Four Frameworks Give Feedback that Builds Trust and Respect
Feedback is Vital
This month, we’re exploring feedback frameworks. I’ll cover what feedback is, why leaders should be giving feedback throughout the year, and how to create a feedback agreement so it can be received in the manner it is given. I’ve succeeded in using various frameworks depending on the person receiving the feedback and the topic covered. At the end of this newsletter, I’ll detail four frameworks every leader can use to provide timely feedback in a kind and helpful manner.
What is feedback?
Feedback is information about how one person perceives another.
Whether it’s about their performance, behaviour, or understanding of a situation, it is a response to a specific action or event. The intention should be to guide future behaviour, improve skills, correct mistakes, or reinforce positive actions.
There are five types of feedback: positive, constructive, informal, formal, and negative. Positive and constructive feedback should be the bedrock of your feedback strategy. Positive feedback reinforces and encourages the behaviours you want to see more of. Leaders often overlook it, so you can stand out by focusing on it. Constructive feedback offers guidance and builds upon existing behaviours so the receivers can become more successful than they already are.
Informal feedback is spontaneous, verbal, and in the moment, while formal feedback is built upon structures like those we’ll review later. Be careful with informal feedback, and perhaps avoid it until you are familiar with crafting formal feedback statements.
Avoid negative feedback that points out the receiver’s flaws and offers nothing to help them improve.
Feedback is one of the best ways for leaders to encourage open communication and continuous improvement.
Unfortunately, feedback is often given in a manner that prevents the other person from using it. Feedback should be a gift you give, not punishment in disguise.
Make your feedback specific and address particular actions or behaviours rather than vague statements that avoid giving a tangible example to consider. Give it as soon as possible so the information is relevant and actionable. Feedback needs to contain clear guidance on improving or maintaining performance. It needs to include strengths with areas for development so the perspective is more readily received. Feedback should be delivered supportively, focusing on improvement rather than criticism.
With these components, leaders can use feedback to support individual development and work towards achieving organisational goals. Missing any of these can make it appear you are looking to blame rather than support your team members.
Feedback can be a win-win situation, and you should aim for it to be so.
Why should leaders give feedback?
Let’s forget that it’s a key leadership responsibility.
Giving feedback to your team members benefits you as their leader, the rest of the team, and the wider organisation. It helps individuals understand what they are doing well and where to make changes.
Positive feedback can boost morale and motivation, while constructive feedback can inspire improvement. Feedback is essential for learning, as it helps individuals understand their progress and adapt accordingly. It also ensures that individuals are aware of their responsibilities and the expectations placed upon them. Through this awareness, individuals can grow by concentrating on key areas for development. Leaders can ensure that desirable behaviours are not lost by affirming and encouraging positive and effective ones.
This guidance is essential for personal and professional growth. Regular, honest feedback creates a culture of transparency.
Trust is built when team members feel their leader is invested in their success.
When leaders provide constructive feedback, they help their team members understand their strengths and areas for improvement.
Timely feedback can reinforce positive behaviours or course-correct problematic ones, leading to higher team performance. It ensures that everyone is aligned with the organisation’s goals and standards.
By regularly providing feedback, leaders set the tone for continuous learning and development within the team. Leaders who give feedback help clarify expectations and provide guidance that can lead to better decision-making when direct communication with senior decision-makers is unavailable. Constructive feedback can strengthen relationships by showing that the leader cares about the individual’s success and is willing to invest time in their development. Regular feedback ensures that team members are held accountable for their actions and understand the consequences of their work. Without feedback, people talk behind each other’s backs and behave passive-aggressively towards their teammates.
The continuous exchange of feedback is a powerful tool for creating an environment of trust, growth, and high performance within any organisation. It’s a cycle that benefits leaders and their teams, leading to mutual respect and a shared commitment to success.
High quality, regular feedback is a crucial behaviour of leaders everyone loves.
When should leaders give feedback?
The wrong answer is once a year when it’s time for annual reviews.
The answer for most people probably isn’t as frequent as once a week either, though. Unfortunately, the answer is, “It depends.”
Feedback will be needed more frequently, perhaps even daily, when working with a new hire. A team member who has been in the organisation and on the team for a significant period may only need feedback during one-to-ones. Individuals working towards a promotion or career change might invite more feedback to help accelerate their development. Sometimes events outside of work cause people to struggle to maintain the expected balance between work and their personal lives, and they may require guidance to achieve that balance again. There are as many occurrences to give feedback as there are people to receive it.
Your role as team leader is to support team members through good times and bad to ensure they can continue to deliver customer value. Feedback is an excellent medium for you to nudge others.
We all need the support of our leaders to succeed at work, so find a cadence with each team member that allows you to support each person’s unique needs.
Creating an agreement about giving feedback
It’s beneficial to co-create a formal agreement when developing a relationship with someone to whom you will regularly give feedback.
