Have you ever worked really hard on something, only to get a shrug or a simple “good job”? This is because most people lack corrective feedback.
We’ve all been there. But what if there was a way to get feedback that actually helps you improve? If you’re serious about rapidly enhancing your skills and achieving your goals, you need the best form of feedback. The kind of feedback that not only points out what you’re doing wrong but shows you how to fix it.
This article will show you exactly how to do that.
You’ll learn the different types of feedback, how to get the best kind of feedback, and how to use mistakes to your advantage.
Corrective Feedback – The Best Form of Feedback
The Importance of Feedback
The ability to gain immediate feedback on your performance is essential for your rapid growth.
Feedback is the information that aids in understanding what has happened. Feedback often works best when it provides useful information that can guide your future learning. To be the best at your work, you must be sensitive to which feedback is useful and tune out the rest.
This means you must always seek the best form of feedback when others choose work with little or no feedback at all.
The Best Feedback Starts by Sharing Your Work
Share your work to gain immediate feedback.
By exposing your work to others for inspection, you will gain unique perspective and insights on making your work better.
Now here are the forms of feedback you should know about.
The Three Forms of Feedback
There are three types of feedback depending on the context it was given.
- Outcome Feedback (Are you doing it wrong?)
This feedback tells you about how well you’re doing overall but offers no ideas as to what you’re doing better or worse (e.g., Getting an A or F in an exam). This type is often easiest to get.
- Informational Feedback (What are you doing wrong?)
This feedback tells you what you’re doing wrong, but it doesn’t necessarily tell you how to fix it. This kind of feedback is easy to obtain when you can get real-time access to a feedback source (e.g., a computer programmer and errors)
- Corrective Feedback (How can you fix what you’re doing wrong?):
This is the best kind of feedback to get.
Corrective feedback shows you not only what you’re doing wrong, but how to fix it. This kind of feedback is often available only through a coach, mentor or teacher. And sometimes, it can be provided automatically if you’re using the right study materials.
The best feedback is informative and usable by you when received.
How To Always Get Corrective Feedback
To consistently receive corrective feedback, you can follow these strategies:
- Seek out coaches, mentors, or teachers: Having a mentor or coach who is an expert in the field you’re learning can be invaluable. They can observe your work, identify areas for improvement, and provide specific guidance on how to correct mistakes and enhance your skills.
- Utilize interactive learning materials: Look for resources that incorporate quizzes, answer explanations, or interactive exercises that point out mistakes and offer solutions.
- Participate in peer review or study groups: Join or form study groups or peer review circles where members can provide feedback on each other’s work. This collaborative approach allows you to receive constructive criticism and learn from the perspectives of others.
- Practice self-reflection and self-assessment: Develop the habit of critically evaluating your own work. After completing a task or project, review it with a critical eye and try to identify areas for improvement. Then, research or seek guidance on how to address those areas.
- Request detailed feedback: When receiving feedback from others, whether it’s a teacher, mentor, or peer, explicitly ask for specific, corrective feedback. Instead of general comments, request that they point out what needs to be improved and provide suggestions on how to correct it.
- Implement feedback and track progress: Once you receive corrective feedback, make a conscious effort to implement the suggested improvements. Track your progress over time to see how effectively you’re incorporating the feedback and improving your skills.
Lastly, Let Your Mistakes Guide You
Take mistakes seriously, but never personally.
Always be wide open to every bit of information you receive about your work. Then develop the habit of attending to your errors right away. Don’t wince or don’t close your eyes. Look straight at these errors and see what happened, and ask yourself what you can do next to improve.
Your mistakes are the guideposts you use to get better.
