How to give feedback using the 3 C system

After working among teams of various sizes and experience levels, it can difficult for those new to the industry to find their voice and feel confident on giving feedback. After some contemplation on past experiences, I’ve came up with the 3 C system to help mitigate some of the hesitation or fear that may arise when offering an opinion on business matters.

Whenever I need to give some feedback I try to ensure my critique is:

• Constructive

• Clear

• Compassionate

Constructive

You want to ensure what you are saying is not just an empty evaluation. When offering feedback, have in mind ways in which you think it could be better. Feedback without reasoning or some thought process behind it can come off as demoralizing and offensive. Think about the critique and have 1-2 possible routes for the team member to improve on. You want to leave them with action steps.

Clear

Make sure you know what you want to convey to the receiver of the feedback. If you are stumbling on what you are trying to say, it will lose the effect you are trying to achieve and it will be hard to trust. Make it concise and easy to digest. Sometimes you need a bit of food to help the medicine go down. Critiques can go down easier the same way.

Compassionate

There’s a layer of empathy you must have for the person receiving the feedback. There must be also a consideration to the end user of the product and the product itself. Is your feedback benefitting your customer, enhancing the product, or making your teammate better? I’ve sat in enough group thinks and meetings to see that sometimes feedback comes from a place of feeling uncomfortable with the silence or people simply wanting to have a voice or contribution out of self-service. If you are saying something, is it providing value and have others in mind? Make your words count.