Why is it good to do the exercise?

Mirror, mirror on the wall – what makes work more enjoyable and boosts performance? The answer, long known to researchers and practitioners in organizational psychology, is feedback. Feedback means receiving helpful information from someone—or something—about how you’ve performed or done something. It’s a bit like looking into a mirror: based on what you see (perhaps a piece of chive stuck between your teeth), you can adjust your actions (maybe use a toothpick). Feedback, in essence, is crucial for learning and improving performance. But how should feedback be delivered to have the greatest impact? In a review article by Andressa Sleiman and colleagues, they found that feedback works best when it is positive (providing information about what to do more of) and immediate (given as close to the action as possible). At work, you may have access to something even better than a mirror: your colleagues. They are a valuable source of feedback, helping you learn and improve while you do the same for them.