How to give feedback on someone's work

Short answer: say “This is strong. One change would make it better: shorten the intro.”

DON'T SAY
“I know you worked really hard on this, but maybe…”
SAY THIS
“This is strong. One change would make it better: shorten the intro.”
Lead with what works, then give one clear, doable fix.

When to use it

Use it when someone's work is good and one change would make it better. Say what's strong, then give one concrete fix. A single change is easy to act on. A list of maybes leaves people unsure what to do.

Example

You: “This is strong. One change would make it better: shorten the intro.”

Teammate: “To what, a paragraph?”

You: “Two sentences. Get to the numbers faster.”

In an email or Slack message

In document comments: “Strong draft. One change: cut the intro to two sentences so readers hit the numbers sooner.” One clear comment beats ten small ones.

Quick drill

When you want to suggest an improvement to something your manager runs.

Which sounds more confident?

Practice 10 more →

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