Feedback is happening all day in school nutrition. It shows up in the rush of the serving line, in quick comments between school nutrition teams, in a student’s reaction to a new meal, and in those small moments when something misses the mark and you need to address it without making it personal.
And here’s the tricky part. A lot of the work you do is high-skill, high-stakes, and mostly invisible when it’s done well. That can make feedback feel even heavier, especially when it shows up only when something goes wrong.
In Health-e Pro’s recent webinar, The Gift of Feedback, Janel Wojcik shared practical tools to help you give and receive feedback in ways that build stronger school nutrition teams.
With a background in project management and improv, Janel brought a unique perspective to workplace communication. She connected improv principles like listening, accepting, supporting, and facing fears to the everyday relationships and conversations that shape your team.
What Feedback Really Is and Why It Matters
One of the biggest takeaways from the webinar is that feedback is something everyone receives, and it goes both ways. You don’t have much control over who gives feedback, when it happens, where it happens, or how it is delivered. That’s what makes having strong feedback skills so important.
When feedback is handled well, it can create accountability, encourage reflection, improve performance, strengthen relationships and communication, and reinforce positive behaviors.
Feedback is often thought of in two categories: positive and negative. Positive feedback highlights strengths, while negative feedback focuses on problems or shortcomings. However, Janel prefers the term constructive feedback because it focuses on helping someone grow and improve rather than fixating on what went wrong.
Growth vs. Fixed Mindset: Making Feedback Positive
Janel highlighted the difference between a growth mindset and a fixed mindset. A growth mindset is the idea that abilities, intelligence, and talents can be developed over time through effort and learning. A fixed mindset assumes they are set and can’t really change.
This idea shows up in school nutrition more often than you might think. A fixed mindset often sounds like, “Our students won’t eat that. There’s no point in changing the menu.” But a growth mindset sounds more like, “This new menu item is different, but I’ll try it and see how students respond!” That shift in thinking can open the door to learning, growth, and new possibilities.
Tools for Giving Feedback
When you give feedback, the goal should be to build trust and help the conversation stay calm and productive. Here are three tools that can help:
Use task-focused feedback. Task-focused feedback focuses the conversation on a product, process, or strategy instead of making it personal. Self-focused feedback targets someone’s traits, personality, and self-worth. Task-focused feedback works better because it separates the person from the issue and creates room for learning.
Be a coach. When you act as a coach, your goal is to help someone become a better version of themselves. That is different from being a critic, who focuses on mistakes and attacks the person, or a cheerleader, who only focuses on positives and applauds the best version of them. A coach offers advice for next time, supports improvement, points out what to continue doing and what to correct.
Communicate the why. Explaining the why gives feedback more context and clarity. It helps people understand the impact of their actions and connects the feedback to bigger goals. When you explain why something matters, it becomes more meaningful and more likely to stick.
Tools for Receiving Feedback
When you receive feedback, staying calm, professional, and non-defensive helps. That means no shouting, rolling your eyes, getting aggressive, or responding with attitude. Here are three tools to help you:
Shift your perspective. One of the most important mindset shifts is recognizing that feedback is not failure, but information. Instead of taking feedback as a personal attack, you can choose to view it as a growth opportunity. That shift can make it easier to hear what is actually being said without becoming defensive.
Process it. Receiving feedback well also means taking time to process it. Janel encouraged attendees to be kind to themselves, use positive self-talk, ask themselves why the feedback feels difficult, and identify emotional triggers. This also gives you time to respond thoughtfully rather than reacting in the moment.
Take control. Even when feedback is not delivered well, you still have some control over what you let in and what you do next. You can soak it all up like a sponge and hold onto it, or you can be a strainer by looking at the feedback, taking what is useful, and moving forward.
Key Takeaways for School Nutrition Teams
- Feedback is part of everyday work in school nutrition, from quick check-ins to more serious conversations.
- Feedback does not have to be something your team worries about. It can be a tool for growth and improvement.
- The way you give feedback matters, and a respectful approach can make it easier to hear and use.
- Keeping the focus on the work, not the person, helps make feedback more constructive.
- Explaining the why gives feedback more meaning and helps connect it to the bigger picture.
- Receiving feedback is a skill too, and it takes practice to process it calmly and respond well.
- When you shift your perspective, feedback can help strengthen communication and support your team as a whole.
Watch the Gift of Feedback webinar and access the resources here!