Feedback

This module addresses the anxiety managers feel before and after giving difficult feedback, and gives them tools to manage it rather than suppress it. Participants learn how anxiety affects working memory and threat perception (via the Yerkes-Dodson inverted-U), and apply Neff's three components of self-compassion (self-kindness, common humanity, mindfulness). Practice centers on the Write-Regulate-Enter protocol: a private expressive-writing exercise before a real feedback conversation, an if-then implementation-intentions plan tested with a partner for authenticity, and a Compassionate Debrief template used after a real conversation to replace rumination with structured reflection.

This module focuses on positive feedback: recognizing and reinforcing what someone is doing well, not just delivering criticism. It covers when and where feedback should be given, why positive feedback is distinct from constructive feedback (and who benefits most from each), and Kim Scott's radical candor concept of caring personally while challenging directly. Participants learn a three-step model for delivering positive feedback to strong performers???Acknowledge Current Performance, Discuss Getting to the Next Level, and Support Future Goals and Aspirations???and practice it by preparing real feedback for a direct report, delivering it aloud to a partner, and giving each other observations on how the three steps came through.

This module is built for Temporal's distributed team, where async feedback over Slack often misfires ??? good intentions read as blame or micromanagement. Participants learn the SBID framework (Situation, Behavior, Impact, Decide/Discuss) to structure clearer, more specific feedback, and two moves for receiving feedback well (staying curious before defending, naming a reaction before reacting to it). Practice includes working a real, unresolved piece of feedback through SBID with a partner in breakout rounds, then joining the team in setting a shared norm for when to switch from Slack to a huddle. The session closes with each participant committing to a specific piece of feedback, channel, and time this week. The SBID framework and the receiving moves generalize to any team relying on written, asynchronous communication.

This module teaches how to give feedback to people with more authority or experience than you ??? a manager, a senior peer, or someone with more organizational tenure. It builds on the standard SBID feedback framework (Situation, Behavior, Impact, Discussion) but adapts it for upward and peer dynamics by adding an explicit intent statement and three positioning strategies: the Partnership Frame, Observation Frame, and Question Frame. Participants map their own "power geography" to identify a real person they've been hesitating to give feedback to, draft a full upward SBID with an intent statement and a pre-planned response to pushback, and practice articulating the stakes of the feedback ??? testing whether their reasoning reflects a shared, mutual concern rather than personal grievance. Practice happens through individual drafting and paired readback with structured partner feedback.

This module teaches a four-rung Escalation Ladder ??? Informal Feedback, Documented Conversation, Performance Improvement Plan, and HR/Formal Action ??? for addressing recurring performance or behavior issues fairly and clearly. Participants use Dekker's Behavior Taxonomy (Human Error, At-Risk Behavior, Reckless Behavior) to classify real scenarios and match them to the right starting rung, practice defending ambiguous classifications in small groups, and work through a "Before You Escalate" checklist to identify gaps in their own preparation before moving a real situation to the next rung.

This module teaches managers to document feedback conversations in writing so both parties share the same record of what was discussed and agreed. Participants learn the RAFTER framework (Recap, Agreed Behaviors, Future Expectation, Timeline, Escalation Pathway, Relationship Affirm) for structuring a follow-up note, then apply it by analyzing a weak sample email to identify missing or poorly executed components, and by drafting and peer-reviewing their own RAFTER note based on a feedback conversation from the main workshop or the upward-feedback scenario from Module 1.

This module teaches managers how to deliver constructive feedback that changes behavior without damaging trust. Participants learn how timing, length, and location shape a feedback conversation, then study do's and don'ts for delivery???including avoiding defensive tactics like the "feedback sandwich" and grounding delivery in radical candor (caring personally, challenging directly). The core tool is a three-part Opener-Content-Replay structure with standardized phrasing for opening the conversation, sharing observed behavior and impact, problem-solving together, and confirming understanding and commitment. Participants practice this structure in role-played feedback conversations based on a real behavior they want to address with one of their own direct reports, rotating through manager, direct report, and observer roles while watching for open questioning, neutral tone, and common biases like fundamental attribution error and false consensus effect.

This module examines why people become defensive when receiving feedback and how to prevent or navigate it. Participants learn the psychological roots of defensiveness (a fight-or-flight threat response and perceived relationship risk) and three common feedback biases that trigger it: Fundamental Attribution Error, False Consensus Effect, and Restrictive Framing (narrow, binary, frozen thinking). Participants practice recognizing these biases through small-group discussion, drawing on examples from their own careers, and identify habits???such as clear content, neutral tone, and temperate phrasing???to reduce defensiveness in future feedback conversations.

This opening module for the Feedback workshop introduces the Radical Candor framework (Kim Scott) and previews the SBID Model, which the workshop will use to structure feedback conversations. Participants prepare in advance by identifying a real feedback situation they need to address???ideally one involving upward or cross-functional feedback if they're already comfortable with direct reports???and bring notes on who it's for, what happened, and how they feel about sharing it. In the live session, participants share this scenario, a challenge they've had giving feedback, and a personal goal for the workshop with a partner, setting up the real feedback practice that follows.

This module teaches a structured approach to giving feedback, covering positive, developmental, and corrective/constructive feedback, how to set the right intention using Kim Scott's "care personally and challenge directly" framing, and the SBID model (Situation, Behavior, Impact, Discuss) as a conversation guide. Participants also learn the Ladder of Inference to keep behavior descriptions focused on observable data rather than interpretation, and practical tips for framing impact with "I" statements and opening a two-way discussion. Participants apply these tools by preparing a real feedback scenario of their own (e.g., with a direct report, peer, or personal contact) using the SBID structure, then discuss the challenges and anticipated responses with a partner.

This module gives participants structured practice delivering real feedback using the SBID model (Situation, Behavior, Impact, Discuss). Working in pairs, each person prepares a real feedback conversation they need to have???with a direct report, peer, cross-functional partner, or someone outside work???and practices delivering it while their partner reacts naturally and takes notes on whether SBID was used clearly. After each round, partners give each other feedback on the feedback (what worked, what to improve), then repeat the same conversation incorporating that input before switching roles.

This closing module helps participants consolidate what they've learned across the Feedback series by choosing three tools to apply going forward: Positive Feedback Structure (Star Performers), Overcoming Defensiveness (Bias and Framing), and Constructive Feedback Structure (Open/Content/Replay). Participants reflect individually and discuss with the group when and how they'll use each selected tool, and share what they learned about their own feedback-giving approach.