Providing Effective Feedback: SBI/BI Model
Rob Dombowsky, MBA, CPHR
AMTA Industry Advisory, Human Resources & Labour
An intrinsic part of coaching and developing employees is providing effective feedback. The key word being “effective”. Effective feedback requires that a person has a goal, takes action to achieve the goal, and receives goal-related information about his or her actions. Information becomes feedback if, and only if, we are trying to cause change and the information tells the recipient whether I am on track or need to change direction.[i]
As a result, delivering effective feedback becomes a basic skill that all supervisors, managers and leaders need to practice. In theory, the practice is simple, but the research shows that we are not always good at it.[ii] This equally applies to the newest of supervisors all the way to the top of your organization, be it the Company President or CEO.
Think of all the conversations that have gone wrong because the message was lost and the recipient was unhappy and unclear with the feedback they received. Alternatively, how often was the feedback never delivered because the conversation was too difficult to have? Developing this skill is fundamental to developing your leadership potential and personal brand as a leader.
In this article, we will explore what we mean by effective feedback. We will also identify and explain how to craft the message and how to deliver it using a simple and useful feedback model to help you structure feedback delivery.
Types of Feedback
Feedback is the foundation of open and honest communication. Formal and informal feedback are two main types of feedback used in the workplace. Both are used to deliver positive feedback or praise with a purpose, as well as developmental feedback designed to improve an individual’s performance or change behaviour.
Formal Feedback will be part of the performance management process. This is generally used to support an individual’s professional development within the organization. It is periodic, historic (within 6 months), cumulative and done in writing. This is generally the time that managers will look at their employee’s performance over the quarter or half year and provide feedback to help develop the employee. Formal feedback should also be added to the employee file, for future reference.
Informal feedback also called on the job feedback is given on a daily basis and is current as well as timely. It is also task-based. Imagine you are teaching someone to drive and they forgot to signal as they changed lanes. The feedback would be given immediately, so the person would be acutely aware. Alternatively, if a worker is constantly filling out their driver log incorrectly, the feedback would be provided in a timely manner.
What does effective feedback look like?
Feedback should be based on observable behaviour and not assumptions or things we did not see ourselves. The key work is observable behaviour. This is where I find many people go wrong in the process. While they have legitimate feedback to provide, they make assumptions about the behaviour. Consider the following scenarios.
“Jim, you came in about 15 minutes late three days this week. It’s problematic for me and the team, as I need to bring you up to speed on your daily assignments separately from the rest of the team. It’s causing me to be late for my management meeting or I am rushing to give you your assignment so not providing enough instruction. I need you to arrive on time, so we don’t have to have a separate meeting going forward. Is there anything I can do to help you with this?”
In this example, the behaviour is clear. Jim can agree that he has been late three times and had to have a separate conversation with his manager. It’s hard to argue with that fact as Jim can see it, his manager can see it and his colleagues can see that he was late. The manager also provided guidance on what the impact of being late is having on him.
Furthermore, the manager clearly stated his expectations on arriving at work on time as well as the positive impact being on time will have. The manager even took the extra step to have a conversation and offer help to resolve the issue. We don’t know why Jim is late, perhaps there is a family issue or other problem at home. Now they can discuss and come up with a solution.
What does bad feedback look like?
“Jim, you’ve been late three days this week. You can’t get out of bed on time because you are playing video games all night. Set your alarm and get here on time. It’s not professional and has to stop because I don’t have time to talk to you separately. Got it?”
In this example, the supervisor assumes the cause is he can’t get out of bed because he’s a gamer. The manager doesn’t know why Jim is late, only Jim knows why he was late. By assuming, the stage is set for conflict. Instead of having a conversation about being late, which is a fact, they are now potentially arguing about the reason.
While many would describe the feedback as “direct and open” it misses the mark in being effective. Only Jim knows why he was late for work. The manager has told Jim to not be late, but at the cost of potentially damaging the relationship. By using this approach repeatedly workers will simply become dissatisfied, disengaged and eventually leave.
Delivering Feedback using SBI
The SBI feedback model is a commonly used and simple tool to use. SBI is used for providing positive feedback. Mastering this tool is fairly straightforward because people tend to feel comfortable providing positive feedback. We will address, developmental feedback or also called negative feedback separately, as it is more complex.
S – Situation: Describe the situation or task the person or team faced (for example, a business opportunity, special challenge, or routine task). This provides context for what you want to give feedback on.
B – Behavior: Describe the behaviour that was displayed—what was said or done to handle the situation or task.
I – Impact: Explain the impact of the behaviour— what your interpretation and evaluation of the behaviour was, for example, what was changed, for better or worse, by the person’s behaviours and the impact or consequences of that result.
Enhance the impact of positive feedback by praising your team members publicly. It’s an excellent way to enhance a working relationship.
SBI Examples
-Helen, I wanted to say thank you for your help with the photocopying yesterday. I would have been late for my meeting without your help. I appreciate it!
-David, yesterday the OHS officer came in for an unannounced inspection while I was out of the office. I know that is a challenge, however, you dealt with it great. You were able to answer most of his questions and show him around. As a result, he left with a positive view of the company and no orders to produce. Thank you for your help with that.-
-Clifford, last week you met with ABC Production and presented them with our services and rates. Today, we found out that ABC would like to hire us as their regular carrier for their bi-weekly Calgary to Vancouver run. Great work!
These examples all explain the situation, the positive behaviour observed and the positive impact of that behaviour. They also reinforce the behaviour by recognizing their contributions. As a result, they are likely to exhibit similar positive behaviour in the future.
Delivering Feedback using SBI/BI
Providing developmental feedback is a challenge as many people see it as delivering bad news or criticism, but it is still necessary. With developmental feedback, we are trying to influence behaviour, by identifying the problem and providing guidance on what we want to see happen in the future.
In this model, we add BI to the end of the SBI model I just introduced. This is referred to as the SBI/BI model. We will still explain the situation, observed behaviour and the impact of that behaviour. In addition, we will add the following.
B – Desired behaviour: something the person could have said or done differently or what as a manager you would like to have seen in terms of behaviour.
I – Probable impact: the alternative (improved) impact the alternative behaviour might have produced or the likely outcome of the alternative behaviour.
SBI/BI Examples
1.Michael, in our meeting this morning with ABC Manufacturing, you answered your phone during the meeting. This was disruptive to the meeting and I think disrespectful to the client and did not represent our level of professionalism. In the future, please focus on the business at hand and don’t answer your phone during meetings. In fact, either leave your phone in your office or turn it to mute. We can provide our clients with our full attention and build our professional image and expand our business.
2. Carl, yesterday while you were being loaded at XYZ’s yard, the yard manager asked you to wait in your truck. However, you did not and went into their cafeteria but left your phone in your truck. When they were finished loading, they could not find you and we could not reach you. As a result, they could not load the next truck on time and fell 45 minutes behind schedule. They have also asked for a discount of $300 as a result. Next time you need to leave your vehicle, make sure you let the loaders/yard manager know where you are going and take your phone with you. This will prevent you from causing delays for the client and other carriers as well as harming our reputation.
Need Help? Contact AMTA
AMTA can provide members with one-on-one guidance on the information provided in this article. If you have any questions, please contact AMTA and our experienced staff will be happy to help. For your WCB, Safety, Compliance or Human Resources questions, please email Workplace Support Services at wss@amta.ca or call 1-800-267-1003.
[i] Wiggins, G., Seven Keys to Effective Feedback, (1 Sept, 2012), Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, https://www.ascd.org/el/articles/seven-keys-to-effective-feedback
[ii] New Senior Program, EY (5 May 2013)