Receiving Critical Feedback: All the Icky Feelings
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Everyone has had the awful and awkward experience of receiving critical feedback about their job performance from a supervisor or mentor. Sometimes it can leave you feeling driven towards your professional goals. Sometimes it can make you feel awful about your professional performance. Most of the time it just leads to lots of icky feelings.
Since we work as clinicians who are required to continue learning throughout our career, it’s safe to assume that receiving critical feedback will always be part of our work experience. But does it always have to come with icky feelings? Are there different kinds of feedback? Are there ways to make the experience better? We wanted to know, so we went to the literature to find out.
Join us in this episode to learn more about why receiving critical feedback can feel so icky. We review several articles from the fields of psychology and organization behavior management (OBM). Take a listen, be our nerdy friends, and learn a little bit about what you can do to make those icky feelings a little more tolerable.
Learning Outcomes
Identify at least two components of the feedback landscape and at least two benefits of supervision and mentorship
Describe at least two important components of critical feedback
Identify at least two strategies for receiving critical feedback
References
Blosser, J. (Medbridge) Supervision and Mentoring Throughout the Career Journey [video]. https://www.medbridgeeducation.com/courses/details/supervision-and-mentoring-throughout-the-career-journey-jean-blosser-slp-school
Cook, T. & Dixon, M. (2006) Performance Feedback and Probabilistic Bonus Contingencies Among Employees in a Human Service Organization, Journal of Organizational Behavior Management, 25:3, 45-63, DOI: 10.1300/J075v25n03_04
Fabricio Balcazar, Bill L. Hopkins & Yolanda Suarez (1985) A Critical, Objective Review of Performance Feedback, Journal of Organizational Behavior Management, 7:3-4, 65-89, DOI: 10.1300/J075v07n03_05
Arco, L. (1997) Improving Program Outcome with Process-Based Performance Feedback, Journal of Organizational Behavior Management, 17:1, 37-64, DOI: 10.1300/J075v17n01_03
McCready, V., Flynn, P., (2013). The Supervision Iceberg: More than Meets the Eye. [PowerPoint Slides]
https://www.z2systems.com/neon/resource/msha/files/MCCREADY_-_Supervision_Iceburg.pdf
Palmer, M., Johnson, C., & Johnson, D. (2015) Objective Performance Feedback: Is Numerical Accuracy Necessary?, Journal of Organizational Behavior Management, 35:3-4, 206-239, DOI: 10.1080/01608061.2015.1093059
Steelman, L. & Levy, P. & Snell, Andrea. (2004). The Feedback Environment Scale: Construct Definition, Measurement, and Validation. Educational and Psychological Measurement - EDUC PSYCHOL MEAS. 64. 165-184. 10.1177/0013164403258440.
Steelman, L.A. & Rutkowski, K.A. (2004), "Moderators of employee reactions to negative feedback", Journal of Managerial Psychology, Vol. 19 No. 1, pp. 6-18. https://doi.org/10.1108/02683940410520637
Online Resources
ASHA S.T.E.P. Program: https://www.asha.org/students/mentoring/step/
Disclosures:
Kate Grandbois financial disclosures: Kate is the owner / founder of Grandbois Therapy + Consulting, LLC and co-founder of SLP Nerdcast. Kate Grandbois non-financial disclosures: Kate is a member of ASHA, SIG 12, and serves on the AAC Advisory Group for Massachusetts Advocates for Children. She is also a member of the Berkshire Association for Behavior Analysis and Therapy (BABAT), MassABA, the Association for Behavior Analysis International (ABAI) and the corresponding Speech Pathology and Applied Behavior Analysis SIG.
Amy Wonkka financial disclosures: Kate is an employee of a public school system and co-founder of SLP Nerdcast. Amy Wonkka non-financial disclosures: Amy is a member of ASHA, SIG 12, and serves on the AAC Advisory Group for Massachusetts Advocates for Children.
Time Ordered Agenda:
10 minutes: Introduction, Disclaimers and Disclosures
20 minutes: Descriptions of the feedback landscape: supervision, mentorship, and the benefits of each
15 minutes: Descriptions of the importance of critical feedback
10 minutes: Descriptions of strategies for receiving critical feedback
5 minutes: Summary and Closing
Disclaimer
The contents of this episode are not meant to replace clinical advice. SLP Nerdcast, its hosts and guests do not represent or endorse specific products or procedures mentioned during our episodes unless otherwise stated. We are NOT PhDs, but we do research our material. We do our best to provide a thorough review and fair representation of each topic that we tackle. That being said, it is always likely that there is an article we’ve missed, or another perspective that isn’t shared. If you have something to add to the conversation, please email us! Wed love to hear from you!