What is the best time to give feedback?

The best time to give feedback for a mistake might not be when you think it is!

For repetitive tasks, the best time to give feedback might not be right after a mistake has been made but after some progress has been achieved by self-discovery!

Suppose you are working with a student, coworker, or an athlete on learning a new skill that requires repetitive practice. Examples could be learning a new tennis stroke, learning to make a latte or learning how to solve a calculus problem.

Suppose the person repeats the skill a few times and makes mistakes in some of those attempts. What is the best time to give corrective feedback? Is it right after the mistake was made?

Depending on the urgency of the situation, it could be better to delay the feedback to a time where the student does part of the task correctly by self exploration!

The reason is at the time of a successful attempt, there is an emotional reward which can open up a person to be more receptive to feedback. On the other hand, at a time of failure, there could more negative emotions that could block a person to feedback.

Of course, this method is not possible in time sensitive situations such as training a medical student, or in situations where the self exploration doesn’t lead to success even after many attempts.

Next time you are training someone, consider delaying your feedback until they do something right by themselves. You might be surprised by its effect!