Three simple questions to collect feedback when you don’t know what to ask:
- What should X (I, he/she/they) start doing? Why?
- What should X (I, he/she/they) stop doing? Why?
- What should X (I, he/she/they) continue doing? Why?
Be aware that you’re pushing the responsibility for thinking to the person receiving the questions. If you don’t know which specific topic you want to gather feedback on, you perhaps shouldn’t ask for any feedback in the first place.
Use these questions at last.
- Related Note(s):
- Before giving feedback, ask the person how they would like to receive it. Similarly, before collecting feedback, you should know what you actually want to learn.
- When giving feedback with a coaching mindset, ask what they could have done differently. The same questioning approach applies, but with intentionality.
- The feedback in relationships is about you AND the other person. Generic questions might miss the relational context that makes feedback meaningful.
- Confident humility means being open to feedback. But openness requires purposeful inquiry, not just generic questions.
