Importance of Feedback
In our life, we all seek only one thing in all the activities that we do and that is ‘perfection’. And that we can only get that if we have people around who can tell us our mistakes. Imagine living in a world where no one is around to improve us. Will we ever achieve perfection then?
The art of helping people improve is known as Feedback. And when I say it is an art, I mean every sense of it. It is never confined till organisations or pupils; it is an ongoing process that never ends. Whatever we do, where ever we go we are always in the process of either receiving or giving it. Feedback is an analysis of a person's performance of a task which is used as a basis for improvement.
Feedback is critical to improving performance. Effective and timely given feedback is very important to the success of an organisation, or an individual. To perform well,
people need to be told how they are doing, without feedback we are walking blind. Effective feedback on our actions and behaviours is a way of learning more about
ourselves. If effective feedback is given to employees on their progress towards their goals, employee performance will improve. People need to know in a timely manner how they are doing, what's working, what’s not.
Feedback can come from different sources like managers, supervisors, customers etc. At the same time, it is very important to realise that giving feedback is an equally
difficult job to do. As they say, “With great powers come responsibilities”, so it is always important to protect the pupil’s dignity and self-respect while we talk about the areas of improvement while giving a feedback. The person who gives the feedback should be sensitive enough to realise that as soon as he struggles to respect the
individuality of the receiver, feedback would lose all of its effects.
At the end, we can summarise a good feedback with the following points.
- It should be descriptive.
- It should be specific.
- It should be constructive.
- It should be relevant.
- It should be checked.
- It should be open to discussion.
- It should be emotionally aware.
Shahbaz is known for his learner centred approach of teaching to the learners based in Europe. He is a firm believer of the Comprehensive Professional Development and the role of feedback in teacher's evolution.