Managers should react quickly to extraordinary events (both positive and negative), providing immediate feedback by Slack or synchronously. Negative feedback should always be delivered in private. Managers should find at least one thing a week to provide feedback on.

We think of feedback like guiding a plane. If the plane is going too far to the left, say so. If it’s on track, say so. The feedback helps the pilot know they are going in the right direction. It’s not a judgement of their character or abilities.

Team member should also provide regular feedback to their managers. Upward feedback may be about the manager themselves, or it may be about broader company-wide issues.

Our standard format for feedback is a sentence with this structure:

“Hey [Person], When you [Behavior], it [Effect]. [Can you do it differently next time/Keep it up!]

Feedback should also be stored in a running document shared between the manager and report. That can be a medium for delivering feedback, or a record of feedback delivered separately.