Feedback That Fuels Success: Mastering the SBI Framework for Powerful Development.
“Thanks. Love your work.”
Praise like this feels good in the moment, but what comes after? Was it your attention to detail? Your creative solution? Without specifics, praise like this is a flashlight with no batteries—it illuminates nothing about what you did right or how to repeat your success.
This is where the SBI (Situation, Behaviour, Impact) feedback model comes in. It turns vague praise into something actionable, making feedback a catalyst for personal and professional growth. However, the true power of SBI lies not just in its structure—it’s in how leaders use it to foster development, reduce bias, and promote self-awareness. This article will explore how to master the SBI model to elevate feedback beyond surface-level remarks and drive real development.
The Importance of Structure in Feedback
Generalised feedback, no matter how well-meaning, lacks the precision necessary to guide real improvement. It doesn’t pinpoint which behaviours to continue or refine. Enter the SBI Framework: a structured method that strips away vagueness and makes feedback a tool for growth. But the depth of SBI goes beyond its format—it’s about how well leaders can deliver specific, objective, and meaningful feedback that helps the recipient develop.
Combating Bias in Feedback: The Hidden Saboteur
Before diving into how SBI can transform feedback, it’s essential to recognise the dangers of bias. Bias—whether cultural, gender-based, or unconscious—distorts feedback, leading to skewed assessments and unfair opportunities for growth.
For instance, recency bias can lead a manager to overlook months of solid performance due to one recent mistake. Stereotyping and confirmation bias can cause feedback to be influenced by preconceived notions about an employee’s abilities or behaviours. Halo and horn effects focus on one trait and allow it to shape the entire assessment, leading to feedback that may be overly positive or unfairly negative.
Bias in feedback not only distorts the recipient’s self-perception but can create self-fulfilling prophecies. When leaders unknowingly allow bias to shape their feedback, they hinder their team’s development.
Bias in Action: Common Examples
- Confirmation Bias: A manager believes a team member is not a strong communicator, so even during moments of good communication, they overlook the positive behaviour and focus on minor issues.
- Cultural Bias: Misunderstandings due to cultural differences can lead to feedback that penalises behaviours aligned with different cultural norms.
- Gender Bias: Women may receive feedback that is more focused on personality traits, while men receive more specific, behaviour-focused feedback.
How the SBI Model Reduces Bias
SBI helps minimise bias by concentrating on specific behaviours rather than assumptions or perceptions. Here’s how it works:
Situation: Clearly define the context to anchor feedback in a specific moment, ensuring that feedback is not generalised or influenced by past behaviours.
Example: Instead of “You seem disengaged,” say, “In last Thursday’s meeting, you didn’t contribute during the discussion.”Behaviour: Describe the actions without making subjective interpretations or assumptions.
Example: Replace “You seemed uninterested” with “You didn’t provide input during the meeting.”Impact: Explain how the action affected the team or project, emphasising real-world outcomes rather than assumed motives.
Example: “Because your input was missing, the team made decisions without your perspective, delaying progress.”
By focusing on observable facts, SBI reduces the influence of personal biases, ensuring fairness in feedback.
The Power of Specific Feedback
Specific feedback is the cornerstone of development. While vague praise like “Great job!” might boost morale temporarily, it fails to clarify what behaviours led to success. For feedback to be actionable, it must be precise.
Why Specificity Matters:
Clarifies Expectations: Employees need to know exactly what actions were successful so they can replicate them. Example: Instead of “Good presentation,” say, “Your use of data visualisation helped clarify the financial risks quickly.”
Removes Ambiguity: Vague feedback can lead employees to assume they excelled in all areas when only certain aspects were strong. Example: Replace “You need to improve” with “Your client explanation lacked clarity, leading to some confusion.”
Encourages Growth: Highlighting both strengths and areas for improvement provides a roadmap for future success. Example: “Your analysis was thorough, but next time, ensure the client understands the assumptions behind your data.”
By offering specific feedback, leaders provide employees with clear direction, making it easier for them to focus their efforts and improve.
Objective vs. Subjective Feedback: Why the Distinction Matters
One of the most common pitfalls in feedback is letting emotions cloud objectivity. Subjective feedback, which reflects personal feelings, assumptions, or preferences, often masquerades as legitimate critique but can be harmful when it distorts the truth.
