Feedback
Feedback is targeted information about how your behavior, work, or results are landing with others, given so you can consciously adjust your next steps.
Feedback is a targeted piece of information about how your behavior, work, or results are landing with others. It closes the gap between self-perception and how others actually perceive your work, since you rarely see your own performance the way an outside observer does. Without that outside view, you're missing a key input for judging whether your actions are having the intended effect. Feedback can be spoken or written, delivered in a formal review, or shared informally in the flow of daily work.
Feedback is often split into two broad types: confirming feedback, which reinforces behavior worth keeping, and constructive feedback, which points toward a change. Both matter: confirmation builds confidence and signals what to continue doing, while constructive input gives a concrete starting point for improvement. More structured formats exist too, such as 360-degree feedback, where several people offer perspectives from different angles, or self-assessments checked against how others see you. Many teams are now shifting away from a single annual review toward an ongoing, informal feedback rhythm.
Effective feedback is specific, timely, and anchored in observable behavior rather than sweeping judgments about the person. Framing feedback from your own perspective ('I noticed that...' rather than 'you always...') tends to feel less accusatory and leaves room for real dialogue. For feedback to actually land, people need an environment where it's treated as a contribution to shared progress rather than personal criticism, a condition often called psychological safety. Without that safety, feedback tends to get avoided or watered down, and valuable learning opportunities go to waste.
Practical Example
A workshop supervisor gives an employee short feedback after every shift about his changeover time. Instead of saying 'that was bad,' she says, 'On the third changeover you had to search for the tool twice, that cost about 4 minutes.' He responds by organizing his tools into a fixed layout, and the average changeover time drops from 18 to 13 minutes within two weeks. Because the feedback was specific and immediate, he could act on it right away instead of hearing about it for the first time at a quarterly review.
How Leanshift Helps
In kata practice, feedback is the engine of every learning cycle: without input on the last step, you can't plan the next one with any precision. Coaching depends on questions and observations being received as an invitation to reflect, not a verdict. That mindset echoes the Leanshift belief that improving is really about enabling more people to become improvers themselves, and feedback is one of the main tools for doing that.
Frequently Asked Questions
What's the difference between feedback and criticism?
Criticism tends to judge the person in general terms, while feedback describes specific behavior and its effect, giving you something concrete to act on.
How often should feedback be given?
The more timely, the more useful. Short, regular feedback woven into daily work usually beats a single long conversation once a year.
What is 360-degree feedback?
A format where someone receives input from multiple directions, such as their manager, peers, and direct reports, to build a more complete picture of how they come across.