Appreciative Feedback

 

Giving feedback—and receiving feedback—can be difficult. But at the same time, glossing over areas of improvement can hold athletes back from achieving their full potential. A strong team ensures that every member is receiving necessary feedback—but also feels appreciated and valued. It’s easy to point out what an athlete did wrong in a critical moment during a game. Is there something you could do instead?

TrueSport Expert and President of Now What Facilitation, Nadia Kyba, MSW, shares her approach to giving appreciative feedback that will help your athlete actually make improvements for the next game.

1. Feedback should be a conversation

“Feedback shouldn’t be about criticism, or an excuse to tell others how they should change,” says Kyba. “Appreciative feedback is a tool that should be used to help see developmental potential. It’s a collaborative approach, where the person who’s giving the feedback is open to a conversation.” As a coach, especially if you know you have a tendency to get emotional during competition, it can be easy to tip into criticism when talking to athletes about how a competition went. But if you want to see athletes make real progress, feedback should be a conversation, not a one-sided dialogue where you list the mistakes an athlete made.

2. Focus on the future

Why do we offer feedback? It should be because we want to help an athlete improve their performance. So, rather than start a conversation with an athlete about what they did wrong in a recent game or at practice, focus on the player’s future performance and solutions for improvement.

Appreciative feedback is an insight that’s offered with a positive and future focus,” says Kyba. “The emphasis is on how to be more effective and productive in the future, rather than placing blame for the past. Try talking about strengths or what you appreciated, then focus on opportunities for improvement.”

If, for instance, a cross-country racer fades at the end of a race, focusing on that fade may make the athlete feel upset or defensive. Instead, think about what the athlete should do next time before you begin the conversation: Should they focus on a sprint out of the final corner? Set a goal of holding a certain pace? Framing the conversation around what went well—the first chunk of the race—followed by what to focus on next time is more effective than simply critiquing their finish, especially when they are already aware of their mistake.

3. Use the four-step approach

There are four parts to providing appreciative feedback, says Kyba. Here, we’re listing out the steps and providing an example based on a specific in-game issue, but this can also be applied to behavioral issues like a player always being late for practice.

1. Signal that you’re giving feedback and make sure the athlete is receptive. Often, we forget this simple step, but it helps bring an athlete into the conversation. Example: “Can we spend a minute talking about some of the things I noticed in the game?”
2. Cut out anything that’s not objective. Be descriptive about the issue, and in some cases, providing video footage to make your point may even be helpful. Example: Instead of saying, “You were shooting really poorly,” give specific, objective data that can be applied to finding a solution, like, “I noticed that you were a little off balance when you were shooting.”
3. Discuss the impact. Example: “When you were off balance, it allowed the defensive players to block you and your shots were going to the left instead of straight.”
4. End with a question. Example: “What’s your take on the situation?” or “Is there something we can practice to help that balance for next time?”