Recognising Subjective Feedback
Subjective feedback often creeps in through:
Loaded Language: Emotionally charged words like “always” or “never” tend to exaggerate the issue. Example: “You’re always late” vs. “You were 10 minutes late to the last two meetings.”
Inferring Motives: Assuming someone’s intent rather than focusing on their observable actions. Example: “You don’t care about this project” vs. “You didn’t provide detailed input during the discussion.”
Personal Preferences: Framing feedback based on personal preferences rather than objective performance criteria. Example: “You should have presented that data with more flair” vs. “The team had trouble grasping the key points; simplifying the chart could help.”
Turning Subjective Feedback into Objective Insights
The key to providing objective feedback is to strip away emotions and assumptions, focusing on what was actually observed. The SBI model offers a way to keep feedback factual and grounded in reality.
Checklist for Objective Feedback:
- Situation: Is the feedback tied to a specific moment or event?
- Behaviour: Am I describing what was observed without inferring motives?
- Impact: Am I explaining the real-world consequences of the behaviour, not just my emotional reaction?
By applying these principles, leaders can avoid common subjective traps and provide feedback that is both accurate and actionable.
SBI Framework in Action: Real-World Examples
Let’s explore how SBI works in practice through various examples:
Example 1: Punctuality in Meetings
- Situation: “In the last three team meetings…”
- Behavior: “…you arrived 10 minutes late.”
- Impact: “…which disrupted the flow of discussion and affected team morale.”
This feedback is clear, focuses on specific behaviour, and explains the consequences, helping the employee understand the importance of punctuality.
Example 2: Business Presentation
- Situation: “During the Board meeting last Tuesday…”
- Behaviour: “…you clearly outlined the financial modelling and used non-technical language.”
- Impact: “…this allowed the Board to grasp the risks quickly, leading to a faster decision.”
This feedback highlights a specific behaviour that led to a positive outcome, encouraging the employee to repeat it in future presentations.
Example 3: Healthcare Setting
- Situation: “During the last patient consultation…”
- Behaviour: “You rushed through explaining the treatment plan without ensuring the patient fully understood.”
- Impact: “This led to the patient feeling confused, and they later called to clarify the details.”
Here, the feedback is precise, highlighting a behaviour that needs adjustment to improve patient care.
The Power of Follow-Up: Building Accountability for Growth
Most articles on feedback stop at delivery, but follow-up is just as crucial. It’s not simply about checking in—it’s about fostering ongoing accountability for both the leader and the employee.
- For the Leader: Regular follow-up allows leaders to see real-world outcomes, refine their coaching strategies, and address underlying issues, such as unclear expectations, that feedback alone may not resolve.
- For the Employee: Follow-up creates an environment of continuous learning. It shows employees that mistakes aren’t final judgments but learning opportunities. Regular touchpoints build confidence, helping them realise that growth is a process, not an instant result.
Why Change Is a Process, Not an Overnight Fix
Leaders may ask, “Why can’t someone just change overnight and get it right next time?” Here’s the answer: growth takes time. Developing a new skill or shifting behaviour is like building muscle—repetition and reinforcement are key. Sustained effort is the path to meaningful change.
Imagine giving an employee feedback on handling difficult clients. They may understand the feedback in theory, but under pressure, old habits might resurface. Follow-up provides space to reflect, adjust, and refine their approach until the new behaviour becomes second nature. Without consistent follow-up, people often revert to their comfort zones.
Change introduces new challenges for the brain, making quick adaptation difficult. It requires practice, reflection, and feedback to foster long-term behavioural change. Great leaders support their people through change by fostering an environment where long-term development is prioritised.
Cognitive Biases and Change
Our brains use shortcuts—heuristics and biases—to process vast amounts of information quickly. While helpful in many contexts, these shortcuts can hinder immediate behavioural shifts after feedback. Some common biases include:
- Confirmation bias: Employees may focus on feedback that reinforces their current behaviours, overlooking areas needing improvement.
- Cognitive dissonance: The discomfort of facing feedback that contradicts long-held beliefs can subconsciously slow down change.
- Status quo bias: People prefer familiar patterns, even when change would be beneficial.
