6 Strategies to Drive Change Through Feedback
How to ensure feedback is a gift
Kayla Ambrose
, Fri 22 August 2025
John is a manager of a marketing analytics team within his firm and is highly regarded as a positive and motivating manager. Despite these praises, John has recently noticed that his team has been decreasing in productivity and not implementing changes in response to his routine feedback sessions. With the high morale and weekly one-on-one sessions with each of his team members, John wonders why his team is becoming ineffective.
John’s Diagnosis: Not Communicating Feedback Effectively
While his weekly feedback sessions are a great tool for relaying feedback, the way in which John articulates his feedback is causing his team members to not understand it. Sometimes managers think they are being direct in their feedback, but they are actually masking their feedback with assumptions and indirect hints. Managers may spend entire feedback sessions sharing their insights, but still have their direct reports take nothing away from the meeting due to the communication barriers.
What are examples of communication barriers that cause managers, like John, to give ineffective feedback?
- Lack of Clarity & Context
Providing ambiguous messages to direct reports can pose a communication barrier. When managers have unclear expectations or provide incomplete guidance, it may be difficult for team members to understand feedback. Without specific changes or advice, direct reports may be left confused, trying to guess what their managers expect from them
- Overloading Information
Actively communicating through multiple messages, emails, or meetings can give managers the sense that they are communicating effectively with their team. Despite these active efforts to provide feedback, the usage of various channels and tons of messages can overwhelm employees. Flooding employees with feedback in addition to their other daily tasks reduces their attention to their feedback.
- Emotional Barriers
Stress, defensiveness, and fear can muddle how feedback is delivered as well as how it is received. It is a manager's responsibility to reflect on these personal emotions to ensure their mindset isn’t causing misinterpretation. Additionally, managers should work to ensure the psychological safety of their employees to further reduce these emotional barriers.
- Cultural & Language Differences
Teams comprised of individuals from various backgrounds present many strengths due to the diversity of thought. However, when communicating feedback, it is important to be conscious of this diversity. Direct reports from different backgrounds may perceive communication styles differently, causing feedback to land ineffectively.
John’s Remedy: Clearly Communicate Feedback
As John realizes that his methods for communicating feedback are ineffective, he works to implement changes to improve his communication style. Rather than having overly relaxed weekly one-on-one sessions with his direct reports, John implements the following 6 strategies to ensure clearly communicated feedback.
- Be Direct
Rather than hinting at what changes direct reports should make, specifically address what actions should be taken and any applicable steps required. Along with communicating direct feedback, acknowledge that the feedback might have been confusing and open the conversation for dialogue.
2. Provide Context
Instead of simply diving into the specific changes that need to be made, create a shared understanding through contextualizing the situation. Leaving direct reports to guess what the feedback applies to can cause them to apply the feedback to incorrect tasks. Specifically address what the feedback applies to and any observations associated with it.
3. Identify Areas of Miscommunication
Reflecting on areas of potential miscommunication is a powerful strategy to prevent miscommunication early on. If there is something that a direct report says that is confusing, or vice versa, have them provide an example to ensure there is a mutual understanding. Strategizing to ensure clarification is provided during the feedback sessions will actively develop stronger communication.
4. Listen Attentively
Throughout the feedback session, make sure to listen attentively to what others share. Allowing silence for the direct report to clarify or expand on their thoughts will create a space for them to feel heard and recognized. Additionally, responding by paraphrasing what they said can help ensure their thoughts are understood.
5. Acknowledge and Clarify
When receiving feedback from direct reports, always recognize their feedback, even if there is disagreement. Further clarifying through follow-up questions and prompting them to ask follow-up questions as well will prevent misinterpretation.
6. Utilize Performance Management Tools
In order to ensure progress towards more effective feedback communication, implement tools or metrics to measure responsiveness to feedback. Utilizing performance management tools, such as AIM Insights, can help managers track their progress to support these communication changes.
John’s Update: An Effectively Functioning Team
After implementing these 6 strategies to improve his feedback sessions, John has noticed a drastic improvement within his team. Direct reports are quickly responding and adjusting their efforts to align with John’s feedback, and John is also able to receive feedback from his team. As he manages his team, John will continue to adapt and strengthen his feedback communication skills in order to best suit the needs of his team.