During the creation of this agreement, you’ll try to understand each party's expectations and how you’ll handle any potential conflict that may occur. This will help reduce the likelihood of misunderstandings, as there is a shared context for why feedback is being given. Explicitly discussing with your team member how and when to give feedback and the intention of giving feedback will help build a more trusting relationship.
This will help ensure that feedback is delivered and received constructively, aiming to promote growth rather than create conflict.
The most important part of the discussion should be how to ask permission to give feedback and the guarantee permission can be granted or refused on each occasion.
You must give your team members the time and space they need to receive the feedback you offer. If they refuse to accept it, that is more than okay.
As a leader, you need to be able to handle your team members refusing to accept your offer of feedback. If they don’t want to receive the feedback, you need to hold your own thoughts and feelings and not take it personally. On many occasions, when people refuse feedback, they have strong feelings about the situation they are already reflecting upon and need time to process their own thoughts before they can accept feedback from others. When you offer feedback to others, treat it as a gift you bought impulsively. You think the other person will like it, but you’re happy to keep it in your own house if they don’t.
You should also offer them the space to return to you later for feedback if they choose. Most people just need time to pass, for emotions to settle, and for their nervous systems to regulate.
A feedback agreement is as much about letting others know it’s okay not to receive feedback as it is about the details of how to give feedback.
You must commit within the agreement that your feedback will be confidential.
If you want or need to share your thoughts about the team member with someone else, you should first detail what you plan to share and with whom. When personal details are involved, you must ask for explicit permission to share them.
For instance, if you have feedback about one team member's impact on someone from another team, you may need to share this with another team leader. When co-creating your feedback agreement, highlight the potential of this and other scenarios that may result in giving details to other people. The two of you should create a protocol to process such a need. In this example, you may decide that the leader needs to tell the team member there will be a conversation about a scenario, that the leader will share that feedback was given, and that you will allow the team member the opportunity to influence what level of detail is appropriate to share. You will not be able to predict all scenarios where feedback cannot remain confidential, so it is sensible to create a generic process that allows the team member to understand and feed into any necessary breach of confidentiality.
Above all, team members want to understand that when their leaders give them feedback, it will mostly remain between the two parties. When there is a need to share the feedback, the team member should be the first to know the feedback is to be shared rather than hear about it afterwards (potentially from a third party).
This is a matter of trust and psychological safety.
There is a potential for a dispute or conflict to arise from the feedback given.
Even with the best will in the world, bias can creep in or appear to do so. Your team member may not believe that the feedback they’ve received is deserved.
Feedback can be a highly subjective act. Therefore, one of the considerations to be included in the agreement is a protocol for dispute resolution. Include two or three levels that allow you to process a mild disagreement differently from a complete breakdown in communication. Feedback can (and perhaps should) be the starting point for a discussion about a scenario. During this discussion, both parties should agree to be as dispassionate as possible, though this can be easier said than done at times.
Having a safe word that allows either party to walk away from the conversation for a short period to regain control can help prevent escalation. However, if communication completely breaks down, both parties should understand that bringing in a third party may be necessary to mediate the discussion.
Considering worst-case scenarios during the agreement stage makes it more likely that such a serious relationship breakdown will not occur.
Write a draft that outlines the purpose of the agreement, the parties involved, and the specific guidelines for giving and receiving feedback.
Include sections on confidentiality, frequency, and dispute resolution. Give all parties involved time to review and suggest any changes they would like, revising the agreement to ensure it’s mutually acceptable.
Once you are both happy with the agreement, finalise it by both signing a copy for each other. This formalises the commitment to follow the agreed-upon guidelines and will help put your team member at ease that you’re serious about upholding your joint decisions. Putting the agreement into practice may be difficult, but doing so will highlight your integrity, build trust with your team member, and build your reputation throughout the organisation. Regularly review the agreement’s effectiveness with your team member and make any necessary adjustments. Book time on both your calendars at least once a quarter to review the agreement to ensure it gets done.
Feedback processes need to evolve as relationships and dynamics change. As with everything, we must continue to inspect and adapt to ensure we’re doing the best possible with our current understanding.
Working agreements are foundational for team leaders everyone loves.
How should leaders give feedback?
When feedback is given inexpertly, it can be painful for all involved.
The key to giving good feedback is to consider how and why you are giving it before you do so. When you need to start giving feedback, you should have already considered and formalised these in your feedback agreement. Feedback should be primarily to benefit the person receiving it.
The benefits others or the organisation receive should result from the team member’s self-improvement journey, which your feedback can accelerate. Frame the feedback within the context of what you experienced and how you would like it to be next time. Feedback is crucial for personal and professional development. But it requires a gentle approach. Improvement is built upon solid foundations, not a scorched earth. The frameworks below can provide a way for leaders to ensure the feedback builds up their team members.
We want feedback to be as specific, objective, constructive, and timely as possible and delivered with the utmost respect. This gives leaders the greatest opportunity to influence individuals while maintaining a positive relationship.
Leaders who everyone loves support their team members to be the best possible versions of themselves.
Frameworks
SBI (Situation-Behaviour-Impact) Model
This is one of the most basic feedback models, often the one people are taught first.
