Thoughts on Feedback Strategies

In general, I think learning about and understanding that there are different forms of feedback strategies plays a crucial role in determining one's effectiveness as a critic or consultant. I believe it's important to understand that there are pros and cons to using negative feedback and positive feedback. Similarly to how some individuals respond better to different kinds of feedback, I'm learning that some individuals are better at providing a specific kind of feedback compared to other variations and a lot of that has to do with the personality and mindset of the individual as well as their level of experience in giving critique. With this in mind I think back to when people suggested me to go to several different outlets for an opinion on any work I did. Not everyone noticed the same details were they able to explain their concerns or praise in the same manner. But by listening to each different point of view, and then summarizing them on my own, I was able to build a a model of feedback in my mind that allowed me to make improvements to my work that encompassed the general themes that the critics had touched on.
Now, I feel pretty comfortable receiving criticism of all kinds at this point in my life. I think a lot of that conditioning has come from growing up with a background in competitive athletics. However, I feel like a lot of times I struggle with being able to provide quality feedback and that is why I picked the following articles to look over because they appeared as though they may help me out with that.

The best listening involves active participation. Found on pixabay.

Giving Creative Feedback - A Guide for Those Who Aren't Creative by Deborah Maue

• This article looked perfect to me since I feel like my creative side doesn't particularly excel. In this article Maue describes 8 steps one should take to provide effective criticism to someone writing a creative piece or drawing creative art. There were two steps that really stood out to me. One step said that it was important to put aside my initial reaction to whatever form of artistry I was looking at. You do this to try to remove any personal bias you have towards the artist or the style of work that you are critiquing that way your feedback will be more constructive. The other point that I liked discussed how it was important to evaluate the piece of art based on its purpose. What that means is that it is important to make sure that whatever objective the art is trying to accomplish, you as a critic should focus part of your feedback on whether or not that objective was completed.

What Great Listeners Actually Do by Jack Senger and Joseph Folkman

• I used to think that I was a great listener but after growing up some and having the opportunities to be in the presence of some who truly were great listeners, I've decided that I'm just great at hearing and a mediocre listener. This article had a lot of great insights but there were a couple things that stood out to me more than the rest. One bit of information mentioned that being a good listener involves more activity than most people believe. It discussed how people who were talking greatly appreciated receiving thought-provoking questions from their listeners. This showed that not only were they hearing what they said, but they comprehended the information and applied to some situation as well. Another piece of information that stuck out to me talked about the people in the study they conducted actually liked receiving suggestions from their audience. I used to think that people mostly preferred their audience to wait until the very end of their presentation to offer a suggestion or to be silent and soak up information. But when I think back to times I've presented I remember feeling more accomplished when someone spoke up and offered a solution to a problem because that made me feel like the information I provided was useful to someone and that I explained it in a way people could understand.