Giving Feedback
In yesterday's code review, Arjun left six comments on Neha's pull request that all said some version of "wrong, redo". Neha spent the evening guessing what he meant, and this morning she asked Meera whether she should stay away from payments code. Meera needs to say something to Arjun, and "be nicer in reviews" won't change anything.
The rule
Name the moment, the behaviour and the impact, then listen.
Useful feedback has three parts:
- The moment: when and where. "In yesterday's review of Neha's retry pull request…"
- The behaviour: what the person actually did, described so plainly that they couldn't dispute it. "…six of your comments said the code was wrong without saying why…"
- The impact: what it led to. "…Neha spent her evening guessing, and today she asked me whether she should stop working on payments."
Then stop and listen: "What was going on for you?" Maybe Arjun was rushing between two incidents. Maybe he didn't realise how his comments read. End with a next step you agree on together, such as "on a blocking comment, say why in one sentence."
The same shape makes praise useful. "Great job this sprint" feels nice and teaches nothing. "Splitting the migration into three small pull requests meant each review took ten minutes, so please keep doing that" tells the person exactly what to repeat.
Two more rules:
- Soon. Give it within a few days, while both of you remember the details. Saving it for a review turns a small correction into a big surprise.
- Private for correction. Praise can often be public, if the person is comfortable with that. Correction happens one-to-one.
The shortcut
Use the camera test: could a camera have recorded what you are describing? "Rude", "careless" and "not a team player" are judgements, and no camera sees them. "Merged without the tests passing on Tuesday" is behaviour. If your sentence fails the test, keep asking "what did they actually do?" until it passes.
Run the camera test
"Rude" fails. What would a camera show? Six comments that say "wrong, redo" with no reason given.
A common trap is the praise sandwich: wrapping criticism between two compliments. The real message gets lost, and people learn to brace whenever you praise them.
Drills
Answer fast — trust the rule.
Which sentence passes the camera test?
Something Meera wants to correct happened on Monday. When should she raise it?
Which piece of praise is most useful?
Why is the praise sandwich risky?
Remember
- Name the moment, the behaviour and the impact, then listen.
- Camera test: if a camera couldn't have recorded it, it is a judgement, so rewrite it.
- Give feedback soon, correct in private, and skip the praise sandwich.