Coaching practices for Giving Feedback
Describe almost anything you are working through and IX Coach finds the practices whose real-world fit is closest. For Giving Feedback, these are the strongest matches in the current practice library.
Does this sound like the set of challenges you might be facing?
- I deliver my feedback as a finished verdict and then the other person just sits there closed off
- My feedback conversations end with the person nodding and saying "yeah, makes sense, got it"
- The instant someone gives me hard feedback I’m already explaining and defending myself
- When I just hand someone my assessment they go passive and defensive, like I’m doing something to them
- When I give someone feedback it slides into labeling who they are
Practices that may help
- Invite a response after delivering SBI
Close SBI by asking what the other person makes of it — not with a verdict.
The SBI Feedback Model, Made Practical - Close feedback by checking understanding, not agreement
Ask "What did you take from that?" rather than "Do you agree?"
The Feedback Sandwich: Why It Doesn’t Work and What to Do Instead - Receive feedback with minimal defensiveness
Treat feedback as data about others’ experience — not as a verdict on your character.
The Johari Window - Ask what the person already knows before offering your assessment
Ask the person to evaluate their own performance before giving yours.
The Feedback Sandwich: Why It Doesn’t Work and What to Do Instead - Describe behavior, not character
Say what the person did — actions, words — not what that says about who they are.
The SBI Feedback Model, Made Practical - Make feedback specific and behavioral, not evaluative
Describe what you observed, not what it says about the person.
The Feedback Sandwich: Why It Doesn’t Work and What to Do Instead - Establish shared purpose before delivering critique
Frame critique as help toward a shared goal, not an evaluation from above.
The Feedback Sandwich: Why It Doesn’t Work and What to Do Instead - Give feedback in the moment, not stockpiled for reviews
Feedback accumulated for a periodic review arrives late and in bulk — neither helps.
The Feedback Sandwich: Why It Doesn’t Work and What to Do Instead - The Feedback Sandwich: Why It Doesn’t Work and What to Do Instead
The feedback sandwich (positive–negative–positive) is the dominant model for giving feedback in workplaces, but research and practitioner experience suggest it routinely fails: recipients either remember only the positive parts or dismiss the negative as softened insincerity. The practices below cover why it fails mechanistically and what specific alternatives are better supported. - Choose the right moment and setting for feedback
Feedback lands in proportion to how safe and ready the receiver feels — timing and privacy matter.
The SBI Feedback Model, Made Practical
Related concerns
- Engaged Feedback
Close SBI by asking what the other person makes of it — not with a verdict.
Invite a response after delivering SBI
- Feedback Sandwich Problems
The feedback sandwich (positive–negative–positive) is the dominant model for giving feedback in workplaces, but research and practitioner experience suggest it routinely fails: recipients either remember only the positive parts or dismiss the negative as softened insincerity. The practices below cover why it fails mechanistically and what specific alternatives are better supported.
- How To Give Feedback Effectively
Close SBI by asking what the other person makes of it — not with a verdict.
- How To Receive Feedback
Close SBI by asking what the other person makes of it — not with a verdict.
- Impact Statement Feedback
Say what effect the behavior had — on you, on others, on the work.
Name the actual impact on you or the team
- Public Vs Private Feedback
Feedback lands in proportion to how safe and ready the receiver feels — timing and privacy matter.
Choose the right moment and setting for feedback
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