Helping supervisors give better feedback

One of the biggest complaints that comes up in employee surveys about their supervisors is about feedback  — too little, too much, too scattered and so on. Here’s an exercise you can give to your organization’s supervisors that improves feedback.

The exercise appeared in “Psychology Today” and is based on a test developed by a teacher to make sure students get better-directed feedback.
Imagine you are taking part in a clapping contest. (Bear with us on this.) Three judges are chosen to rate the quality of clapping on a 1-5 scale, with 5 being the very best score and 1 being the worst. You have one practice trial where you get feedback before you do it for real lat.
Scenario One: For your practice trial, you clap wildly – frantically and enthusiastically for the required 30 seconds. Then you stop. The judges confer. Judge 1 gives you a 3. Judge 2 gives you a 2. Judge 3 gives you a 3. You leave the room with 3 minutes to prepare for your performance.
Scenario Two: Same situation, but at the end the judges confer and critique your performance. “I don’t really like the fact that you started your applause at such a quick pace. There was no texture to your performance,” states the first judge. “And the beats were much too close together,” says the second. Judge 3 mutters,  “Too quiet. Much too quiet.” You earn two 3s and a 2. You leave the room to prepare.
Scenario Three: Same situation. But the judges confer and critique in a different way. “What I think really makes an excellent performance,” explains the first judge, “is a performance that builds. I like it to began slowly and then get louder and louder, almost like a crashing wave. What you did was great for the end part, but it would have much more impact if you created some contrast between the beginning and the end.” The second judge nods. “You can also increase the crescendo by starting with slower, quieter clapping, but then getting faster and louder towards the real triumphant ending. Your clapping at the end was quite good.” “You’re looking for a sharper sounds as well”, says the third judge. “You keep clapping with the middle of your hands, but you really want that sharp sound to give it some definition. I absolutely hate that hollow palm on palm sound.”  You earn two 3s and a 2 and go to prepare for your final performance.
Question: Which scenario should lead to a better final performance? Why?
In Scenario 1, you received feedback – your marks – but you have no idea what they’re based on. You know you need to change something. But what? They’ve given you no clue, so you’re equally likely to change for the worse as change for the better.
In Scenario 2, you’ve been told what not to do, but you don’t know what your goal is. So you can avoid the behavior you know they didn’t like (being quiet, starting too loudly and not having enough texture, and clapping too fast). But what are they looking for?
Scenario 3 is the most useful. They tell you what your goal is – eliminating a whole range of possible behaviors. They tell you which aspects of your behavior will help you towards optimal performance. They tell you what they don’t like as well. And they even give you some ideas for behaviors or techniques you may not have thought about.
Remember the three clapping scenarios the next time you’re giving feedback.