For sports lovers in our midst, think of the sport that you enjoy the most. One of the elements that people enjoy about sports in the aspect of score keeping, which lets you know where you (or your team) stands. Those indications of good performance keep us coming back to revisit the sport over and over again, whether you are someone who plays, or prefers to watch. Without some method of keeping score, even an enjoyable activity can become a meaningless repetition of motions.

The performance feedback you provide your people may be on a group level in terms of how well they are meeting targets compared to other groups. Or, it may be about individual performance toward attainable goals. But just as feedback is necessary to keep interest in a sport alive, it’s easy to get off track or fall into a state of limbo without performance feedback. In addition, regular performance feedback is one of the key steps leading up to a surprise-free performance review.

What do you think are the key things to keep in mind when you are giving others feedback?