Giving Useful Feedback
Plain-English scripts for praise, correction, and tough conversations.
Notes from Randall Harper. Thirty years working alongside owner-operators, executives and boards — companies of all types and sizes — across entertainment & media, hospitality, service based business, lifestyle businesses, financial services, retail and not-for-profit, in Australia, Asia, the United Kingdom and the United States. What follows is the thinking I keep returning to.
Feedback is the cheapest tool you have
Most owner-operators dramatically underuse feedback. They notice good work and say nothing, assume the team can read their mind. They notice poor work and either say nothing or, eventually, say too much in a frustrated burst. Regular, calm, specific feedback — both positive and corrective — is the single most powerful management tool available, and it costs nothing but the willingness to have the conversation.
Praise that actually motivates
Generic praise — 'great job' — is forgettable. Specific praise — 'the way you handled that complaint from the Robinsons was exactly right; you stayed calm, you offered a real fix, and they emailed me afterwards to say how impressed they were' — is remembered for years. Specificity signals that you actually noticed, which is what people most want to know.
Correction without damage
- In private, never in front of the team or a customer.
- Close to the event — within 24 hours where possible.
- Specific behaviour, not character — 'you didn't follow the checklist on the Jones job' not 'you're careless'.
- What you observed, what the impact was, what you would like to see next time.
- End with a question — 'how does that land?' — to invite their perspective.
The tough conversation
Sometimes the conversation is bigger — repeated issues, a serious mistake, a behaviour problem. The temptation is to soften it or delay it. Don't. The kindest version of these conversations is the direct one: name the issue clearly, explain the impact, state the expectation going forward, and agree on what changes. Avoidance always makes the eventual conversation worse, not better.
Make feedback a rhythm, not an event
Once a month, sit down individually with each team member for thirty minutes. What is working? What is hard? What feedback do you have for me? This is not a performance review; it is a relationship maintenance habit. Teams who have these conversations regularly almost never have to have the big, dramatic ones. The small honesty, repeated, prevents the large confrontation.
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The contents of this paper are the opinion of Clear Point Advisory only. Readers should rely on their own judgement and obtain professional advice appropriate to their circumstances.