TheFeedbackWorkshop

Liz Keogh@lunivoreJuly 2011

Why should we give feedback?

Strengthen confidence

Increase effectiveness

What are bad reasonsfor giving feedback?

When should we give feedback?

Provide feedback quickly

Provide feedback safely

Provide feedback directly to the person concerned

What are alternativesto giving feedback?

Some examples

Praise

George is a fantastic developer. His OO design skills are amazing. His estimates are consistently bang-on. He’s fast, uses keyboard shortcuts effectively and his tests are well-named and legible. He takes ownership of problems and sees them through to the end. We need more people on the team like him!

- Joe

Improvement

George’s development skills are great. It would be fantastic if he could pass on some of that wisdom. I’d like to see him take on a leadership or training position. We need a tech lead here.

If he brushes up on his presentation and communication skills, I think he could do a good job.

- Sue

Abuse

George has good technical skills, but isn’t a good tech lead. He confuses people when he talks, and none of us know how to do the things he’s asking us to. George can also be really mean sometimes when we do things he doesn't like. He really upsets Alice. He’s far too idealistic and very patronizing. He goes on and on about how great Agile is until we’ve had enough. I’m not an idiot; I’m very experienced so he doesn’t need to teach me half the things he thinks we should be doing.

He also has no real grasp of how Agile works in an enterprise environment. Everything he comes up with is nice in theory but never works in practice. Everyone says I’d be much better at this than him.

- Harry

Making abuse effective

What are the good thingsabout the feedback?

What can you doto make it more effective?

All feedbackis

good feedback

RewordedGeorge, thanks for taking on the role of tech lead. You’re passionate about Agile, your technical skills are great and I’ve learnt a lot from you.

A few times, I’ve struggled to understand what you said. For instance, when you were talking about performance testing, I was confused - it wasn’t obvious whether we were meeting our targets or not. I saw other people frowning too. Could you maybe slow down, draw some diagrams, or give us time to ask questions? That would help me.

Like many of the team, I'm still learning. I'd really like to be able to do the Agile practices well. I would love you to support the people like me, and help us to improve without taking on everything all at once.

- Harry

Feedback Guidelines

Give feedback directlyto the person concerned

George, thanks for taking on the role of tech lead. You’re passionate about Agile, your

technical skills are great and I’ve learnt a lot from you.

Anchor the things you value

George, thanks for taking on the role of tech lead.

Provide examples

A few times, I’ve struggled to understand what you said. For instance…

Talk about what you see, hear

I saw other people frowning too.

Talk about the impact on you

I was confused.

Make suggestions

Could you maybe slow down, draw some diagrams, or give us time to ask questions?

Ask for help

That would help me.

Put unwanted behaviorin the past tense

A few times, I’ve struggled to understand what you said.

End with the bright future,in the present tense

Support the people like me, and help us improve

Avoid “but”

He’s ugly,but he’s rich!

Mum,he’s rich,

but he’s ugly!

Feedback Guidelines

Anchor the things you value.Provide examples.

Talk about the things you see, hear, etc.Talk about the impact on you.

Make suggestions.Ask for help.

Put unwanted behavior in the past tense.End with the bright future, in the present tense.

Avoid “but”.

All kinds of usefulHi Diane, I was wondering if you could help me. I want the project to be a success, and I also want to spend time with my family.

Last weekend I worked both Saturday and Sunday, and missed my baby son’s first words. Can you suggest any ways in which I can be more effective while still getting to see my children? For instance, could I take on some of the DB tasks, or automate some tests to cut down the test effort, or sit with George and teach him C#?

I want to be here to see the project go live, and I also want to be at home when my son takes his first steps! Any suggestions welcome.

- Joe

Three models of feedback

Porpoise feedback

Anchor the things you value.

Sandwich Model

Anchor the things you value.

Provide feedback to increase effectiveness.

End with a bright future.

Atkins (no bread!)

The value is already anchored.

The bright future is already understood.

Provide feedback to increase effectiveness.

Homework

Give me feedback!