Giving Feedback
Performance reviews are once-a-year formal touch points during which managers evaluate and discuss job successes, challenges, and goals with their report. However, between those touch points, managers should be giving regular, reliable feedback.
Coachability is a defined performance expectation for every role and every level at the company. That means everyone is expected to receive feedback graciously, and everyone is expected to apply that feedback when necessary. As a leader, you’re expected to provide useful, actionable, well-considered feedback to your report and your more junior colleagues.
First, some definitions:
- Positive feedback recognizes and reinforces successful behaviors or actions.
- Negative feedback is sharing your thoughts about your report’s behavior in a disparaging way. Don’t do this!
- Constructive feedback uses observations and your own expert advice to steer your report towards improvement. Critical, yes, but also helpful.
This chapter is focused on techniques for giving constructive feedback. But in general, a combination of constructive feedback + positive feedback + continuous feedback throughout all levels and departments results in a healthy feedback culture, in which communication flows freely and with the end goal of improving individual and company performance.
There are three general areas where your report may need constructive feedback.
- Approach, or project management.
- Tactics, or the practical tasks necessary to execute their approach.
- Engagement, or how they show up to work.
Approach
Generally speaking, employees at 37signals enjoy a high degree of control over their own work and desired workflow. This value is ingrained in our company culture and one of the major perks of working here. Encourage your report to find their own way and devise their own strategy once they’ve been assigned a project. Avoid giving unnecessary feedback when their approach is solid and just different than the one you would take. When you start to monitor their preferred strategy for tackling projects or problems, you veer into micromanagement territory.
On the other hand, when your report’s approach is detrimental to team or individual productivity, work quality, team process, or team morale, it’s your duty to step in and provide specific and actionable feedback so they have the opportunity to correct.
When you notice work going off track, taking too long, or projects being mismanaged, speak up. Feedback is best when it’s given right when you see the need for it. Provide concrete examples, actionable suggestions, and approach the conversation with a collaborative mindset.
❌ “Something’s not right.”
✅ “By this point, I expected [specific progress or deliverable]. What needs to change to get this back on track by [deadline]?”
Tactics
Most often, you’ll be called on to provide feedback on your report’s daily work in PRs, to-dos, support or on-call cases, or by request when they have questions. When you’re giving feedback on tasks:
- Be clear and to the point. Name what you see and what needs to change. Be open to engaging in a conversation about how to accomplish the desired result.
- Don’t overload your report. Giving too much critique at once can demotivate.
- Avoid the “compliment sandwich”. Sandwiching constructive feedback in between positive feedback is usually inauthentic so use it sparingly, if ever.
- Offer suggestions. Don’t just complain that your report did something wrong. Help them understand what went wrong and why, and how to correct in the future.
❌ “Your tone in this case is all wrong.”
✅ “I saw this card come across my timeline. I’d have liked to see more investigation on your part before asking for help, and there should be more documentation to come out of cases like this. Here are some examples…”
Engagement
Sometimes you’ll have to manage engagement issues in your report. This often looks like an attitude problem, conflict with other employees, or unusual disengagement from their work or team relationships.
The same basic principles apply when giving feedback on someone’s engagement, but personality or behavioral issues require a more delicate touch. You should still be clear and to the point, and in engagement cases, also:
- Focus on the behaviors instead of the person. “People say you’ve been hard to work with lately.” is personal. “Your tone in PR feedback is unusually blunt lately [share examples]. Is something going on?” is better.
- Use specific examples. “You seem uninterested in your work lately” isn’t specific. “I noticed you haven’t spoken up in our team call for the past few weeks, and your check-ins aren’t as detailed as they usually are. Is something wrong?” is better.
- Avoid becoming a therapist. We’re all human and sometimes outside stress bleeds into how we show up to work. If you’ve built trust with your report, they’ll feel comfortable sharing what ails them and how it’s affecting their work. Be empathetic, but ultimately seek to redirect the conversation to their presence at work. Loop in People Ops if you feel unequipped to handle any personal problems that surface.
Lastly, don’t forget about positive feedback! Like recognition, noticing what your report is doing well and naming it and its impact is great for morale and encouraging the behaviors and great work you want to see.
Consider using AI to help you with your feedback for your report. Draft your talking points first and then ask AI to flag anything that sounds vague, focuses on the person rather than the behavior, or lacks specificity. You can feed this playbook document into AI, in fact, to give it context for the qualities expected of your manager feedback. Ask AI to react as if it is your report to see how your feedback might land. Think of it as a way to preview & test your talking points & ideas before the real conversation.