Reader situation
You ask a peer for feedback on a plan, a draft or a presentation. They say it looks good, or they rewrite it the way they would have done it. Neither helps you improve the work you’re actually trying to do.
Central idea
Useful peer feedback addresses a defined question and points to specific observations. Ask for the type of feedback you need, consider the reasoning behind it and decide which suggestions fit your purpose.
Practical steps
- Purpose. Explain what the work is for and who it’s for. A proposal for a cautious board needs different feedback from a pitch for a startup investor. Without the purpose, a reviewer judges the work against their own idea of what it should be.
- Requested feedback scope. Say what kind of feedback you want and what you don’t. “Is the argument clear to someone outside finance?” is a focused request. “Don’t worry about formatting; it’s a first draft” saves the reviewer time. A narrow scope usually produces more useful comments than “What do you think?”
- Observable examples. Ask reviewers to point to specific places in the work. “The second section lost me” is more useful than “It’s confusing.” When giving feedback yourself, describe what you noticed and where, rather than offering a general verdict.
- Constructive suggestions. Invite suggestions, and explain the reasoning behind your own when you give them. “Moving the recommendation to the start might help, because a busy reader may not reach the end” lets the recipient judge whether the reasoning fits.
- Recipient judgment. The person receiving feedback decides what to use. Thank reviewers, consider each comment and act on the ones that serve your purpose. You don’t need to defend or explain every choice. If you’re giving feedback, accept that some suggestions won’t be taken.
Worked example
Fictional example
Ana is preparing a presentation proposing a new hiring process to her leadership team. She asks a peer, Ben:
This is for our leadership team, who are skeptical about changing hiring. Could you tell me whether the case for change is convincing? I’m less worried about the slide design.
Ben replies: “Slides 3 and 4 explain the new process well. On slide 2, I wasn’t sure why the current process is a problem. If you added one example of a hire that went wrong, it might persuade a skeptical audience.”
Ana adds an example and leaves the design comments for later. Ben also suggested reordering the slides, but Ana decides to keep her order because she knows her leadership team expects the costs first. She thanks him for the suggestion without needing to debate it.
Boundaries
- Feedback is about the work, not the person.
- Don’t share someone’s work more widely than they agreed when asking for feedback.
- A peer’s feedback is one perspective. For high-stakes work, seek more than one.
One action to try with a professional peer
The next time you ask for feedback, state the purpose and one specific question you want answered. Notice how the response changes.
Discussion prompt
What’s the most useful piece of feedback you’ve received, and how did the person deliver it?
