Importance of Feedback

  • Keeps everyone on track
  • Helps avoid major mistakes
  • Form better relationships
  • Motivates people
  • Promotes personal & professional growth by establishing a Growth Mindset
  • Enables a friendly work environment
  • Enables leaders to set the standard
  • Instills trust amongst the team

Feedback conversations are the core of personal and professional growth for our team members and ourselves. According to research conducted by TruQu:

  • Constructive and timely feedback can improve performance up to 39%
  • When people receive appreciative feedback or recognition, they are 69% more motivated to deliver high performance
  • 4/10 employees are actively disengaged when they get little or no feedback
  • When we engage in and document feedback more frequently, we reduce the anxiety of feedback and reduce the potential for “surprises”

Types of Feedback

Feedback can come in the form of “praise” for things team members do well, and in the form of “tips” or “advice” pertaining to improvement areas. In Roivant IT, we encourage both types of feedback, interal and external to IT, on a regular basis!

Guidance on Giving and Receiving Feedback

Any time we give feedback to a teammate, it should always be:

  • Actionable - About something the recipient’s actions, not their self.
  • Specific - Clear and unambiguous as to what we’re giving feedback on (see: the SBI model)
  • Kind - Offered from a place of empathy with an intent to help. Kind does not always mean “nice”

As with all communications between teammates, assume positive intent and remember people are not their work

Feedback on Improvement Areas

Feedback on improvement areas can sometimes feel like this:

megaphone megaphone

Fear and Holding Back

Giving feedback can be a scary process which makes it hard to do. This is because there are fears of damaging the relationship, being wrong, losing face or hurting the person. Holding back on providing feedback because you feel it isn’t your place (if you are a peer) or believing it won’t make a difference are also some reasons why we hold back. The consequences of holding back can have a significant impact to GitLab’s culture. Patrick Lencioni, in his book The Five Dysfunctions of a Team (2002) cites the following five consequences:

  • Inattention to Results
  • Avoidance of Accountability
  • Lack of Commitment
  • Fear of Conflict
  • Absence of Trust

Embracing Feedback

“In teamwork, silence isn’t golden, it’s deadly.“ ~Mark Sanborn

The habit of seeking feedback may not be easy to develop, but failing to seek honest input from your team can lead to reduced psychological safety, loss of trust, the deterioration of relationships, and ultimately disengagement. The impact on the performance and well-being of your team carries a heavy price. In this video, Dr. Jeb Hurley, Co-founder of Xmetryx, takes a look at why some leaders choose to avoid feedback, even when they have ample evidence that shows its benefits. He discusses why, if you want to play like a champion, you must become hungry for feedback and learn to give it as well as receive it wisely.

For additional reading, here’s an article on how Brain Science is Turning Feedback Inside-Out

Elements of Getting it Right

Feedback Image Feedback Image

Radical Candor™

“Radical Candor™ just means Care Personally AND Challenge Directly. Why does something so simple feel radical?” Source. There is a video below from Kim Malone Scott titled Radical Candor-The Surprising Secret to being a good Boss which explains this crucial element of getting feedback right.

Radical Candor can be applied to giving constructive feedback:

What Comes First, Honesty or Trust?

For many, it is more comfortable to give feedback to, and receive feedback from, those with whom you have already established trust. Somehow, the trust makes it easier to assume good intent and to be boldly honest with each other. Often, however, we need to provide feedback benefiting from trust before that trust has been earned.

  • Task based trust before relationship/behavior based trust: While earning trust, it is more comfortable to give and receive task based feedback. It is easier to tell someone that there is a typo in something they have written than to tell someone their leadership is ineffective because they micromanage, for example. However, it can be surprising to realize how giving feedback can build trust. Sometimes, starting with the task based feedback can lead to more transformational behavior feedback.
  • Building Trust: Building trust on teams can be difficult but deserves attention and focus. Many of the suggestions in the handbook around team communication help with this. As a team, reading The Advantage will provide you with some helpful hints for discussions you can have together to build trust.
  • Candidness Builds Trust: Believe it or not, being candid with someone can actually build trust. Don’t you get a little frustrated when returning home from a social engagement only to realize that you have a strawberry seed in your teeth. Why didn’t anyone tell you? The same is true at work. When someone is willing to give you feedback that helps you be more effective, you can begin to trust that person more. You know they are willing to be honest with you, even when there is no direct advantage to them for doing so. Most would certainly trust that person more than the person who says it behind their back instead. Let’s be honest with each other.

