Getting and giving peer feedback

Peer feedback is really a crucial tool for faculty researchers. It is core to the review processes for publications and for grant proposals. But even beyond this, peer feedback is essential for getting your manuscript or your grant proposal into shape before you submit. However, giving and receiving feedback is oftentimes an overlooked skill, but one that can make all the difference for you and your colleagues when employed well.

At ORDE, we recommend that PIs get three internal reviews of their grant and integrate the feedback before submitting. One of your reviewers should be a layperson and the other two should be experts in your field, but not familiar with your project (you don't want your peer reviewer intuiting things in your proposal that aren't there; you want them to identify what's missing).

Getting feedback
When asking for feedback from your peers, be specific with the kind of feedback you want. I've found that when asking for feedback on my writing, if I don't explain what sort of feedback I'm looking for, my reviewers tend to resort to their grammar school training and focus on punctuation and spelling rather than advising me on clarity.

Along with giving your reviewers instructions on what you want them to look for in your proposal, also give them enough time to adequately accomplish the task. If you're waiting till the last minute to pull things together, and then dropping it on your colleague's desk, not only will you frustrate that colleague and likely get sub-par feedback, but you probably won't have time to really use the feedback they do give you. On that same point, give your colleague a heads up. Ask them if they can review your proposal weeks in advance, tell them when you will send it to them, and agree on when they can have feedback back to you.

Lastly, be sure to thank your peer(s) for investing their time in you and your proposal. Make sure you offer to return the favor and let them know how important their feedback was to you. And, circle back around when you get that grant to thank them for their role in your success.

Giving feedback
When your colleague comes back around to ask you to review her proposal, some of the same tips apply. First of all, ask your colleague to plan ahead to ensure you have adequate time to review the proposal and she has adequate time to incorporate useful suggestions. Also, ask your colleague what she wants you to look for. Is she still tweaking her idea? Is she open to methodological suggestions? Does she want feedback on clarity or persuasiveness? If she asks you to proof it, you may want to suggest that they find an editor for that.

Giving feedback doesn't seem like a difficult concept, but many folks are uncomfortable with giving constructive feedback to a friend or colleague. You don't want to hurt any one's feelings after all. I actually think the reason people stick to grammar and spelling feedback is because they're nervous about offending a colleague. Yet, constructive feedback is essential to get better. However, good editors or reviewers understand how sensitive people are about their work. The editing adage, "murder your darlings" is often used, because getting feedback on your latest pride and joy can feel quite personal.

So, to deliver your necessary but perhaps sensitive feedback, some suggest a sandwich approach. Begin by telling your colleague everything you liked about their proposal, then move into some constructive critique, and end with more positive. In using this approach, it's important to be sincere in what you found as strengths. And, instead of dividing up the positive attributes, share all of them at the front end and finish by describing how excited you are about their project.

Also important to giving good feedback is being specific with your critique, and making sure your advice is usable. We don't call it constructive criticism for nothing. Negative feedback that is not useful or can't be applied is just mean.



I included a discussion of getting and giving feedback, because to be successful, you need to do both. If you make it a habit to ask for feedback but never find time to give it, then it won't belong before your peers are too busy to look at your proposal. Reciprocity is the name of the peer feedback game.

Resources
Giving and Receiving Feedback: A Guide to the Use of Peers in Self Assessment - UTS
The Delicate Art of Giving Feedback - Harvard Business Review