The art of giving valuable feedback is one that everyone needs to learn. Find out how to ace feedback sessions.

Providing important feedback is about more than just giving your colleagues critical suggestions. Your feedback needs to be insightful and well-thought out or it may just fall on deaf ears. Here’s how to make the most out of your words.

Don’t blab on
If you’re giving feedback to someone, you should have knowledge about the subject, right? Right. Make sure you use that knowledge along with what you know about the company before you start telling everyone what should change. Every company has their own way of doing things and what worked for your previous company may not work for your current one. So get familiar with the company’s systems and processes first before leaping in - you don't want to be the colleague everyone avoids.

Positive is better than negative 
Many people get this part wrong – feedback is best accepted when you give more positive than negative feedback. Telling people what they’re doing wrong all the time is not going to earn you any brownie points with your peers. Make sure you give at least three positive things for every change you suggest. People will want to listen to you more this way.

Make your boss look great 
Why is this important? Well, if your company encourages feedback and it has a positive vibe, it makes your boss look great. And if your boss looks great, he’ll get promoted. Once your boss gets promoted there’ll be an opening for the person who made him appear successful i.e. YOU! So go ahead and work your magic.

Take feedback like a pro 
As much as you’d like to be the only one with feedback power, you probably aren’t. Others will give you feedback as well, which is why you need to learn how to accept feedback graciously. Listen to their comments and ask questions; you never know what you might learn from them.

Not everyone will listen, deal with it 
Unless you’re the boss or his wife, chances are that everyone won’t always implement your comments. Don’t blow up like a loose cannon about it; let them be. Do you always do what others suggest? Thought not.

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