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CONSTRUCTIVE FEEDBACK FRAMEWORK
The Philippine Air Force Leadership Development Center provides a constructive feedback framework that emphasizes six key elements. It aims to achieve a long-term outcome of fostering a positive feedback culture within the organization. It aims for sustained positive outcomes by ensuring clear takeaways and elaborated responses on learning points from those receiving feedback. Over time, the consistent application of this framework encourages a continuous cycle of improvement through dialogue and objective, unbiased assessments. The emphasis on factual, data-based feedback and two-way conversation contributes to sustained individual and organizational growth and development.
The constructive feedback framework drives significant improvement across leadership competencies. It aims to strengthen Character and Capacity, pushing individuals towards Advanced and Expert levels in these areas. While also boosting both intrinsic and extrinsic competencies, the profound growth in intrinsic qualities suggests that feedback primarily cultivates inner attributes. This targeted feedback fosters self-awareness and resilience, enabling leaders to enhance both their foundational qualities and their practical skills for greater overall effectiveness.
Constructive Feedback Framework
Constructive feedback is a tool for PAF personnel to identify solutions to personal areas of weakness collaboratively. It is used with positive intentions and serves as a supportive communication tool to address specific areas of concern and foster a positive culture of correction across all levels. To be effective, it needs to have the following elements:
Based on facts and data
Feedback should be based on clear evidence. The personnel receiving feedback should be provided with proof of what happened and why it is essential to discuss it. Specific examples are necessary to distinguish between evidence and opinion. The evidence provided by the personnel offering feedback must be detailed and communicated through clear dialogue to emphasize its importance.
Fosters two-way communication
Constructive feedback requires two-way communication and should be a dialogue-oriented conversation between personnel. The personnel providing feedback can promote effective dialogue if they ask questions and coach the personnel receiving feedback to take the lead in the discussion. If the personnel providing the feedback do the majority of the talking, this is generally indicative of a debrief rather than constructive feedback. He/she should engage with the personnel receiving feedback responses: e.g., if the personnel providing the feedback asks questions, the personnel receiving feedback does the majority of the talking and is acknowledged by the personnel providing the feedback, and then moves to his/her question, this does not constitute a dialogue-oriented conversation. The personnel providing the feedback should build on the responses to elaborate or emphasize a key learning point or improvement point.
Leads to positive outcomes
Feedback needs to be beneficial to the subject. There must be a clear learning for the personnel receiving feedback to further consider or develop upon. Suppose the personnel providing the feedback facilitates much dialogue from the personnel receiving feedback, but do not engage with their responses to emphasize a clear learning or takeaway point. In that case, this is not considered constructive or beneficial feedback.
Unbiased and objective
Providing constructive feedback should always be objective, unbiased, and unprejudiced. As mentioned previously, it should also be fact-based and predominantly free from opinions that are
unsupported by evidence. Alternate points of view are raised for consideration to support learning points, or facilitate the personnel receiving feedback that their reflection is acceptable. The feedback should be delivered in an appropriate style, tone, and level that does not make the personnel receiving feedback feel attacked, threatened, insulted, or abused, and makes them believe the personnel providing the feedback genuinely wants to help them improve.
Offered while relevant
Relevant and timely feedback means it is provided in a manner that considers its urgency and the appropriateness of the timing. It emphasizes that feedback should be offered while it is still relevant to the situation or behavior being addressed. The benefits of timely feedback include its ability to be more impactful and allow for quicker adjustments or improvements from the personnel receiving feedback.
Encourages a feedback culture
An effective feedback culture encourages individuals to understand the value of both giving and receiving constructive feedback as a tool for continuous improvement and development. It moves beyond individual instances of feedback to embed input as a regular, valued practice that contributes to overall organizational growth and a positive work environment.