Ask HN: Anonymous vs. non-anonymous feedback? Which is better?

[nitishrddy]

Contrary to popular belief that anonymous feedback results in negativity, I feel that there are significant advantages to it and that the negatives can be controlled (read more in this article: https://link.medium.com/dL47MSw829). I built a tool (www.360katas.com) to streamlines seeking voluntary anonymous feedback from co-workers at the workplace too to aid in our personal development!

Wanted to hear your opinions on anonymous vs non-anonymous feedback for personal development!

[el_dev_hell]

I've lied, and will continue to lie, on every "360 feedback" form I've been required to fill out. Mostly because I've seen the backend of the 360 feedback system and know it's not truly anon.

In my general opinion, negative feedback is very helpful for personal development. Most people will also have some resentment towards the bearer of negative feedback.

It's not my job to make my manager a better person if it means I miss out on a cushy pay bump next review.

[nitishrddy]

So the concern here is that the feedback is not truly anonymous because someone from HR or IT is able to view the data? If run by a completely 3rd party tool, would that make you comfortable?

[el_dev_hell]

Sorry for the late reply.

andrei_says_ seems to have reached into my brain and answered your question perfectly.

I don't think I would change my approach when using a third party tool. The personal downside of giving potentially harsh honest feedback outweighs any benefit for the "greater company" in my mind.

[andrei_says_]

Not the OP but NO because it’s HR that pays for the feedback SAAS product and any 3rd party company needs to bend backward to sell it to them.

[nitishrddy]

Hmm got it and totally agree with your point! In fact, for 360Katas, the product we are building, we are exploring if there could be an alternate revenue model so that we can avoid this :)

For now, it is free and we do not provide any admin features. Any individual can commission feedback for themselves and only they will be able to view their feedback :)

[kleer001]

"It sucks" anonymous or not is useless feedback.

"I had a hard time with XYZ" Is better.

"When a and b was difficult, but not a and c, that was fine." Is even better.

However, "I would have abc instead of xyz" isn't great." Depending on who it came from might be a wild goose chase.

So, overall, if the human can take it thought full, actionable, and accurate advice always wins out in technical spheres.

Personal development is similar, but it takes a strong person to take feedback of any kind. Mostly because there's so much subjectivity involved. Which, of course, washes away when 3 out of 4 people in a company of 400 all say the same thing.

I would say the quality of the feedback is more important.

[nitishrddy]

Hmm that's true! I agree! Any ideas for how one can nudge co-workers into sharing more actionable feedback like you mentioned?

[foldr]

Taken in itself anonymous feedback can be more honest and thus more useful. But I think the culture it creates can be quite toxic. If people respect each other, then they can give honest feedback face to face. And if they don't, it won't be long before they're misusing the anonymous feedback mechanisms.

[muzani]

I think what happens is that there's usually 1 in 20 people who can't take honest feedback face to face. In the worst companies or the "top" ones, the ratio is much lower - I'd bet in some major bank, a unicorn, or a FAANG somewhere, there's a lot more egos. And more people who are the type to gaslight you and say your feedback is invalid, or get really defensive and make excuses for everything.

But in a large enough companies, where people in different departments don't talk to each other, this can be toxic.

[nitishrddy]

Hmm understood! This is really helpful! Thank you!

[nitishrddy]

Do you feel it's a good stepping stone though for people to open up before starting to share non-anonymous feedback?

[austincheney]

My learning from Reddit:

* Any comment at all is probably far too much effort, as confirmed by comments when behavior was criticized, especially if the substance of that comment isn’t already stated.

* Down vote is just the right amount of effort, like Goldilocks.

* Up votes are also a tremendous effort like fighting a crushing gravity.

* Up votes suddenly become easier with social validation. The more popular an idea appears, up votes per minute, the more irresistible the up vote button becomes like a black hole gravity well.

[Jocund]

Anonymous feedback doesn't really work. It's not hard to figure out who wrote the feedback if they write anything non-trivial.

[nitishrddy]

Hmm are you saying that it's not too hard because the writing style in the feedback will give away the identity or anything else?

[muzani]

Say you're a manager who tends to be a little too "friendly" around women. There are two women in the company. It's easy to figure which one. Or things like the pantry is dirty and you're the one who's most vocal about it. Or you're sitting across from some guy who doesn't shower when he goes to work. Or maybe the back end engineers tend to screw up on a lot of little things, and you're one of the three people who deal with them. You could fingerprint someone with just a few of these.

[emil_stoyanov]

Most people don't accept negative feedback, it's just how human psychology is. So feedback, anonymous or not only works when there is also "recommendation" of how the criticized behavior can be improved.

[nitishrddy]

Totally agree. Thank you for sharing your thoughts!