Describe the Behavior
Describing behavior is the second step to giving effective feedback. It's also the most crucial step and the one that is most often omitted—probably because behavior can be difficult to identify and describe. The most common mistake in giving feedback is communicating judgments by using adjectives that describe the person but not the person's actions. That kind of feedback is ineffective because it doesn't give the receiver information about what behavior to stop or to continue in order to improve performance. Consider these statements:
He was rude during the meeting.
She seemed bored at her team's presentation.
He seemed pleased with the report his employees presented.
These statements describe an observer's impression ...
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