No matter what industry you work in, it鈥檚 more than likely that at some point in your career, you鈥檒l have to give negative feedback to someone working on your behalf. Whether it鈥檚 a designer, picture researcher or a media agency, there may come a time when the work they produce doesn鈥檛 meet your expectations. But how do you tell them you鈥檙e not happy with their work without causing offence? Here are our top tips鈥
1. Give a clear brief
This may seem obvious, but your designer or researcher can only work on the information you give them. Give them all the details you have and if you need anything specific, tell them from the offset. This way, you know that you鈥檝e given them a detailed description of what you鈥檙e looking for.
If your brief is vague or allows for a lot of creative freedom, there鈥檚 a higher chance that the work you receive may not match what you had in mind 鈥 but remember, if you haven鈥檛 told them your ideas, they won鈥檛 know what you want.
The more details you give, the more guidance your designer or researcher receives, which will increase the likelihood of them delivering the project how you imagined it.
Check out our blog for more top tips on how to write a great picture research brief.
Top tip: At the end of your brief, always offer your designer or researcher the chance to give you a call if they have any questions. This way, you know you鈥檝e done all you can to make the brief as clear as possible.
2. Point out the bits that have gone well
You don鈥檛 want to offend anyone when you give them feedback, so be sure to make a point of telling your researcher or designer what they鈥檝e done well. This way, they鈥檒l feel good about the work they鈥檝e done, will be more open to your feedback and will be more motivated to perfect the project.
Something as simple as saying 鈥淭hank you for your work on this so far鈥 will kick off your feedback session on a positive note. We鈥檙e all human after all, and everyone likes to feel appreciated.
Remember: Starting off positively is great, but if you鈥檝e got constructive criticism to deliver, don鈥檛 be afraid to get to the point early on.
3. Be constructive, not critical
Being told you鈥檝e done something wrong is never a nice feeling, so if you have something negative to say, approach it in a positive way. Talk about 鈥榳hat could be better鈥, instead of what you think isn鈥檛 right. If something doesn鈥檛 match your expectations, rather than stating this isn鈥檛 what you wanted, suggest a way of improving what鈥檚 already been done.
Make sure you鈥檙e as clear and to-the-point as you can be, without being offensive. Delivering feedback in a positive way will help to build your relationship with your designer or researcher, and the more precise you are, the better the understanding the two of you will develop.
It sometimes takes a bit of time for people to adapt to the way one-another works, so don鈥檛 be put off if the first project you work on together has a bit of to-and-froing; it鈥檚 part of the creative process.