by Manny Straehle, PhD, GISF – The Feedback Guy
What are the Effects of Feedback Interventions? We may know something based on Kluger and DeNisi’s (1996) review of 131 studies.
A few decades ago, these researchers reviewed 131 studies to determine whether feedback interventions improved performance. Overall, they showed that 2/3rds of the time the feedback interventions improved performance while 1/3 of the time the feedback interventions decreased performance. In some cases, the authors noted that the feedback interventions can be detrimental to performance.
What Are Feedback Interventions?
According to these researchers, they define feedback interventions as “actions taken by (an) external agent(s) to provide information regarding some aspect(s) of one’s task performance.” In other words, an individual/group does something to communicate on how another individual/group is doing.
Based On Their Research, What Should I Do?
1. Always Relate Your Feedback To the Performance Goals
After reviewing these 131 studies examining feedback interventions which included the following:
- praise
- discouragement
- reinforcement
- corrective solution
- punishment
- control theory (self-regulation)
- locus of attention
- task properties (e.g., complexity, memory, physical task)
- computer versus verbal feedback
- following rules
- frequency of feedback
- self-esteem
- goal setting
The researchers found goal setting was very important to improve task performance. Specifically, the individual delivering feedback should relate the feedback to the goals.
2. Focus Feedback on Performance Rather than the Self
The researchers found that when feedback was focused on attributes of the individual (e.g., they way their voice sounded) rather than the improving the performance (e.g., the loudness of their voice) the individual’s performance decreased. Therefore, when delivering feedback, focus on the performance rather than an individual’s attribute.
Find Out How Effective Your Feedback Is
Go to http://www.learnfeedback.com and find out by taking the Straehle Feedback Inventory (SFI)
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