Here's how you can effectively provide constructive feedback to team members.

The power of the pause. Say a designer presents a logo concept. Your initial reaction might be to blurt out changes. But take a pause, consider the project goals, the target audience, and the overall design intent. This pause allows you to prepare thorough feedback. Instead of vague pronouncements ("I don't like the colors"), you can offer specific suggestions tied to the strategy ("The color palette feels too playful for our sophisticated target market. Perhaps explore a more professional tone?"). Giving yourself time to process and analyze, and deliver constructive feedback. This empowers your team members to understand the "why" behind your suggestions and make informed revisions.

The strongest advice I can give on this subject comes from one of the best books on leadership ever written — The Bible. Ephesians 4:29 says: "Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear." Let that sink in sheeple.

One key aspect in preparation is to define clearly to your contribuitor how you give feedback. See, this has become a more complex issue. In recent years I have seen cases in which I am judged poorly on a feedback. Because this peroson had expectations as to how I should do it. According to their concept of giving feedback. Even if they've never done it, and have been working for only 4 months. Everyone is an expert in management now. So a key to prepare is to set from the getgo your message as to what you expect and how you give feedback. What some consider clarity other might call "Traumatic" or "Offensive".

Try to avoid doing it remotely as much as you can. If it has to be done this way, remember always have your camera on. Not doing so is quite unacceptable .

Let me share an experiment from my own design team. We replaced traditional feedback sessions with "Highlight Reels." In a relaxed setting, we'd each celebrate a teammate's recent success – a particularly creative ad concept, a client's glowing praise. The results surprised us. The team was eager to not just avoid mistakes but replicate and build upon each other's strengths. This positive reinforcement fostered a sense of camaraderie and healthy competition, pushing everyone to new heights. Of course, constructive criticism remains important. But consider this: when a team member feels valued and their wins are celebrated, they become more receptive to feedback, creating a positive feedback loop that fuels creative excellence.

One of the things I've always done with my teams and/or students is to remind them of the objective of the project AND what they say their intention is. Simply reminding them of that allows for a different foundation for the conversation. We all lose sight of the goal sometimes, so having them ground themselves in those things lets them to see their own work differently and often they point out the very things that I would have. If they miss anything, I'm merely filling in the blanks, and it allows me to recap the conversation so that everyone involved has clarity about what needs to happen next and they feel good about it.

Em minha experiência, os critérios mais impactantes são a especificidade e individualidade dos feedbacks. Para que um feedback seja eficaz, ele deve ser direcionado a cada indivíduo e detalhado em relação ao desempenho e às expectativas, sempre com métricas realistas. Quando esses requisitos não são atendidos, as chances de que o momento de feedback não resulte em melhorias significativas aumentam consideravelmente. Profissionais que fornecem feedbacks vagos e genéricos tendem a ter menos retorno de suas equipes e podem ser percebidos como incompetentes.

Feedback isn't a one-and-done deal — it's an ongoing journey. Some techniques that have worked for me: 1. Set SMART Goals: Establish Specific, Measurable goals and review them every 2-4 weeks to keep progress on track. 2. Check-in and Celebrate Wins: Acknowledge successes during monthly follow-ups and ask open-ened questions like: What's been working well? and What's been challenging? to spark conversation and keep morale high. 3. Implement Progress Tracking: Use Visual tools like Kanban boards to track improvements and check in every couple of weeks. I think of feedback like gardening — it thrives with regular attention, a little celebration, and a dash of TLC!

Every environment I work in, from clients to internal, I enforce a policy of compliment sandwiches. It sounds simple enough, but it makes a huge impact because it forces a layer of critical thinking and empathy by ensuring that every critique is informed and not opinion-based and forcing the person with negative feedback to find a way to communicate differences in opinion or flaws in an idea constructively. It creates an ecosystem of team experimentation, while letting go of the ego that often comes with off-the-cuff feedback in a professional setting.