Skill-Based Lesson: Delivering Constructive Feedback in the Workplace

Skill Breakdown

Constructive feedback is observable when a person states a specific behaviour, describes its impact, and proposes a forward-looking adjustment — without attacking character or avoiding the issue. The skill has four components:

• Specificity: Naming the exact behaviour, not a general trait
• Impact framing: Linking the behaviour to a concrete consequence for the team or work
• Tone calibration: Maintaining directness without triggering defensiveness
• Forward orientation: Closing with a clear, actionable ask

Lesson Flow

• Demonstration (15 min): Trainer models two versions of the same feedback conversation — one vague and personalised, one structured and behaviour-focused. Learners identify what changed and why it mattered.
• Guided Practice (25 min): Pairs receive a written workplace scenario. One plays the manager, one the receiver. Trainer circulates and intervenes in real time with prompts, not corrections.
• Refinement Round (10 min): Pairs swap roles using a second scenario. Learners apply trainer prompts from the previous round independently.
• Independent Practice (20 min): Each learner writes and then delivers a one-minute feedback statement for a scenario of their choosing. Peers score using a shared rubric.
• Debrief (10 min): Group surfaces one pattern that worked and one that was consistently difficult. Trainer names the underlying reason for each.

Practice Activities

• Scenario A — Guided: A team member has missed two consecutive deadlines and responded dismissively in a group meeting. Learners draft and deliver feedback live, then receive a prompt card if they veer into generalisation.
• Scenario B — Refinement: A high performer has started skipping team check-ins without explanation. Learners must balance positive regard with a direct ask — no softening that dilutes the message.
• Scenario C — Independent: Learner-selected. Must be a real or realistic situation. Output is a spoken statement, not a script read aloud.

Feedback Plan

• During guided practice: Trainer uses verbal prompts only — “What specifically did they do?” or “What do you want them to do next time?” — to redirect without modelling the answer.
• Peer feedback: Observers mark a three-item rubric after each independent delivery: specific behaviour named, impact stated, actionable close present.
• Trainer close: One specific strength and one targeted adjustment per learner, delivered after the debrief — not during practice, to avoid over-coaching.

Assessment Method

Each learner is assessed on their independent practice delivery against three observable criteria:

• Behavioural precision: Was a specific action named, free of character judgement?
• Impact clarity: Was the consequence of that behaviour stated concretely?
• Actionable close: Did the feedback end with a clear, realistic ask?

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