Giving Difficult Feedback: Professional and Constructive Phrases
5 exercises on giving constructive feedback. Choose the most natural and professional option.
0 / 5 completed
1 / 5
You need to give feedback to a colleague about their behaviour in meetings. Which opening is most professional?
SBI MODEL OPENING: The Situation-Behaviour-Impact (SBI) model is the industry standard for professional feedback. "In [situation], when you [specific behaviour], the impact was [observable outcome]" is specific, observable, and non-personal. Examples: "In last Tuesday's planning meeting, when you dismissed the estimate without asking for context, the impact was that the team felt their input wasn't valued." / "In the code review yesterday, when you left 20 comments without any positives, the impact was the author became defensive and the conversation stalled." / "In the client call, when you spoke over the designer, the impact was the client directed all further questions to you, cutting the designer out." Options B/C/D are vague, personal, and inflammatory.
2 / 5
You want to describe a behaviour you've observed without making it a character attack. Which phrasing is best?
OBSERVATIONAL LANGUAGE: "I noticed that..." followed by specific, factual observations avoids attribution of intent or character. It stays in the realm of observable events, which is harder to argue with and easier to act on. Examples: "I noticed that the design handoff came in two days after the agreed date on both occasions this sprint." / "I noticed that in the last four standups, the update was marked 'no blockers' but then a blocker surfaced at review." / "I noticed that three of the five tickets were closed without a test — on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday." Options A/B/D make character judgements that trigger defensiveness rather than reflection.
3 / 5
After describing a behaviour, you need to explain its consequence. Which is the most professional phrasing?
DESCRIBING IMPACT: "The impact of this was..." connects the specific behaviour to a concrete, observable outcome. It makes the feedback objective and helps the person understand why the behaviour matters. Examples: "The impact of this was that the junior developer stopped contributing ideas for the rest of the week." / "The impact was that we had to roll back the release and schedule an emergency hotfix — costing half a day of engineering time." / "The impact of this was the client escalated to our director, which required an hour of senior management time to resolve." Options A/C/D are vague, global, and likely to provoke defensiveness rather than reflection.
4 / 5
You need to suggest a different approach going forward. How do you phrase it constructively?
ENCOURAGING CHANGE CONSTRUCTIVELY: "What I'd encourage you to do differently is..." is forward-looking, specific, and actionable. It frames the suggestion as coaching rather than criticism. Examples: "What I'd encourage you to do differently is submit a draft PR early — it gives the team a chance to catch issues before the crunch." / "What I'd encourage is booking a quick sync before the design review so we're aligned on constraints." / "What I'd encourage you to do differently is add a comment when you deviate from the ticket spec — even a one-liner helps reviewers." Options A/B/C are either too vague, too sweeping, or offer no actionable path forward.
5 / 5
A colleague's code quality has been slipping. How do you open the feedback conversation without attacking them personally?
AVOIDING PERSONAL CRITICISM: "I wanted to share some observations — not to criticise, but because..." is a powerful opener that disarms defensiveness and signals collaborative intent. It separates the code from the person. Examples: "I wanted to share some observations about the test coverage in the last three PRs — not to criticise, but to make sure we're aligned on the bar." / "I noticed a few patterns in the recent commits I'd love to walk through with you — nothing alarming, just worth discussing." / "I wanted to flag something I've seen a couple of times, because I think it's worth catching early." Options B/C/D attack character or effort, or worse, weaponise unnamed third-party opinions.