Give More (and Better) Feedback with CSAW

Last updated: August 16, 2021
Estimated reading time: 5 min

Working on a team requires great communication—giving clear directions, aligning on expectations, and offering (and receiving) feedback that helps people grow. In this article, we share a simple framework for giving more and better feedback:CSAW (Connect, Share, Ask, Wrap up). You can use CSAW with staff you manage, with your manager, and with peers or collaborators. You can use it for positive as well as developmental and corrective feedback.

  • Positive:Reinforces and affirms what you want to see and grow in the future
  • Developmental:Helps people take their skills from good to great, or from meeting to exceeding expectations. This feedback is for helping someone take their impact to the next level.
  • Corrective:Helps someone get from off track to on track when it comes to results (e.g., meeting goals) or relationships (having a negative impact on others).

Here’s how CSAW works:

Connect and get consent

Feedback is like playing catch—your goal is to throw the ball so your teammate can catch it. Rather than lobbing the ball at them without knowing if they’re ready, you wait for them to face you, get the hair out of their eyes, and make eye contact.

“Making eye contact” in the realm of feedback involves connecting over a shared value, goal, or experience; being explicit that you have feedback to share, and getting consent to share that feedback. (Check out this video by LeeAnn Renninger aboutwhy the “connect” is so critical.)

Note:这并不是说可以直接拒绝与业绩相关的反馈。经理/员工关系的很大一部分是能够给另一个反馈，一个理想的预先建立的期望(如果不是，设置在你的下一次签到)。也就是说，人们应该在如何以及何时获得反馈时感到能动，这样他们才能处于接受的状态。

Examples:

  • Positive:“You have been working so hard on the campaign rollout. I have feedback about several things you’ve done that have really impressed me and that I want to see you keep doing. Can I share that with you?”
  • Developmental:“Thank you for stepping up and facilitating yesterday’s meeting. I thought that demonstrated a lot of initiative and care for the team. I have feedback about two concrete ways I think you can be even sharper in your facilitation. I’m happy to share that verbally now, or send it to you in writing. What’s your preference?”
  • Corrective:“我知道我们都对这个项目的成功进行了深入的投资——我已经看到你的名字并证明了这一点。对于你在细节上的跟进，我有一些反馈给你。现在合适吗?”

Share your observations, the impact, and any requests

分享你观察到的特异性。如果这种行为是某种模式的一部分，那就分享吧。但是，一定要检查你的假设!陈述你对发生的事情的看法，而不是对他人的动机、心态或性格的判断(例如，“你似乎不关心这个”、“你分心了”)。

Then, share why it matters to you by being explicit about the impact on you and/or the work. You might also share any concrete requests.

Examples:

  • Positive:“I loved how you incorporated images in the text. It really made the points come to life for me. How much extra time did that take? I’d love to support you to do more of that in the future. Is that something you’d be interested in?”
  • Developmental:“In our client intake meeting, I noticed how welcoming you were and how well you established a rapport with them. How would you feel about eventually leading client intake meetings instead of playing a support role? With a little bit of support and practice, I could really see you owning client intake meetings moving forward.”
  • Corrective:“I’ve noticed that for the last few months, you’ve been turning in your expense reports late. Can we discuss that? Being late on reports not only slows down our ability to bill for the work, but it also increases the burden on our administrative staff and reinforces a false hierarchy about whose work is more important. It’s important that you get to a place where you’re turning these in on time–so let’s talk about how to do that.”

Keep this piece brief. This isn’t a trial, and you’re not a prosecutor making your opening statement. The more space you leave to seek the other person’s perspective, the better your feedback will be received.

Ask questions to better understand their perspective

It takes two to CSAW. The conversation isn’t done once you’ve said your piece. Get curious and make space for the other person to share their perspective. Ask questions to help you both gain a better understanding of what’s going on. The key here is to listen with an open mind, without assuming you already know the answers to the questions you’re asking.

Examples to…

Check for alignment on your assessment:

  • How do you think that went?
  • What’s your take on what’s happening?

Unearth causes:

  • Why do you think this happened? Why do you think this keeps happening?
  • 我遗漏了什么吗?

Surface solutions:

  • Do you have thoughts on how to move forward?
  • 有没有更好的系统或流程我们可以尝试一下?

Wrap up with next steps

一旦你们双方分享了各自的观点，你们应该就接下来的一系列步骤达成一致。这也是分享或重申特定请求的地方。如果你对这个问题和解决它的步骤一致，这可能是非常具体的。如果没有，接下来的步骤可能是双方仔细咀嚼对话，然后回到一起来确定替代方案、妥协或解决方案。Either way, schedule a time to revisit the conversation.

Examples:

  • “Just to make sure we’re on the same page, can you do a quick repeat-back on how we’re moving forward?”
  • “We have really different perspectives about this. Why don’t we both sit with this conversation and revisit it early next week? I’d like each of us to come with a proposal about how to move forward that takes into account the other person’s perspective. Does that work?
  • “Let’s revisit this at our check-in next month.”

Ready to try it for yourself? Use ourCSAW Worksheet and Sampleto prepare for your next feedback conversation.

Check out our other resources aboutfeedback:

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