Giving and Receiving Feedback course in Amsterdam

The Giving and Receiving Feedback course lasts two days. You attend the course in a classroom setting in a small group of no more than eight participants. This means you receive plenty of personal attention and have room to practise feedback conversations. You receive course materials and a certificate of participation. The current price can be found on the course page.

The Giving and Receiving Feedback course is suitable for anyone who wants to learn to give constructive feedback on behaviour. Think of managers who want to steer or motivate employees, professionals who want to create an open communication climate within their team and people who want to learn to deal better with receiving feedback. No prior knowledge is required; you work in a classroom group of no more than eight participants.

During the classroom course you work with practical techniques such as RET (Rational Effectiveness Training) to get a grip on your own emotions and thoughts. You practise confronting conversation techniques, learn to stay calm in difficult conversations and gain tools for responding to tensions. By practising actively in a safe atmosphere, you experience the effect of your communication straight away.

Yes, after completing the Giving and Receiving Feedback course you receive a certificate of participation from Learnit. This certificate confirms that you took an active part in the classroom course and practised techniques such as giving constructive feedback, asking follow-up questions, dealing with criticism and applying RET to your own emotions. No prior education or test is required.

Feedback, criticism and advice are three different forms of communication. Feedback is constructive comment on behaviour, aimed at growth and change. Criticism is often directed at the person and can come across as judgemental. Advice offers a concrete solution or direction. During the Giving and Receiving Feedback course you learn to distinguish these three clearly and to use them deliberately.

Yes, the Giving and Receiving Feedback course can be run in-company at your organisation. You can also opt for the classroom course. Beforehand there is an intake meeting, in which the trainer identifies your personal learning objectives. The final programme is determined on that basis, so that the content matches your working situation.

A book explains theory, but in this classroom course you practise the conversations yourself that you would not have in an online course. You get direct feedback from the trainer and up to seven fellow participants on how your feedback comes across, including your non-verbal and paralinguistic signals. You only see that difference when someone else reflects it back to you. You practise results-oriented questioning techniques, listening-summarising-asking follow-up questions and confronting conversation techniques in role plays tailored to situations from your own work, gathered in an intake beforehand. You also work with RET (Rational Emotive Therapy) to handle your own emotions during a conversation. That self-reflection and practising under pressure are hard to replicate in self-study.

The Giving and Receiving Feedback course suits you if you want to sharpen a concrete skill: conveying a message about behaviour, and being open to feedback yourself. The course is classroom-based, with a maximum of eight participants. You practise techniques such as listening-summarising-asking follow-up questions, RET for dealing with your own emotions, and the distinction between feedback, criticism and advice. A broader communication course makes more sense if you mainly want to work on presenting, chairing meetings or general conversation skills. Do you manage staff, do you often meet resistance when addressing behaviour, or do you avoid feedback conversations? Then this focused course is more effective than a general module in which feedback is only one component.