About this course: This course teaches you the simple principles expert managers use to improve and motivate employee performance. You’ll never have to avoid telling an employee “the truth” again, because the seven techniques we teach will not make employees defensive or afraid. As a manager, or someone who would like to be a manager, you’ll also learn specifically what feedback is, how negative feedback is weighed more heavily than positive, and how positive feedback can super-charge behaviors such as creativity and teamwork. Giving feedback is a skill which develops over time. We give you a process you can use to improve your feedback skills and deliver it with confidence. You will find that there is a scientific basis for many of your observations and intuitions about feedback—such as, it is hard to give correctly, people don’t like it, and more. This will be reassuring as you learn how to overcome these difficulties. We hope you have a fantastic time becoming a better manager!
Created by: University of Colorado Boulder
Taught by: Tracy Jennings, Senior Instructor
Management and Entrepreneurship Division
| Commitment | 5 weeks of study, 1 hour/week |
| Language | English, Subtitles: Spanish |
| How To Pass | Pass all graded assignments to complete the course. |
| User Ratings |
Syllabus
WEEK 1
Introduction to Giving Helpful Feedback and Positive Feedback
The goal of this course is to give you the confidence to deliver both negative and positive feedback successfully and to leave the person receiving feedback with their dignity. To boost your motivation, in the first week we outline specific benefits of mastering feedback skills and provide examples of people whose careers changed because of timely feedback. We also discuss positive feedback and expectations, powerful tools to help people learn at work. You will be able to define both and know how they improve employee performance. You will learn how positive feedback can be delivered in many situations and appreciate the power of positive feedback to enhance employee creativity and teaming skills. We hope that you’ll be able to use this new knowledge immediately.
6 videos, 1 reading
- Reading: Course Syllabus
- Video: Course Introduction
- Video: Why Feedback is Important
- Video: Positive Feedback Defined
- Video: The Impact of Positive Expectations
- Video: Positive Expectations at Work
- Video: Positive Feedback: Intriguing Possibilities
Graded: Week 1 Quiz
WEEK 2
Negative Feedback: Use With Caution
Negative Feedback is a specialized learning tool. We all know that negative feedback feels punishing. Our goal this week is for you to understand why it is punishing, why we hesitate to use it, and when it can be used effectively without negative consequences. You will be able to identify specific situations where negative feedback is given more weight than positive feedback and learn a technique that can overcome some of negative feedback’s harmful side effects. Armed with a clearer concept of the pluses and minuses of negative feedback, you can be more confident that you are using it appropriately at work.
3 videos
- Video: Negative Feedback Defined
- Video: Negative Feedback Bias
- Video: The Broad Impact of Negative Feedback
Graded: Week 2 Quiz
WEEK 3
The Seven Essential Feedback Skills - Part I
Based on your work in the first two weeks, you can now describe negative and positive feedback and appreciate the power of these tools to change behavior. In the next two weeks, we take the next step towards building your feedback skills by teaching you seven specific skills to use when delivering professional feedback. At the end these two weeks you will know how to deliver work-related feedback that is effective at changing an employee’s behavior while still preserving their dignity.
5 videos
- Video: Additional Thoughts on Positive Feedback
- Video: Introduction to the Seven Feedback Skills
- Video: Skill 1: Focus on Specific Behavior
- Video: Skill 2: Keep it Impersonal
- Video: Skill 3: Keep it Goal-Oriented
Graded: Week 4 Part I Quiz
WEEK 4
The Seven Essential Feedback Skills - Part II
This week we continue building on your knowledge of the seven essential feedback skills.
5 videos
- Video: Skill 4: Keep it Well-Timed
- Video: Skill 5: Ensure Understanding
- Video: Skill 6: Make Sure it is Controllable
- Video: Make Sure it is Controllable: The Manager's Role
- Video: Skill 7: Tailor the Feedback to Fit the Employee:
Graded: Week 4 Part II Quiz
WEEK 5
Giving Helpful Feedback: Turn Your Knowledge Into Long-Term Change
You now know the fundamentals of positive and negative feedback and the skills necessary to deliver both. In this module we begin by describing situations where no matter how talented you are, your feedback will not “get through” to your employee. These situations can be discouraging and we point them out so you can diagnose why your feedback may not have worked. We then describe a process to enable you to continue practicing and improving your new skills. True change takes time, but the journey is worth it.
2 videos, 2 readings
- Video: When Feedback Doesn't Work
- Video: How to Create Long-Term Change
- Reading: Feedback Practice
- Reading: Feedback Practice Worksheet
Graded: Final Test
Helpful Class Resources
1 reading
- Reading: Research Used in this Course
FAQs
How It Works
Coursework
Each course is like an interactive textbook, featuring pre-recorded videos, quizzes and projects.
Help from Your Peers
Connect with thousands of other learners and debate ideas, discuss course material, and get help mastering concepts.
Certificates
Earn official recognition for your work, and share your success with friends, colleagues, and employers.
Creators
University of Colorado Boulder
CU-Boulder is a dynamic community of scholars and learners on one of the most spectacular college campuses in the country. As one of 34 U.S. public institutions in the prestigious Association of American Universities (AAU), we have a proud tradition of academic excellence, with five Nobel laureates and more than 50 members of prestigious academic academies.
Pricing
| Audit | Purchase Course | |
|---|---|---|
| Access to course materials | Available | Available |
| Access to graded materials | Not available | Available |
| Receive a final grade | Not available | Available |
| Earn a shareable Course Certificate | Not available | Available |
Ratings and Reviews
Great weekend course. I watched all the videos and did all the quizzes in two days. Lots of great material to chew on, and the course was very well laid out and visually interesting. Lots of examples and "stories" to help explain the concepts.
Excellent course with resources to be used immediately. Opportunity to learn independently and apply the principles with exemplars and video to guide the process.
Very useful
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AA
Well orchestrated. Excellent material. Remains practical while ddressing multiple aspects. Provides a lot of examples to comprehend and relate to.