MSPB also said that the most effective feedback is forward-looking, not backward-looking.
“Not surprisingly, most people do not enjoy being told what they did wrong after it is too late to fix it. Similarly, feedback that reminds an employee what the employee wishes he or she had done differently tends not to be as well-received as guidance that concentrates more on how the employee can do better in the future.
“The past should be seen as an opportunity to offer lessons learned, but the emphasis should be on how to take advantage of that information to grow,” it said.
Forward-looking feedback should focus on projects the employee is currently facing, for example by focusing on how to apply lessons learned from past projects–including the shortcomings–to what is ahead.
Performance appraisal systems tend to focus on documenting past errors in order to justify a future disciplinary action, it noted. However, it said a supervisor can still use forward-looking feedback effectively by having those conversations outside the context of a formal evaluation.
