NEWS Journalism
Learning how to receive feedback dramatically changed how I give feedback. I am lucky that long before I was ever a teacher, I was a television journalist. Every day, Assignment Editors, Anchors, Reporters and News Directors would evaluate and critique the words I wrote before they ever made it on the news.
Millions of eyes on you
Later, when I was producing and directing documentary and competition reality programs in Los Angeles, the criticism stakes rose with the viewership. Assisting producers at the beginning of my career gave me an opportunity to observe how different people handled constructive criticism.
attitude is everything
For some, when the network notes came in, they would throw their hands in the air, call the executives a few names behind their backs, and deny any of the requested changes could be made.
Others would bend over backwards and get steamrolled by the exec’s requests, losing sight of their original vision for the program.
The people who rose to the top the fastest always responded the same way REGARDLESS OF HOW THEY FELT ABOUT THE CRITICISM. They said some version of the following phrases.
“Let me take another look. Let me see what I can do. I’ll look into that. I’ll explore that option.”
solution-oriented attitude
The trick here is you have to be sincere about your intentions. You may not want to, but you do need to explore the options requested with a solution-oriented attitude.
It isn’t personal
99% of the time, feedback is well-intentioned. It is given with intent to improve the end result, not destroy it. It isn’t a personal attack on the integrity of your work efforts. The individuals giving it are on your team. They have enough distance from the project to see the opportunities you haven’t explored.
GIVING FEEDBACK
As hard as receiving feedback can be, giving feedback is difficult as well. Recently, I procrastinated for MONTHS when a friend asked for my opinion on a project. I knew my criticism would be tough to hear, but I respected this individual’s work enough to say the hard things.
A key component to feedback is pointing out as many SOLUTIONS as you do problems. My colleague at Full Sail University, Emily Wray, might call this the ELEVATE portion of her RISE model for meaningful feedback. A technique I’ve practiced over the last five years. Unfortunately, it doesn’t help with procrastination yet.