Hard Conversations

It is inevitable that at some point difficult feedback will need to be given. This type of feedback is actually extremely valuable if delivered correctly. Another important factor is to consider the individual and be prepared for how they might react. You may receive one or a combination of the following responses:

  • Attack Mode: defensiveness, anger
  • Silent Fuming
  • Speaking openly, honestly and effectively

The last point is what we want everyone to be able to do. The best way to ensure you deliver feedback is to be prepared. You can do this by asking yourself some questions beforehand. These will help you to balance heart and mind, such as:

  • What do I really want for myself?
  • What do I really want for the other(s)?
  • What do I really want for the relationship?
  • How would I behave if I really wanted these results?

Preparing to Give Candid Feedback

Consider:

  • Root Cause: What are the behaviors I’ve experienced? What is the core issue? What would improve the relationship between you and the other person/ team?
  • Impact: What is the effect/impact of the behaviors on you/others (positive or negative)? How is the behavior not aligned with GitLab’s values? Cost/benefits to the person or team?
  • Suggestions/Actions: What do you want the person(s) to do differently; what actions could they take?
  • Communication Styles/Culture Map: Could the individual’s background affect the way they prefer to receive feedback? Reading The Culture Map can help you understand the communication and feedback styles of different countries. Something very useful at GitLab.

Guidelines for Delivering Feedback

  1. Have positive intent
    • If you have the intent to hurt someone and not to help them, reconsider giving the feedback.
    • Harsh feedback does not help people thrive and excel.
  2. Use Radical Candor™
    • Care Personally AND Challenge Directly
  3. Make it a frequent event and do it in real time
    • Don’t wait until performance reviews to deliver
  4. Avoid using absolutes
    • For Example: “You always.” “You never show up to meetings on time.”)
  5. Feedback should be both positive and constructive
    • It is recommended to use a 4:1 ratio of positive to constructive
  6. Use the Situation-Behavior-Impact (S-B-I) Model
  7. Allow the feedback receiver time to reflect

All Feedback

The following suggestions, considerations, and models can be applied and used as a guideline when providing both positive feedback and feedback on improvement areas. Recognition is also an essential element of feedback.

S-B-I Model

The Situation-Behavior-Impact (S-B-I) Model helps structure feedback in a manner that makes it easily understandable.

Situation - Define the when and where by anchoring in time and place.

Behavior - Describe the observable behavior and how it was applied.

Impact - Describe how the other person’s action affected you or others experiences and thinking.

Cross-Cultural Feedback Considerations

Invest time in learning about how to most effectively communicate feedback to team members. One of the interesting things about thanking people is that culturally and personally some people prefer more or less public thanks. We should get to know our team members well enough to understand how best to share positive feedback. GitLab has team members from many different cultures and backgrounds. Everyone responds to things differently. You may need to adapt your tone and style according to the individual and the relationship you have with them. Some things to think about are:

  • Do you need to build relationship before candor is comfortable?
  • Consider comfort with direct vs indirect feedback
  • Is their communication generally explicit or implicit?
  • Influence of hierarchy in direct feedback?

Documenting Feedback

Why it’s important to document:

  • Ensures both giver and receiver are on the same page; No Surprises!
  • Provides focus and helps track progress
  • Lays the ground for self reflections and performance discussions
  • Supports decision making

Where to document:

  • In 1:1 meeting agendas
  • Culture Amp
  • Performance evaluation tool
  • Thanks Slack channel

Live Learning Session on Delivering Feedback

On 2020-06-08 we held three Live Learning sessions to cover how to deliver feedback effectively using the guidelines above. This recording is from the second session and includes content as well as a Q&A portion. The content in the video below follows along with this slide deck and meeting agenda. We also used Mentimeter during the sessions to ask the attendees questions. Team members can view the Mentimeter results.

Receiving Feedback

Receiving feedback well is an important skill to have not just at work, but in life in general. Receiving constructive and even positive feedback can be difficult. Our brains want to protect us from any potential dangers, and receiving feedback can be perceived by the brain as a physical threat. We have outlined some guidelines and tips to help with this.

Guidelines for Receiving Feedback

  1. Assume positive intent
    • This is likely uncomfortable for the feedback giver as well
  2. Be an active listener
    • This is hard because our brains want us to run away
    • Slow down and really take the time to listen to what the other person is saying so you can reflect on it
  3. Be respectful
    • Give them your full attention
  4. Ask questions
    • It’s okay to take time to reflect on it and then come back with questions at a later time
  5. Show appreciation
    • Say thank you and mean it
  6. Reflect on the feedback
    • Take time to reflect on what you have heard and then think about the action
    • Pitfall: Over-engineering or overdoing the response
  7. Make a decision
    • What are the most impactful actions you can take - prioritize
    • Who has what responsibility in follow up (i.e. giver/receiver)? Both.

