A Guide to Giving Effective, Brain Friendly Feedback | Our Blog

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A Guide to Giving Effective, Brain Friendly Feedback

A Guide to Giving Effective, Brain Friendly Feedback

A Guide to Giving Effective, Brain Friendly Feedback

What is Brain-Friendly Feedback?

Brain-friendly feedback is an approach to providing feedback that aligns with how the brain processes information, aiming to enhance receptiveness and promote positive change. This method focuses on delivering feedback in a way that minimises stress and encourages constructive responses.

The Importance of Feedback

Feedback is critical for both personal and professional growth. It allows individuals to understand how their actions are perceived and provides guidance for improvement. In the workplace, feedback enhances employee engagement, motivation, and productivity, making it an essential element of our development and learning (CIPD, 2021).

The SBII Model

For feedback to be effective, it should be timely, well-structured, and delivered in a way that encourages reflection and change. The SBII model helps us ensure our feedback is specific, concise, fair, and constructive, leading to positive behavioural change (Centre for Creative Leadership, 2022).

The SBII model consists of four steps:

  • Situation: Briefly describe the context where the behaviour occurred to ensure feedback is based on observable facts. For example, "During yesterday's team meeting..."
  • Behaviour: Focus on specific behaviours rather than making judgments. For example, "...you interrupted the speaker several times."
  • Impact: Explain the effect of the behaviour on others or the task. This helps the individual understand why the behaviour matters. For example, "This made it difficult for others to contribute and slowed the progress of the meeting."
  • Improvement: Offer suggestions for how the individual can improve or change their behaviour. For example, "In future meetings, try to allow others to finish their points before responding."

The neuroscience of feedback

Feedback is sometimes ineffective when we perceive feedback as a threat or attack, rather than as support or help. The key word here is "perceive"—when we feel threatened, it triggers a primal fight-or-flight response, making it difficult to process feedback rationally. David Rock suggests that this reaction stems from how our brain perceives danger, as we are wired to minimize threats and maximize rewards. David Rock’s SCARF model weaves together hundreds of brain-based research studies to explain what drives our behaviours (Rock, 208). The model explains five social domains which are tied to our survival instincts and drive human behaviour to minimise danger or threats and maximise reward thereby influencing our reactions to receiving feedback.

  1. Status: Our relative importance to others
  2. Certainty: Our ability to predict the future
  3. Autonomy: Our sense of control over events
  4. Relatedness: How safe we feel with others
  5. Fairness: How we perceive fairness in exchanges

 

Using the SCARF model helps us give feedback in ways that minimize threat responses and maximize reward responses, leading to better engagement and less defensiveness (MindTools, 2022). Here’s are some things we need to consider when applying the SCARF model to maximise the receiver’s reward response and minimise their threat response.

Status: Recognise their expertise and hard work when giving feedback. Acknowledge the individual's strengths and contributions to maintain their sense of status, reducing the threat of feeling diminished.

“During yesterday’s emergency, your quick thinking was invaluable. I know it got stressful at times and that I may not have helped and could have done things differently, but I’d like to talk about how you added to situation and what I think you could work on.”

Certainty: Be clear that you’re giving the feedback to support them and help them improve, not to make them feel bad or get them into any kind of trouble. Be specific about your feedback, providing a roadmap for improvement. This reduces ambiguity and increases the recipient's confidence in how to proceed.

“You don’t need to worry, I would just like to offer some guidance that I think will help you improve”

Autonomy: Be a coach, not an instructor. Allow the person receiving feedback some control over how to act on it. Giving options or asking for their input or to think of possible solutions or ways forward can increase their sense of ownership.

“What ideas do you have for how we may solve this issue? What are the different options you can think of?”

Relatedness: Build rapport by fostering trust and connection, making it clear that the feedback is aimed at helping, not criticising. Make sure you routinely give more confirming (or positive feedback) than you do critical feedback.

"I know it’s been a difficult shift, but let’s discuss how we can improve communication with the team."

Fairness: Ensure the feedback is just and unbiased, which promotes a sense of fairness and makes it easier for the recipient to accept and act on it. Take into account external factors such as workload or other people’s involvement before offering criticism.

"I know the ward was understaffed which added a lot of pressure, but it’s important to ensure accuracy despite your workload. Let’s see what we may do about it”

Top 10 Tips for Giving Effective Feedback

  1. Give Timely Feedback: Feedback is most effective when delivered shortly after an event. Immediate feedback is more relevant and actionable, as the details are still fresh in the recipient's mind.
  2. Don’t Catch People Off Guard: Surprising someone with feedback can lead to discomfort and defensiveness. To avoid this, give the person a heads-up. For example, you might say, "Do you have five minutes to talk about the last conversation?" This signals that feedback is coming and gives the person a chance to prepare and in turn reduce their anxiety (Renninger, 2020).
  3. Balance Positive and Constructive Feedback: To be effective, feedback should be balanced. Combining positive feedback to reinforce good behaviours, with constructive feedback to identify areas for improvement, maintains motivation and fosters growth (CMI, 2021). [SCARF Model ‘Fairness’ domain]
  4. Be Specific and Clear: Avoid vague comments like "Good job" or "This needs work." Instead, be specific about what was done well or what needs improvement. Clear, precise feedback helps the individual understand the impact of their actions and what changes are needed (CIPD, 2021). [SBII Model – ‘Impact’ and ‘Improvement’]
  5. Don’t Overexplain: Avoid over-explaining when giving critical feedback as long-winded explanations although well-intentioned can prolong discomfort. Keep the feedback short, specific, and to the point to prevent unnecessary stress and confusion.
  6. Focus on Behaviour, Not Personality: Always focus on behaviour rather than making personal judgments. For instance, instead of saying, "You’re disorganized," say, "I noticed the reports were submitted late." This keeps the conversation objective and reduces defensiveness (ILM, 2022). [SCARF Model ‘Fairness’ and ‘Relatedness’ domains.]
  7. Encourage a Two-Way Dialogue: Effective feedback is a two-way process. Feedback will be more effective when we foster collaboration and encourage the recipient to share their perspective and ask questions to help clarify any misunderstandings (CIPD, 2021). You may wish to set the scene by first describing the situation and the behaviour as shown in the SBII model, before asking the recipient to identify for themselves the impact and ideas for improvement thereby making the feedback less like a monologue and more like a conversation. [SCARF Model ‘Autonomy’ domain]
  8. Beware of unconscious bias: Unconscious bias occurs when our brain quickly makes judgments and assessments without us being aware. These biases are shaped by our background, personal experiences, societal stereotypes, and cultural context. The first step to preventing unconscious bias is to acknowledge that we all have that they affect our perception and evaluation of others. Biases based on gender, race, age or personal preferences for example can unintentionally influence the type of feedback we give and how we give it.
  9. Offer Actionable Recommendations: Feedback is most useful when it leads to improvement. Always include clear, actionable suggestions. For example, instead of saying, "You need to communicate better," suggest, "In future meetings, summarize key points before concluding." (SBII Model – ‘Intent’). Actionable feedback gives the person a clear direction for improvement (CMI, 2021).
  10. Follow Up on Progress: Feedback should not be a one-time event. After offering constructive feedback, check in with the individual to monitor their progress and offer additional support if necessary. This reinforces the value of the feedback and demonstrates your commitment to their development.

3 further resources

About the author

Mike is the Head of Education and Training at the Estia Centre. He specialised in action learning, leadership and organisational development programmes, including Estia’s ‘Developing Your Team’s Resilience’ programme for managers, team leaders and supervisors.

References

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