- Anchoring bias: Employees may cling to their first experiences or past practices, making it hard to adapt to new approaches.
Processing Change: Cognitive Load and Habits
When employees process feedback, their brains handle different types of cognitive load:
- Intrinsic load: The complexity of the new task.
- Extraneous load: Distractions or poorly presented information.
- Germane load: The effort needed to integrate new learning with existing knowledge.
Effective feedback minimises extraneous load by being clear and actionable, allowing employees to focus on mastering the new behaviour. However, adopting new behaviours while overcoming automatic habits is cognitively demanding, and this can be mistakenly perceived as slowness or ineptitude.
In reality, it’s how human brains are wired. Employees need time to unlearn old habits and form new neural pathways. For instance, when asked to handle a difficult situation differently, they’re not just learning a new approach—they’re overcoming ingrained habits, reinterpreting feedback, and applying it in real time.
This process requires:
- Practice: Repeatedly engaging in new behaviours until they become second nature.
- Reflection: Continuously evaluating performance and adjusting based on results.
- Support: Regular feedback and follow-up to reinforce new skills and ensure integration.
The Neuroscience of Habit Formation
The brain’s ability to change and adapt—neuroplasticity—is key to why follow-up is essential for long-term growth. Forming new habits involves creating new neural pathways. Just like learning a new instrument or language, mastering feedback requires time, practice, and reinforcement.
Leaders who understand this biological process can be more patient and supportive in their development efforts. Repetition rewires the brain, and feedback is not just about willpower—it’s about physically shaping new behaviours.
Framing the Conversation: Encouraging Growth, Not Blame
When giving feedback, the focus should be on growth and progress, not perfection. Leaders need to communicate that change is a natural and gradual process. Emphasise that setbacks are part of learning, not a reflection of failure. Consider this approach:
- Change is developmental: Real change requires sustained effort over time, and everyone experiences a learning curve. This isn’t a reflection of intelligence but part of how the brain works.
- Consistency over speed: Slow, steady improvement leads to more meaningful change than expecting immediate perfection.
- Failure is feedback: Mistakes are opportunities to learn and refine, not signs of incompetence.
For example, say something like: “Change doesn’t happen overnight because your brain needs time to build new pathways. Like any skill, mastering new behaviours requires practice.”
This reframes challenges as steps on a manageable, step-by-step journey, emphasising the cognitive effort behind real development.
Follow-Up with Specific Tactics
To make follow-up effective, schedule a meeting where the employee sets SMART goals (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound) related to the feedback. A feedback journal can be a useful tool for both leaders and employees to document progress, challenges, and adjustments, creating accountability and fostering continuous reflection.
Example: Follow-Up in Action
- Initial Feedback: After discussing client interactions, the employee knows what to work on but struggles in high-pressure moments.
- Follow-Up: In your next meeting, review what worked and what didn’t. Reflect on how to apply the feedback in future client meetings. This process of reflection turns theory into practice, reinforcing behaviour changes over time.
The SBI framework offers a clear, actionable method for giving feedback that is free from bias, focused on specific behaviours, and grounded in real-world impact. Leaders who master this approach not only foster personal and professional growth but also build a culture of continuous improvement. Feedback is most powerful when it doesn’t just point out mistakes but creates pathways for development, making success repeatable and failures opportunities to learn.
By being specific, objective, and committed to follow-up, leaders can turn feedback into a powerful tool for development, driving both individual and team success.
Actions
- Review feedback you gave over the past week (or perhaps opportunities you had but you didn’t use), practice rewriting these ensuring they’re specific, use objective standards and give a clear what next.
- Use the Feedback Checker to review some written feedback to see if any common stereotypes have crept in
- Set some time aside each day specifically to give feedback. Even if you’re planning to tell the person the feedback, write the comment down. This allows you to read over it and possibly identify things you wouldn’t notice if you only said it out loud.
Learn More
If you found this article interesting, you might also like these articles:
- To say or not to say : understand microaggressions
- Achieve what matters with intentions: Set effective goals
- Unpacking Unconscious Bias to make better decisions: More about biases
- Inclusive language: a starters guide: understand how language can bring everyone along with you, or exclude
- Overcoming the Similar-to-Me Bias: understand how the in-group bias can affect your decisions and feedback
