How to give effective feedback to your teammates?

Being a designer, it’s an important part of my work to take feedback from my teammates which include product designers, product managers, and developers. Initially, I struggled with translating the vague feedback my teammates gave me into action. The feedback shared didn’t highlight what are the problems with my work currently and how can I change it. It left me confused after every review session as I struggled to figure out the next steps. I wanted to find an effective way of giving feedback to my teammates which is easy to understand for the person receiving it (even in written format). The what-so what- now what framework resonated with me.

Giving feedback is an opportunity to help people learn and become better at what they’re doing.

“What — So what— Now, what “— framework

These are some of the questions you need to answer before giving feedback to make it actionable.

1. What?

• What is the particular bit of information you would like to see changed?
• What is missing in the current work?
• Is there anything that you want to see less of?

2. So what?

• Why is it important to change?
• Why is it important to include something that is currently missing?

3. Now, what?

• What specific concrete suggestions can I give them to make the change?

This framework makes it easier to structure and deliver for the person giving the feedback. In addition to this, the person on the receiving end finds it easier to translate the shared ideas into action.