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Short, everyday conversations to consistently provide constructive feedback. |
{% hint style="info" %} Frequency: 5 - 15 minutes right after the event {% endhint %}
Feedback conversations are a chance to give your colleagues healthy, honest feedback about their work or interactions. When done properly, they offer an opportunity for regular, consistent growth as well as a chance to establish deep, credible relationships. These short conversations, let you show your team members you care by offering constructive criticism or praise.
The only way to help your team improve is by telling them what they are doing correctly and how they can do more of it. Or, by telling them what they are doing that is ineffective and how they can avoid or do less of it.
People often save this kind of feedback for one-on-ones, which does not help because the context is lost or it is too late to do anything about. It is important to provide praise or criticism as close to the event as possible. Holding back comments causes resentment to build up that often comes to a boiling point and explodes. Also, it’s nice to compliment team members. At Obvious, constructive feedback is a way of life!
Use the following four steps to ensure that feedback is both objective and constructive.
Before providing feedback, verify that your understanding of the situation is correct by asking a question or two about what they were trying to accomplish. This ensures that the feedback is offered in the right context and that the person on the receiving end does not feel misunderstood. To do this effectively, use the Situation -> Behaviour -> Impact (SBI) model.
Example: When we met with the client this morning and she asked how our team would decide how we find candidates for the user studies (situation), you told her that we will not discuss that today and that it was not relevant to the conversation (behaviour). She stopped participating and cut short our proposal meeting (impact). She wanted a better understanding of our process, and she felt that her questions were not considered important. I would love to hear your take on the situation.
Now that you confirmed your evaluation, it’s time to let the other person talk. Genuinely listen to what they have to say.
Try the following tips to be successful in this step -
When seeking clarification, ask unemotional and non-judgemental questions. They should be about the work or idea, not about the person, and stick to the facts. Find out what they were trying to accomplish.
Talk less, listen more. Instead of thinking of a rebuttal when someone else presents their idea, actively listen to the speaker. Give your colleague time to think and answer. Try being comfortable with pockets of silence; they often help create a safe space for the speaker.
Once the context has been established and the other person has presented their take on the situation, now is the time to provide feedback. Think of guidance as a tool that helps, not a whip or a carrot. Offer genuine advice on how to continue the behaviour or make it better.
Try the following tips to be successful in this step -
When providing constructive criticism, trust that the person receiving it tried their best. If you receive feedback, believe that the person giving it is trying to help you.
Deliver critical feedback privately. Criticism can lose its constructive power when done publicly because some people become defensive, escalating the situation. On the other hand, appreciation gains exponential leverage when offered in public.
Obvious is filled with smart people, and we can all learn something from each other. Nearly every situation has positive aspects, so start there. Beginning a conversation with praise opens people up for receiving criticism, but ensure that your comments are genuine because people will see through it.
Radical Candor is a fantastic framework for providing honest and constructive feedback to colleagues. We recommend that you read the book or listen to the podcast. The framework relies on this simple idea: In order to provide clear and candid feedback to your colleagues that challenges them directly, you must first establish a deep sense of trust and show them that you care about them personally.
One-on-one meetings offer a solid opportunity to go up on the “Care Personally” axis with your colleagues. Once that is achieved, it’s easy to provide candid feedback because it helps people open up to being “Challenged Directly”.
After providing feedback, there is likely to be a discussion. For praise, the conversation will probably go smoothly and may simply be a “thank you”. Regarding constructive criticism, it is important to give the person time to absorb the information and ask for further clarification. Answer their questions with facts, not emotions.
Try the following tips to be successful in this step -
No matter how hard you try to depersonalise the feedback, it is personal for the person receiving it. Telling someone to “not take it personally” is similar to telling someone “not to be sad”. Using the words “works/doesn’t work” instead of “like/dislike” keeps the conversation focused on facts.
If you’re the one receiving criticism, genuinely listen to the advice. Distance yourself from your work and critique yourself objectively. If you find fault in what you’ve done, then you can improve it. Receiving criticism without letting it hurt you is a true skill that takes practice.
Telling people what to do, doesn’t work. Nobody likes to be told what to do. When giving feedback, only provide direction, not step-by-step navigation.
The premise of this common improv technique is to accept an idea as true and build on it. The goal is to refine ideas and gain clarity. Reserve judgement of others’ suggestions until you fully explore them. For example:
Person 1: I know this might sound crazy because we have an upcoming deadline, but running another user study before we make a final decision might provide the clarity we need.
Person 2: Yes, and then we can be sure that this feature is relevant for our users. Let’s talk to the product manager about pushing the deadline out a few days.
After a short but healthy discussion, the feedback could be complete, or you may decide to continue the conversation later. If you defer, set a clear time and commit to it. No matter how the conversation ends, leave on good terms. A simple “Thanks for listening!” goes a long way.
Try the following tips to be successful in this step -
These informal feedback conversations should be relatively short. If the discussion becomes heated or lengthy, it’s best to postpone the talks and discuss it later.
If you deferred the discussion, don’t spend time trying to bolster your case. Go into the meeting to listen and clarify.
The best way to provide constructive feedback, both positive and negative, is by putting your comments in context instead of being vague. For maximum effect, state the situation, the behaviour you liked/disliked, and how it impacted you. We call this the SBI model. Use it to offer sincere praise, or seek clarification before delivering critical feedback. Let’s look at two examples:
Vague: You did an excellent job with that client this morning!
SBI: During the meeting this morning when the client suggested changing the home-screen (situation), the approach you took to walk him through how the modifications would negatively affect users (behaviour) saved us from creating a poor user experience and also helped him understand how important it is to keep users in mind at all times (impact). Thanks for taking the time to walk him through it.
Vague: That client will never hire us thanks to you!
SBI: When we met with the client this morning and she asked how our team would decide how we find candidates for the user studies (situation), you told her that we will not discuss that today and that it was not relevant to the conversation (behaviour). She stopped participating and cut short our proposal meeting (impact). She wanted a better understanding of our process, and she felt that her questions were not considered important. I would love to hear your take on the situation.
In both these conversations, the SBI approach provides the one receiving the feedback with concrete information that allows them to either change their behaviour in the future or receive the compliment knowing that it is sincere.