In-house training
Feedback Training
Managers and teams know they should tell each other things, but in practice remarks are put off, softened until they say nothing, or badly received.
This day gives a simple method, has people practise it on four workplace situations and lays the foundations of a feedback culture in the team: knowing how to give, receive and ask for feedback. No prerequisites, other than some first-hand experience of teamwork or management.
Why this training
Benefits for participants
Say things early, without hurting or diluting the message
Take criticism without getting defensive
Build feedback habits in the team
5 modules
Feedback Training Program in Detail
- A working definition: specific information given to help the other person, never a judgement on who they are
- Situation, Behaviour, Impact: the model that separates facts from interpretation
- What happens to a team where feedback is missing: unspoken friction, repeated mistakes, unrecognised work
- Precise positive feedback instead of a vague compliment
- Adjusting feedback that is both direct and caring: the grid of care for the person and frankness about the fact
- Why to avoid the feedback sandwich, and what to say instead
- The four defensive reflexes: justifying, counter-attacking, minimising, withdrawing
- Five gestures for taking criticism: listen, thank, rephrase, ask for an example, give yourself time
- Asking for feedback yourself, with a precise question
- The manager's role: ask before giving, admit mistakes, thank people for bad news
- The conditions of a climate in which people can speak: psychological safety
- Short rituals that make the gesture natural
- Observation grid completed by participants who have no role in the role play
- Group debrief after each role play, on what got the message across or stopped it
- Twenty-question online quiz at the end of the day
- Individual action plan: one piece of feedback to give and one to ask for within the week
- This curriculum can be adapted to the specific needs of each company.
Role plays
Case studies for the day
Four role plays, played in pairs or in threes with an observer: ten minutes in role, then five minutes of debrief.
The recurring lateness
a colleague has handed in a shared report late three times in two weeks, disrupting preparation for client calls.
The dismissed idea
an experienced colleague cuts across a younger one with "we've tried that before": the room closes up.
The high-stakes presentation
a colleague has just presented to leadership: solid content, a talk that ran long and a difficult question dodged.
The sceptical client
you propose a new approach to a client who is blunt about its flaws and about to dismiss it.
FAQ
Because feedback is one of the skills people talk about most and practise least. Useful remarks are put off, softened until they say nothing, or taken as attacks. The effects are familiar: frictions that settle in, mistakes that repeat, good work that goes unnoticed.
The day changes specific gestures. Participants leave with a three-step structure for saying things, a way of receiving criticism without getting defensive, and simple habits to build in their team.
Managers, project leaders and team leads, and more widely any team that wants to talk to each other better. No prerequisites, other than some first-hand experience of working in a team.
By the end of the day, each participant can tell precise feedback from a vague judgement, give positive and adjusting feedback using the Situation, Behaviour, Impact model, receive criticism and ask for it, and knows which manager behaviours build a climate in which people can speak.
The day alternates short inputs with role plays. Four scenarios drawn from everyday work are played in pairs or in threes: ten minutes in role, five minutes of debrief. Participants without a role observe using a grid.
The content is adapted to each organisation: a first conversation collects the situations in which feedback is a problem for you, and adjusts the scenarios accordingly. Each participant leaves with an individual action plan, and a twenty-question quiz closes the day.
It explains why I advise against it: it teaches people to distrust your compliments, dilutes the message and mainly protects the person speaking. Participants practise instead stating their intention in one sentence, then setting out the fact and its effect.
The full reasoning is set out in the article on positive and negative feedback.
No. The day takes place in person, in Europe, at a venue agreed with you, because role plays take up a large part of it. They rely on observing the group, meaning postures, silences and reactions to a remark, which distance dilutes.
The day costs €2,500 excl. VAT for the team, up to 20 participants, with no minimum number of attendees. Other arrangements, including date, venue and tailoring of the content, are agreed in a first call.
The course does not lead to a certification: each participant receives a certificate of attendance.
In-house training
€2,500excl. VAT
1 day · up to 20 participants
- Course duration: 1 day
- Format: in person (Europe, venue to be agreed)
- Languages: English, Russian, French
- Four role plays, each followed by a debrief
- No prerequisites; some first-hand experience of teamwork is recommended
- No certification
- In-house only
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This article was written by Marc Prager.