Feedback is an essential part of system development, as it helps you and your team improve your skills, solve problems, and deliver quality products. However, giving feedback can be challenging, especially when you have to balance honesty, clarity, and respect. How can you do it effectively? Here are some tips to help you.
Before you share your feedback with your team, make sure you have a clear purpose and goal. What do you want to achieve with your feedback? How will it help your team grow and learn? Also, gather enough evidence and examples to support your feedback. Avoid vague or subjective statements that can be misinterpreted or dismissed. Use data, metrics, code reviews, testing results, or user feedback to back up your feedback.
Timing and context are important factors for effective feedback. Don't wait too long to give feedback, as it may lose its relevance or impact. However, don't rush to give feedback when emotions are high or the situation is tense. Choose a time when you and your team are calm, focused, and open to feedback. Also, consider the best place to give feedback. Depending on the nature and sensitivity of the feedback, you may want to do it in private or in a group setting. If you do it in a group, make sure everyone feels comfortable and safe to share their opinions and perspectives.
The sandwich method is a popular technique for giving feedback that involves sandwiching constructive criticism between positive comments. The idea is to start with something positive, then address the areas of improvement, and end with something positive again. This way, you can acknowledge the strengths and achievements of your team, while also pointing out the gaps and challenges. The sandwich method can help you avoid being too harsh or too soft with your feedback, and maintain a balanced and respectful tone.
One of the main goals of feedback is to help your team improve their performance and outcomes. Therefore, your feedback should be specific and actionable, meaning that it should clearly identify what needs to be changed and how to change it. Avoid general or vague feedback that can be confusing or demotivating. For example, instead of saying "Your code is messy", say "Your code needs more comments and consistent formatting". Also, provide concrete suggestions and examples on how to implement the changes. For example, instead of saying "You should test your code more", say "You should use pytest to automate your testing and increase your code coverage".
Feedback is not a one-way communication, but a two-way conversation. Therefore, you should encourage dialogue and feedback from your team, and listen to their responses and reactions. Ask open-ended questions, such as "How do you feel about this feedback?" or "What are the challenges or obstacles you face?" to elicit their thoughts and feelings. Also, invite them to share their own feedback, either on your work or on the feedback process. This way, you can create a culture of mutual learning and trust, and foster a collaborative and supportive environment.
Momento do Code Review é ótimo para praticar feedbacks, n?o só negativos. Elogiar código bem feito é uma das coisas mais legais de oferecer e receber.
A feedback should always aim at improving the current situation so that the end delivery is as per requirement rather than pin pointing. It should be collaborative and should aim for arriving at a single solution after one or more rounds of discussions. An individual should be taken in a positive way and not as a personal attack.