Feedback good examples for high-performing teams

Giving and receiving feedback is the backbone of any healthy workplace, yet many leaders struggle to move past generic praise or awkward criticism. When you provide feedback good examples that are specific and actionable, you empower your people to grow, align with your company culture, and hit their performance targets with confidence.

The problem with generic feedback

We have all been there – receiving a performance review that simply says "good job" or "needs improvement" without any context. This type of vague communication is one of the biggest headaches for People and Culture leaders because it fails to change behaviour or inspire growth. In fact, research suggests that roughly 74% of employees feel in the dark about how they are actually performing because the feedback they receive is too nebulous.

When feedback lacks substance, your team members might feel stuck in a cycle of "career sleepwalking," where they lack a clear sense of direction or purpose. To break this cycle, we need to move toward a model of radical transparency and radical support. By using feedback good examples, you can show your team exactly what success looks like and how to replicate it. This is not just about being nice; it is about building a high-performance engine where everyone knows their role and their value.

Feedback good examples for positive reinforcement

Positive feedback is often underutilised. Many managers assume that if things are going well, they don't need to say anything. However, positive reinforcement is what anchors good habits and encourages employees to go the extra mile. Instead of saying "Great work on the presentation," try a more specific approach.

A good example would be: "I noticed how you handled the difficult questions during this morning's client presentation. Your ability to stay calm and provide data-backed answers really built trust with the stakeholders. It perfectly reflected our customer-focused culture." This tells the employee exactly what they did well and why it mattered. It links their individual behaviour to the broader organisational goals.

At Compono, we believe that understanding the unique personality of your organisation is the first step to better alignment. By using our Compono Engage platform, you can map your actual culture and use those insights to provide feedback that reinforces the specific values your business needs to thrive. When you know your cultural benchmarks, your positive feedback becomes a strategic tool for alignment.

How to deliver constructive feedback effectively

Constructive feedback is where most people get nervous. The fear of causing conflict often leads managers to sugarcoat the message, which only causes more confusion. The key is to focus on the behaviour and the impact, rather than the person. You want to be a coach, not a judge.

Consider this example: "In our team meeting yesterday, I noticed you interrupted Sarah several times while she was sharing her data. Because of that, we didn't get to hear her full analysis, which slowed down our decision-making. In the future, could you wait until she finished her points before weighing in?" This is a feedback good example because it identifies a specific event, explains the negative outcome, and suggests a clear path forward.

Effective coaching also requires an understanding of how people think and work. Every individual has a dominant work preference, which we call their work personality. When you understand whether someone is a 'Doer' or an 'Evaluator,' you can tailor your feedback delivery to suit their natural communication style, making it much more likely that the feedback will be heard and acted upon.

Feedback good examples for peer-to-peer reviews

Feedback should not only flow from the top down. Peer-to-peer feedback is essential for building trust and psychological safety within a team. However, colleagues often hesitate to give feedback to each other for fear of overstepping. You can encourage this by providing a framework they can follow.

A peer might say: "I really appreciated your help with the spreadsheet formatting this morning. Your attention to detail saved me two hours of manual work, and it meant we could get the report to the board on time. You're a real 'Helper' in this team." Alternatively, if a peer needs to provide constructive input, they might say: "I felt a bit overwhelmed when the project files were sent over late last night. It meant I had to stay back to finish my part. Can we agree on a deadline for tomorrow's handoff so we can both stay on track?"

These examples work because they are respectful yet direct. They focus on the collaborative nature of the work. To help your teams work better together, you can use the Compono Culture, Engagement & Performance Model to understand the feedback loops that connect individual effort to team success. When everyone understands the shared "personality" of the team, giving feedback becomes a natural part of the daily workflow.

Key takeaways for better feedback

• Be specific: Avoid vague adjectives. Describe the exact behaviour you observed.
• Focus on impact: Explain how the action affected the team, the project, or the client.
• Make it actionable: Always provide a clear suggestion for what to do next time.
• Timing matters: Give feedback as close to the event as possible while emotions are calm.
• Tailor the delivery: Use work personality insights to communicate in a way the recipient understands.

Where to from here?

• Explore: Compono Platform
• Talk to an expert: Book in a 15-minute chat to get a walkthrough of Compono.