Seeking and acting on feedback is crucial for making good decisions and delivering our best work. Good feedback is a product of an intentional environment with positive feedback loops.

Seeking feedback

When seeking feedback at Sourcegraph, it's important to:

• Specifically say what kind of feedback you're seeking. A thumbs-up, thumbs-down? A gut call on the better of two approaches? A detailed critique?
• Ask specific questions that you want feedback about.
• Provide context. Make sure the specific problem and goal is clear.
• State where you want the feedback, if that's not where you're requesting it. Example: you're requesting feedback in Slack but state that you want comments in a Figma rather than a threaded Slack reply.
• Seek feedback according to project roles.
• After receiving feedback, follow up. Recognize contributions and share how you will move forward.

Great examples of requesting feedback

(To be added!)

Giving feedback

When giving feedback, it's important to:

• Make sure you understand what kind of feedback is sought. If it's not clear what kind of feedback is sought, clarify before giving feedback.
• Focus feedback on the specific feedback sought. Other feedback may be valuable, but should be separated into a distinct conversation.
• Always start with why, not how. Potential solutions can be useful to clarify your feedback, but aren't feedback in themselves.
• Clarify where the feedback is coming from: is it based on a heuristic or best practice? Is it from a previous decision? Is it rooted in personal opinion?
• Focus on the work, not the individual.

Keep in mind that providing ongoing feedback is distinct from Conflict resolution. Typically, feedback is sought when a decision is yet to be made.

Great examples of providing feedback