Feedback in Communication

Feedback in Communication 1
A REFLECTIVE ESSAY ON FEEDBACK USING GIBBS
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Feedback in Communication 2
Introduction
Feedback can be defined simply as receiver’s response to the sender’s message. In
communication, it plays vital roles such as developing morale (Adler, Rodman and Pré, 2016). It
can not only be positive, but also negative (Kritek, 2015, p.559). Positive feedback encourages
me to continue sending my messages as well as speaking to my audience. On the contrary,
negative feedback enables me to change my messages, hence correcting ineffectiveness. This
paper is a reflection essay using Gibbs cycle. Gibbs cycle consists of the following steps;
description, feeling, evaluation, analysis, conclusion and action plan. In description phase, I
describe an event in details. Besides, feelings step entails my feelings towards the event that I’ve
described. Also, I consider feelings of other people. On the other hand, evaluation is concerned
with what I learned from the event. Moreover, analysis is concerned with identifying all the
problems that I faced during the event. In conclusion, I’m required to analyze alternative actions
that I can perform in case I encounter the same event in future. Lastly, action plan is future-
oriented as it is concerned with actions that I should carry out in future events (Husebø, O'Regan
and Nestel, 2015, p.370). The main purpose of this essay is to give my feedback experience in
relation to Gibbs cycle.
Description
Description, which is the first step of Gibbs cycle, plays some vital roles in feedback. For
instance, understanding the context in which the message has been sent is very important. I
always try to understand the event that has taken place. Hence, limiting chances of giving
negative feedback which can affect communication as a result. For example, I cannot give
a .response by using Mathematical terminologies while discussing about family matters.
Description enables me to understand the relationship that is existing between me and sender’s

Feedback in Communication 3
message or the group members. There are several questions that I ask myself such as what
happened? The following information forms a basis of my objective description:
 The date in which the event took place.
 The people who participated in that event.
 The place in which the event took place.
 The actions which I did during that event.
 The actions of the other people.
Feelings
Apart from description, feelings are also important. The purpose of feelings is to create
awareness (Husebø, O'Regan and Nestel, 2015, p.370). For instance, I always describe my
feelings before, during and after the event. Not only my feelings are important for giving
response, but also the feelings of other people who participated in the event. Some of the
applications of feelings include counselling and individual setting (Carless et al., 2011, p.400).
Feelings enhances empathy, hence enabling me to give an effective feedback.
Evaluation
Other than feelings, I also consider evaluation. Here, I answer the question whether the
experience I described was good. For example, I try to evaluate whether discussion was good or
there were some arguments and conflicts when one of my group members has texted me before
sending a response. The following are some of the important things that I consider during
evaluation:
 My contribution in the event.
 The contribution of other people.