Improvement requires information about the gap between intention and result. Feedback is information provided to a person or team about their performance with the aim of reinforcing strengths or correcting shortfalls.

Effective feedback is specific, timely, behavioral, and linked to expectations. It can travel upward, downward, or laterally. Formal systems such as performance reviews supply periodic feedback; informal coaching supplies it continuously. Fear and vagueness are the enemies of useful feedback.

Cultures that normalize feedback improve faster than those that treat it as rare or punitive. The skill of giving and receiving feedback can be developed through practice and clear norms. Without feedback, people and processes drift.

• Information about performance aimed at improvement
• Most useful when specific, timely, and behavioral
• Flows in multiple directions
• Strengthened by psychological safety and skill