Giving Feedback Skill

Most feedback is useless because it's vague ("be more proactive"), judgemental ("you're careless"), or sandwiched into mush. Good feedback is specific, describes behaviour not character, names the impact, and makes the ask clear. This skill turns a fuzzy concern into feedback the person can actually act on — delivered with enough care that they hear it.

Required Inputs

Ask for these only if they aren't already provided:

• What happened — the specific situation and the observable behaviour (not your conclusion about them).
• The impact — what it caused (for the work, the team, the customer, you).
• Type — reinforcing (praise worth repeating) or constructive (change needed). Both deserve specificity.
• The relationship & context — report, peer, manager; and any relevant history.

Output Format

Feedback: [topic] for [who]