In 2018 my team used Level Up: A tool for growing high-performing design teams to identify areas where we had the most need for growth and divide up action items among the team that would improve our ability to work together.
I volunteered to help us get to the next level in our ability to give and receive feedback. To do so, I researched feedback best practices and put together a one-page guide for our team. I was later invited by our Head of User Experience to present this information to our marketing team, which was facing similar challenges.
Effective feedback is essential to drive learning, excellence, and career growth, and making it a regular part of our work will nurture Scoop’s value of open, honest, and direct communication. Useful feedback is not praise or criticism, it’s a chance to share and gather information so that everyone can make better choices. Bring your most considerate self and positive energy to the table while maintaining honesty and seizing opportunities to give a good push. Be sure to spend time with your teammates to learn about their preferences for check-ins, communication style, and feedback.
Focus on goals
When requesting or providing feedback, include the project goals and focus feedback on whether goals are being met. By sharing what you’re trying to solve for, the underlying need can be met even if a specific solution doesn’t work out.
Be positive
Focusing on shortcomings impairs creativity and learning. To enable growth and truly great performance, identify and expand on successes.
Ask questions
Positioning feedback as a question leads to productive discussions and new learnings. Ask for more details. Assume you don’t know what’s already been tried. Promote a culture of inquiry, not criticism.
Limit asynchronous feedback
Lots of comments on a document or in a Slack channel can feel like an attack, regardless of intent or how they’re written. Prioritize and present the most important feedback or schedule a face-to-face meeting.
Aim to collaborate
Our work is not a competition or a compromise; we’re all on the same team. Build a shared responsibility for positive outcomes. Say “we” rather than “you” to focus feedback on the work, not the person. Give less senior employees opportunities to speak first so they can share honestly without disagreeing or interrupting.
Be specific
Let people know exactly what kind of feedback will and won’t be helpful at the current stage of your project. Make sure to also specify what they should be providing feedback on.
Be timely
Sharing feedback in a timely manner builds trust and lets co-workers know they can depend on each other. If a conversation feels sensitive, err on the side of a one-on-one chat.
Foster psychological safety
People on high-performing teams have the opportunity to speak candidly and be heard. They know they can present a minority viewpoint, ask naive questions, and fail openly without being shunned, and that other team members are rooting for them.
Learn about building psychological safety.
Ask for solutions
The people who are closest to a problem are the most likely to be able to sole it. Ask directly, “What do you think needs to happen here?”
Learn more about how to use motivational interviewing to solve problems with less friction.
Identify and expand on strengths
Constructive criticism can’t inspire excellence because it impairs motivation and learning. Unless the steps to do a job can be evaluated objectively, critical feedback is inaccurate, revealing more about the rater than the person being rated. We excel only when we focus on what’s working and cultivate it intelligently. Say this: “Here’s what worked best for me, and here’s why.”
Read more about the psychology of criticism.
