What is Feedback?
feedback | ˈfiːdbak | noun [mass noun]
- information about reactions to a product, a person's performance of a task, etc. which is used as a basis for improvement.
Feedback is the vehicle used to drive improvement in us and others. The goal of this article is to make sure we hold ourselves accountable for improving our listening skills, as well as giving feedback effectively.
Giving Feedback
Feedback should be about behaviour not personality
Probably the most important rule of feedback is: You are only commenting on how they behaved.
Feedback should be as specific as possible
Think about specific occasions, and specific behaviour, and point to exactly what the person did, and exactly how it made you feel.
Feedback should be timely
If you have feedback to give, then just get on and give it while everyone can still remember what happened. You still need to think about what you’re going to say and how, though.
TIP: Use the SITUATION -> BEHAVIOUR -> IMPACT format. e.g. "Earlier today at the coffee shop you said I'm not doing my best at [x], it made me feel like you dismissed all of my effort in [y]"
Good
- "When you do [x], it makes me feel [y]"
- "Have you considered doing [x]? What was the outcome? How did you measure success/failure?"
- "I really like the way you did [x], it feels like [y]"
Bad
- "You always do [x], you don't care about [y]"
- "You should probably just do [x], that's obvious [y]"
Receiving Feedback
Listen to the feedback given
This means not interrupting. Hear the person out, and listen to what they are really saying, not what you assume they will say.
Be aware of your responses
Your body language and tone of voice matters. If you look distracted and bored, that sends a negative message, or when you look away while people are talking.
e.g. when you followup with multiple "yep, yep, yep" while they're still talking, it feels like "ok, I'm done listening to you".
Be open
Be receptive to new ideas and different opinions. Often, there is more than one way of doing something and others may have a completely different viewpoint on a given topic. You may learn something new.
TL;DR – Code Reviews
Lightning Talk — An Effective Code Review — Donavon West
Why: Code reviews can be daunting and frustrating for the individual being reviewed, but the same can be said for the reviewer. A poor review could undermine the trust and open communication of the team. This lightning talk gives five tips on how to perform an effective review without sounding rude and to achieve the best possible result for the reviewed, reviewer, and the rest of the team.
Lightning Talk - An Effective Code Review - Donavon West - React Conf 2018
Resources, Books & References:
