Providing feedback is essential for driving innovation, improving technical and behavioral skills, and strengthening team dynamics. The EAST methodology (Easy, Attractive, Social, Timely) offers a powerful framework for delivering feedback in a way that is more easily received and applied, which can help promote an environment of continuous growth. By applying these principles, individuals can overcome common challenges in feedback communication, transforming interactions into opportunities for personal and professional development. Considering the above, this post explains how each element of the EAST model can be applied to delivering feedback in an organization. For this, specific and applicable examples are proposed, illustrating how this methodology can be effectively implemented.
1. Easy
When giving feedback, it’s important to be clear and decisive about what needs to change or improve. Also, it’s important to specify what actions should be followed, adapting to the needs and contexts of the team.
Examples:
- Implementation of Agile tools: After a retrospective, instead of vague comments like “Let’s improve collaboration,” it proposes: “Let’s use Jira to assign specific tasks after a meeting, ensuring clear follow-up.”
- Specific feedback, not general: Provides concrete examples of behaviors to change. “In yesterday’s meeting, you interrupted a colleague several times. You must allow everyone to express their considerations before giving your opinion.”
- Actionable steps: Break down feedback into small, manageable tasks. “To improve your punctuality, try organizing your tasks the night before and set reminders 10 minutes before each meeting.”
2. Attractive
It’s important to present feedback in a way that captures the attention and interest of the recipient. To do this, it can be positive not only to highlight the benefits that change or improvements would imply for the project, but especially for the individual. Personalizing feedback to align personal interests with project goals increases its perceived value.
Examples:
- Highlight the benefits of change: Explain how the change not only benefits the organization but also the personal growth of the recipient. “Improving your presentation skills will increase your visibility and open up opportunities for leadership roles.”
- Recognition and rewards: Offers tangible or intangible incentives for achieving improvements based on feedback. “If you achieve this sales goal, you will be recognized at the next team meeting.”
- Positive feedback: Includes what they are doing well, not just what they need to improve. “Your ability to close complex deals is impressive, and if you increase your client follow-up, you could exceed your sales goals.”
3. Social
People are influenced by what others do. Suggesting that a behavior is being performed by several colleagues can encourage individuals to also perform it. Likewise, changes can be motivated by making the recipient feel part of a community that values their evolution. Seeing the progress of colleagues and celebrating achievements together strengthens the team’s commitment and motivation.
Examples:
- Accompaniment: Assign someone who has gone through a similar process to the recipient or establish pair programming sessions with a colleague. “Carlos, who significantly improved his time management skills last year, can give you practical advice and support.”
- Share achievements: Encourages sharing achievements related to feedback in team meetings. “When you implement these changes, let’s share your achievements at the next meeting to celebrate your progress.”
- Constructive group feedback: Facilitates sessions where colleagues can offer each other positive and constructive feedback. “We will organize quarterly peer feedback sessions to discuss our progress and challenges.”
4. Timely
Keep in mind that the timing of feedback delivery can make a big difference in how it is received and acted upon. Timeliness ensures relevance and maximizes impact.
Examples:
- After observing behavior: Provide feedback as soon as possible after a relevant event. “After your presentation today, I would like to offer you some points for improvement and highlight what you did well.”
- In moments of openness to change: Take advantage of moments when the person is looking to grow or improve, such as during Sprint retrospectives. “I noticed you’re interested in advancing your career; let’s talk about how we can achieve this together.”
- Before critical events: Offer feedback that can be immediately applied before an important task. “Before your next client presentation, let’s review the key points together to ensure its success.”
Conclusion
This approach recognizes the importance of personalizing feedback, celebrating achievements, fostering community support, and delivering feedback on time. By doing so, we create a culture of continuous feedback where people feel valued and motivated to reach their full potential, benefiting both their personal careers and the company’s objectives.
If you want to read a Spanish version of this you can do it here