Modeling a Culture of Feedback Manager Competency

In an all-remote organization, Managers model a culture of feedback that promotes ongoing feedback that happens throughout the year. Feedback does not have to wait until performance evaluations, it can happen anytime and in real-time. Managers can develop their people through positive and constructive forms of feedback.

Skills and behavior of the modeling a culture of feedback manager competency:

  • Solicits and is open to feedback
  • Promotes a culture of ongoing feedback that occurs any time of year and is done in real-time
  • Creates a welcoming environment for feedback and enables team members to value open discussions and debates where they continually learn from one another
  • Turns challenges into learning opportunities
  • Champions a team environment where feedback occurs all the time and is not done one or twice a year during performance review cycles

Live Learning Session on Receiving Feedback

On 2020-02-25 we held three Live Learning sessions to cover how to receive feedback effectively using the guidelines above. This recording is from the first session and includes content as well as a Q&A portion. The content follows along with this slide deck, and the Q&A follows along with this meeting agenda.

Recognition

While not always immediately thought of as a form of feedback, recognition is one of the most essential forms of providing feedback in the workplace.

How To Recognize Team Members

When giving credit to team members, it is important to be precise about both their accomplishment and the impact of their accomplishment. Please review the example below:

General Feedback:

“Thank you First Last for helping to troubleshoot sessions on XYZ tickets so we could resolve them inside SLO.”

Precise Feedback That Includes impact:

“Thank you First Last for helping to troubleshoot sessions on XYZ tickets so we could resolve them inside SLO. This really helps to make customers happier with our solutions and also helped our team to learn how to resolve things like this faster in the future.”

What is “Recognition” Worthy?

“What is worthy of recognition?” is a question we sometimes ask ourselves. The table below illustrates a few examples of recognition reasons and forms in which we can recognize each other synchronously and asynchronously.

What should team members be recognized for? Async Recognition Examples Sync Recognition Examples
If I hear or see any team member within or outside of my immediate team, excelling with respect to CREDIT Thank You Channel or another Slack Channel (Send followup email, cc’ing their manager. Emails are more permanent than Slack. Also, managers can use this feedback when evaluating their team members towards the end of the year), Comment in a related issue (cc’ing their manager), Add highlights section to weekly team meetings, Add high-fives section to retrospectives Sync Team Meeting, Skip Level Meetings
If a team member has gone through a significant challenge but remained transparent in explaining those challenges Slack Private DM Sync 1-1
If a team member(s) completes a high impact Epic / Issue either quickly or that they worked on over multiple releases. Team Slack Channel, Feature Slack Channel, Comment in the related Epic / Issue, Add highlights section to weekly team meetings, Add high-fives section to retrospectives Sync 1-1, Sync Weekly Team Meetings, Skip Level Meetings
If a team member has recently undergone a reorganization. Truth be told, these reorganizations create stronger, super team members :wink: with a breadth of knowledge across the codebase and does have some positive impact. This deserves a thank you for being agile and flexible for GitLab and for all of their contributions and accomplishments from their original team Slack Private DMs, Team Slack Channels, Feature Slack Channels Weekly Team Meetings, Skip Level Meetings
Any impactful Security / Quality achievement Team Slack Channels, Feature Slack Channels, Add highlights section to weekly team meetings, Add high-fives section to retrospectives Weekly Team Meetings, Skip Level Meetings
Engagement with a Community Contributor on a very large MR Team Slack Channels, Add highlights section to weekly team meetings, Add high-fives section to retrospectives Weekly Team Meetings, Skip Level Meetings

Giving Recognition In Skip Level Meetings

FIXME: skip levels page At least quarterly, team members attend [Skip Level](Skip Levels) Meetings. It is recommended that some preparation be done prior to this meeting to learn about the communication style and personality of the team members attending. Skip Level Meetings provide a great opportunity to congratulate team members on their accomplishments and to personally thank them for their work.

Where to Give Recognition

Recognition can be given in a variety of forums:

  • Post a message in the #thanks channel for team member recognition
  • Share an update of the team member(s) recognition during the next team meeting
  • Highlight the recognition of the team members during a group conversation with the broader organization
  • Showcase the recognition during an e-group meeting to executives
  • Managers can also recognize team members during 1-1 meetings

Beware Of Saying “Thank You” Too Much

Take a moment to identify situations in which you or your team are saying “Thank You” to the same person or team too often. Recognition is essential, but if it becomes very frequent, it can start to be perceived as less sincere. If the same team member or team is going above and beyond their job responsibility on a regular basis, the best way to say thank you is to recognize this pattern of overachievement.

Further Information

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