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ACCA Applied Knowledge · Business and Technology · Review and appraisal of individual performance

Maria is a team leader who must tell a junior analyst, Tom, that his recent reports contained several errors. Which approach is most likely to make the feedback effective?

Maria should give specific examples of the errors and their consequences, then work with Tom on how to improve. Effective feedback is timely, factual, behaviour-focused and constructive. Vague personal criticism, delaying until the annual review or generic team emails fail to help the individual improve.

  1. ADescribe specific examples of the errors and their impact, then discuss with Tom how to improveCorrect
  2. BTell Tom he is careless and must try harder
  3. CWait until the annual appraisal so that all issues can be raised together
  4. DEmail a general comment to the whole team without naming anyone

Explanation

Effective feedback is specific, timely, based on observable behaviour and focused on improvement. Vague personal criticism is judgmental and unhelpful, and waiting until the annual review loses timeliness. A general team email fails to address Tom's own performance.

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