I help project professionals get more done with less stress. Having been a project manager for over 20 years, I share tried-and-tested tips that work in the real world, every Tuesday. Join our community of over 15,000 project professionals (and accidental project managers too!).
Mastering the art of feedback
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Hello Reader, I’ve always found giving feedback a bit awkward – even positive feedback where I was praising someone for a job well done. It has got easier now I have children, because frankly I get to practice giving feedback all day at home! It’s also got easier knowing some of the theory, and while I was doing my mentoring training I got to understand several feedback methods in detail. The SBI model for giving feedback is a classic. You frame the conversation like this: S: Situation (describe the situation/location) B: Behaviour (describe what you saw happen) I: Impact (describe the impact to the team/client etc) Here’s an example of giving feedback using SBI: “During the project check in this week (S) I noticed you didn’t have your plan ready (B) which meant we couldn’t give Jo the confidence in delivery dates I was hoping for (I).” This model works best, in my opinion, if you are watching your mentee carry out activities. If you are not on the same team as them, it might be difficult to use as you won’t have the opportunity to carry out observations, and you would be relying on second hand information. It could also be used in a mentoring session: “I just heard you say that you were in a meeting with Tech this week and felt like they weren’t listening to you, which meant you came out of the call without what you needed.” But you’d have to go further than that – playing back what happened can’t be the end of the conversation. You’d need to continue the dialogue to talk about what the mentee could have done/could do next time. Read about other types of feedback method including COIN, Feedforward and DESC, and why I don't use the 'feedback sandwich' method in my article on 6 feedback methods to improve performance. If you're preparing for end of year reviews, you'll want to bookmark this one! Have a lovely week! Elizabeth Other things you might have missed:
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Calling all Rebel Project Managers!
I help project professionals get more done with less stress. Having been a project manager for over 20 years, I share tried-and-tested tips that work in the real world, every Tuesday. Join our community of over 15,000 project professionals (and accidental project managers too!).
Hello Reader, We need to make it EASY for stakeholders to work with us. During a podcast I recorded with the Customer Success Playbook team, I shared my stakeholder prioritization grid – a tool that's helped countless project managers navigate the maze of competing expectations. But here's the real secret: it's not about managing stakeholders; it's about understanding what they value most. We shouldn’t think about ‘managing’ other people’s behaviour. Instead, think about engaging them. Here’s...
Hello Reader, One of the things that comes up often with new members of Project Management Rebels is how to facilitate a project meeting without knowing anything about what anyone else is talking about. Especially at the beginning, you’re not an expert. So you have very little to contribute in terms of content or helpful insights. What you can do is own the job you actually have and facilitate the process. Think about how you can add value with your comments without simply agreeing. You can...
Hello Reader, Six projects. Competing deadlines. Stakeholders pulling in different directions. Sound familiar?Managing multiple projects isn’t just about working harder. It’s about building systems that work for you. Without repeatable practices, even the most experienced project manager risks burnout, missed deadlines, and deliverables slipping through the cracks.I'll be chatting live with Cornelius Fichtner to explore what’s new in the second edition of my book Managing Multiple Projects....