Business Briefs: How to Deliver Effective Feedback in Equine Practice

When you have a leadership or supervisory position at a practice, providing formal feedback to your team is an important aspect of your work. However, everyone working at the practice needs communication skills to provide input to management, co-workers, externs, and interns.

Preferred Methods of Receiving Feedback

When giving formal feedback on someone’s performance, the best practice is asking how the person prefers to receive it. Do they want to wait until the end of the day, or get right to it at the beginning? Would it be best at the end of the week or before a day off? What time intervals does the person desire to have feedback: regularly, intermittently, or daily? Some people prefer to go for a walk rather than have a conversation in an office. If you expect a response, ask the team member how much time they need to formulate one. Employees appreciate this respect for individual preferences, which builds trust. Obviously, in some situations, feedback requires immediacy, but as much as possible, you should give feedback in private away from clients and other team members.

Entrustment Scales

In mentoring situations, such as a senior doctor giving feedback to an intern or a new associate, the use of input based on entrustment scales for specific tasks can create a safe path to competency. Entrustment scales outline how much trust the mentor has in the mentee performing specific tasks, which dictates how much supervision the mentee requires. As skills increase, trust follows, and supervision decreases. When the mentor uses language that encourages rather than punishes, the mentee feels more secure in asking questions while developing skills. The mentor should ask, “What do you think went well?” and “What could have gone better?” They should also query the mentee on steps they will take to achieve competency and how their mentor can help them.

Entrustable Professional Activities (EPAs) are key, observable tasks in veterinary medical education that mentees can be trusted to perform without direct supervision once they have demonstrated sufficient competence. For each EPA, the mentor can assess the mentee’s level of achievement based on a trust scale ranging from “Watch me because I don’t trust you to do this yet” to “Ready to do this with me watching you” to “I trust you to do this on your own.” EPAs include more than clinical skills; they also encompass professionalism, communication, financial awareness, and ethics. Often, the mentee must demonstrate all these competencies simultaneously. For each activity, the mentor can assign a measure on the entrustment scale.

Regular Check-ins

In addition, mentors can use regular check-ins to ask, “How’s it going?” and “Is there anything you need from me right now?” Rather than making every meeting a performance review, let the mentee control the conversation. Ask, “Is there anything you would like my feedback on?” Research shows this approach leads to increased acceptance of any feedback you give in response. If your mentee raises any concern or problem, resist the temptation to give your solution. Instead, ask them, “What do you think the options are?” or “Which option do you think will give you the outcome you’re hoping for?”

Psychological Safety

Research by Amy Edmondson, PhD, has shown that psychological safety within the workplace is one of the most important factors leading to learning behaviors. For maximal learning to occur, leaders must accept candor, forgive mistakes, view questions as a strength rather than a weakness, and allow employees to question the status quo without fear. In a practice without a safe culture, a mentor or trusted co-worker can provide a zone of safety where the mentee can be heard and learn more effectively. The learning zone occurs where psychological safety, motivation, and accountability are high. Unfortunately, psychological safety is not always found in veterinary practices. It’s no wonder so many early-career veterinarians are anxious!

The Importance of Candor

Most people find it difficult be candid yet kind. Candor is defined as honesty and directness. Giving candid feedback often involves telling someone information they don’t want to hear in a way they can handle to ensure things change. Usually, mentors give difficult feedback because something needs starting, stopping, or improving. Most people who need to give candid feedback experience anxiety or worry about damaging the relationship, hurting feelings, inducing a strong reaction in the receiver, or being wrong. Developing awareness of your emotions will help. Always ask for permission to be candid, do not triangulate, and minimize anxiety by having the needed conversation within 48 hours.

Final Thoughts

Giving candid feedback is a gift when done well. Start small, and always remember to speak with humility, kindness, and a genuine desire to help others improve.

Related Reading

• Early Career Insights: Establishing a Successful Mentor-Mentee Relationship
• Guiding the Next Generation: Mentorship in Equine Veterinary Practice
• Equine Veterinary Sustainability: How Leaders Create Psychological Safety

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