The 4 steps to give effective feedback

“We all need people who will give us feedback. That’s how we improve.”
– Bill Gates

Giving feedback is a very important skill everyone should learn and apply. Without people giving feedback, nobody can receive it.

Imagine you have a colleague Bob that helps you out every time you have a problem. Bob is very motivated and uplifts your mood every day. But sometimes you don’t really understand what Bob wants to tell you, because he talks about all the newest features of the most unknown JavaScript framework, but your problem had nothing to do with it.

You want to give Bob some feedback, that is helpful for both and doesn’t offend him.

1. Describe the situation or a concrete example (no judging allowed)
2. Explain the impact on you
3. Listen what the other side has to say
4. Give concrete suggestions to improve

The conversation could look like that:

• Bob, I really appreciate that you are so motivated and kind to help me out every time I have technical issues.
• Sometimes it is a bit overwhelming that you tell me so many details. So we loose the focus to the real problem. I don’t think this is effective and costs too much time.
• Bob: Oh… I didn’t know that I talk so much about the detailed stuff. Good that you told me.
• Maybe we should concentrate more on the original problem during the day. In the coffee breaks we can talk about the other things.
• Bob: Yeah, let’ do this!