same on-ramp question for both positive & negative feedback

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified)
in

The classic MT feedback model is to always use the same question before feedback (whether that's "Can I give you some feedback?" or any of the altneratives discussed in e.g. the "A Different Feedback Model Question" podcast) -- to introduce both positive and negative feedback.

Is there any data on using a different on-ramp question for positive vs. negative? I reread the shownotes for "The Manager Tools® Data - Feedback" and it didn't seem to indicate whether this had been tested.

In the book "When They Win, You Win" Russ Laraway recommends the following two feedback on-ramps:

Negative: "I think I'm seeing some behavior that I believe is getting in your way. Are you in a spot where you can hear that right now?"

Positive: "I want to take a few minutes to call out something I saw you do today that I really liked. You got a sec?"

The reason I ask is that I've been doing the same question ("Can I give you some feedback?") for both, and trying to do lots of positive feedback, and sometimes I feel like I'm playing some sort of guessing game with my directs with using the same on-ramp question. (This is an all-remote team, and I give all this feedback via videoconferencing - mostly at the O3, sometimes an impromptu Slack huddle.) In the case of positive feedback, it's mostly a question of whether they have time to hear it (and they almost always will want to), whereas in the case of negative feedback, it's mostly a question of whether they're in a frame of mind where they can hear it. And I feel like Laraway's question for negative feedback might better prepare them for what the conversation is going to be, rather than feeling "set up" by an innocuous question. 

Submitted by Michael Auzenne on Thursday May 29th, 2025 1:50 pm

Remember, feedback is just that ... feedback. If you focus on the intent (improving future performance) and your tone and behavior reflects that intent, the distinction between negative and positive feedback becomes negligible.  Our recommendation is to keep doing it the same way, every time.  Our data does suggest that this is the better approach.  Keep trucking on the way you are. :-).

It's not a "trick".