Giving feedback frequently, as a natural part of your conversations with your team, enables you to proactively address issues before they become problems. Ideally, the vast majority of the feedback you give is positive, so when it comes time to request changes or adjustments, it’s just part of your ongoing dialogue about what is working well and where you want to try something new.
The one sentence feedback script is designed to help you give frequent feedback, naturally, and in a way that doesn’t seem contrived or critical. Here it is:
I noticed when [you did X] this happened [the positive or negative impact]. Or, I noticed [impact] when [you did X]. Here are some examples:
1. I noticed that when you started your presentation with a story, everyone seemed interested and engaged. They were all looking at you and seemed caught up in it.
2. I noticed that about twenty minutes into your presentation, people seemed to disengage. Some seemed distracted and were looking at phones or zoning out. I’m wondering if you could insert something at the 15 minute mark that might re-energize them, such as an interactive exercise?
3. I noticed that when you answered the phone you had all your forms ready to fill out, and it looked like you got all the information you needed the first time. That organized air about you leaves a good impression, and it saves time!
4. I noticed that when you answered the phone you didn’t have the forms in front of you and asked the questions from memory, jotting them down on paper. Then you found the form and discovered that you had missed a few questions and had to call the client back. I wonder if there’s a more efficient way for you to be ready to get all the information you need the first time?
5. I noticed you’ve been taking time to check in with your teammates and listen to what they are going through – I sense a more positive energy throughout the office – that genuine gesture of caring is contagious!
As you can see from the sentences above, you can add more information and switch words around but the formula is always consistent. A behavior and its impact are noticed, acknowledged, and either adjusted or re-enforced. The behavior doesn’t have to be big or momentous. Recognizing people for the little efforts they make each day shows them that those efforts are noticed and that they matter. They feel valued, their awareness of what works well increases, and that continues to build their positive work habits.
As a leader, challenging yourself to give positive feedback using this sentence at least 10 times per day, can quickly make a positive difference in your relationships with your team and improve their performance. It also gives you lots of positive feedback in the bank so that both you and your team feel more natural and comfortable when you ask that they try changing things to increase their effectiveness.
The other thing that this sentence can help with is keeping you on track with all four keys to giving effective feedback:
1. Mutual Purpose: As you continue to share the impact you are looking for, people get more and more clear on what the collective objectives are.
2. Behaviors versus Characteristics: The sentence is designed to have you noticing behaviors, not characteristics. It leads you to provide useful, tangible, behavioral feedback that is much more powerful than “Great job!” or “I really appreciate your attitude”
3. Neutral Energy: If you are giving feedback every day as a natural part of your conversation, then you will naturally have neutral energy as you are delivering the feedback, and issues won’t be building up long enough for you to get overly frustrated.
4. Clear Request: Although this one sentence script does not include a request, whenever you use it to provide negative feedback, I’d suggest that you add a sentence or question afterward that prompts you both to look for alternative behaviors. You’ll notice I did this in the examples above in items (2) and (4).
The practice of giving regular feedback is so powerful when it comes to performance coaching, that just putting in the effort to practice this one skill can exponentially improve your effectiveness as a leader. If you would like support or coaching around giving feedback, or have some particularly daunting conversations coming up, don’t hesitate to reach out – we’d love to hear from you!