I like to use this one in the moment. Due to its simplicity, I can quickly think through the verbal feedback I want to give someone in the moment. I’ll take the team member to the side and discretely provide them with the feedback.
This works well for small things, such as reminding someone to be polite and respectful with their language.
Situation: Describe the specific situation where the behaviour occurred.
Behaviour: Detail the observable behaviour without judgment.
Impact: Explain the effect of the behaviour on you, others, or the organisation.
Example (Strength): "During that conversation (Situation), you thanked the person for their contribution (Behaviour), which relieved potential tensions and gave permission for future contributions."
Example (Area for Development): "During the meeting (Situation), you interrupted (Behaviour) multiple times, which disrupted the flow of discussion (Impact)."
AID (Action-Impact-Development) Model
This slight variation to SBI builds in advice for improving next time.
I like using this for positive feedback when I have suggestions on improving something already going well. I often find it easier to build upon successes than correct dysfunctions. Focusing on behaviours you want to see more of can squeeze out the more problematic behaviours.
Give yourself time to consider the tone of your advice, and aim to be explicit and compassionate.
Action: Describe the specific action or behaviour.
Impact: Explain the effect of the behaviour on the team, project, or individual.
Development: Suggest areas for improvement or development.
Example (Strength): "Your thorough analysis of the report (Action) provided valuable insights (Impact). Next time, consider presenting your findings in a more accessible format (Development)."
Example (Area for Development): "When you emailed the team (Action) you provided a list of actions without assigning ownership(Impact). Next time, try asking for volunteers to own items (Development)."
DESC (Describe-Express-Specify-Consequences) Model
This has great potential for mentoring relationships or when a leader supports a team member in a career development goal.
It quickly moves from objectively setting out the situation to a subjective interpretation of your thoughts and feelings. Once you’ve overviewed your perspective, specify how you would like it to be in the future and the impact (consequences) you imagine this will create.
This is much more directive than your advice in AID and should be approached with greater sensitivity. It is instruction for what to do next. It is management. Try to keep your suggestion dispassionate and judgment-free. This is not an opportunity to be passive-aggressive, such as using your suggestion to attack your team members because they didn’t do it as you would have wanted.
Use this framework to set clear expectations for team members' future performance and what you expect to happen. Use it in conjunction with development goals to help support their continual improvement.
By providing clear, actionable feedback, you create a path for growth that is both supportive and constructive, allowing team members to confidently take ownership of their progress.
Describe: Start by describing the situation or behaviour objectively.
Express: Express your feelings or thoughts about the situation.
Specify: Specify what you would like to happen next.
Consequences: Explain the positive or negative consequences of the behaviour.
Example (Strength): "When you were working in a group (Describe) you were supportive of other’s contributions and built upon their input (Express). To improve this, you could explicitly thank someone after they’ve contributed (Specify). This will allow the other person to become consciously aware of your support and encourage them to engage more (Consequences)."
Example (Area for Development): "When you work alone (Describe), it creates a silo of knowledge within the team that concerns me about the future stability of the team (Express). I'd appreciate it if you could work more closely with other team members on each work item (Specify). This will help us spread knowledge and understanding across the team and help catch errors earlier (Consequences)."
BOOST (Balanced-Observed-Objective-Specific-Timely) Model
If nothing else, I like the name of this one!
So many frameworks unintentionally anchor me towards negative feedback, and I like that this one makes me think happy thoughts by association. I like to use this framework when I’m intentionally observing someone to assess their performance and give feedback immediately afterwards.
Unlike some of the earlier models, this doesn’t give a formulaic structure to build your prose. Instead, it guides you about the criteria you need to consider. I think it works particularly well for public speaking or facilitation feedback. I’ll sit discretely and note the good and bad I’ve observed from the performance. I aim to note what I saw them do, how I saw their audience respond, how I think they intended the audience to respond, and – if there’s a disparity – offer a potential strategy to reduce the gap.
Once you’ve become proficient in giving constructive feedback using simpler frameworks to structure your message, this can help you remember all the good stuff you’ve learned without strict constraints. Remember to be mindful of your tone when you stray away from the more extremely structured models.
It doesn’t matter what the intention of feedback is if it’s delivered in a way that distances the person you’re trying to help.
Balanced: Provide a balanced view by including strengths and improvement areas.
Observed: Base feedback on what you have directly observed.
Objective: Keep the feedback objective and fact-based.
Specific: Be specific about the behaviour and its impact.
Timely: Give feedback as close to the event as possible.
Example (Strength): "During the meeting you facilitated, you were confident in your instructions and disappeared into the background when not needed (Balanced). You guided participants through each step separately (Observed and Objective). Your direction and placement helped participants to understand what they needed to do and when (Specific)."
Example (Area for Development): "Your presentation contained fascinating information that is useful to your target audience (Balanced). I noticed the audience was confused after this point (Observed and Objective). A narrative that threads the points together would make it easier to follow and keep your audience engaged (Specific)."