How to Give Feedback in English

This Week: New Youtube Ads, Elon Goes To China & The Sandwich Method

Author

Speak Tech English
May 06, 2024

What We'll Cover:

In This Week’s Tech News 🗞️

(click title to read full article)

When a video is paused on a smart TV, the video shrinks and an ad shows next to it - this is known as a pause ad.

The company announced:

“We saw strong traction1 from the introduction of a pause ads pilot2 on connected TVs, a new non-interruptive3 ad format that appears when users pause their organic4 content.”

In other words, the trial, tested on TVs connected to the internet, produced positive results, and advertisers are open to paying extra for these type of ads.

Here’s a summary of the article:

  • Musk flew to China to meet with senior officials, and Chinese state media stated Tesla wanted co-operation with the country

  • Tesla are partnering with search engine giant Baidu to overcome a regulatory hurdle5

  • The agreement will allow Tesla to go ahead6 with some autonomous driving technology in China

  • After the announcement, Tesla’s share price increased by almost 12%, recovering some of the value it lost at the start of the year

1  strong traction = a lot of interest or success

2  pilot = the test or trial run

3  non-interruptive = doesn’t stop/affect

4  organic = original

5  hurdle = problem or difficulty

6  go ahead = begin or continue an action

The Sandwich Method for Giving Feedback 👨‍💻

One of the first things you might notice when working in a global team is the difference in communication styles.

Especially when working with British teams, and being a Brit, I can definitely admit this, we have a habit of not being direct.

Of course, there are some downsides of not getting to the point quickly, but we have to consider the advantages too!

Which brings me to today’s topic: giving feedback.

How can we effectively give criticism without sounding too negative, direct or even rude?

Introducing: The Sandwich Method

The idea is simple: praise - criticism - praise

Start with a complement, then address the issue or area of improvement, and then end with another complement or encouragement.

The aim is to soften the impact of negative feedback and make it more actionable.

Example:

“Hey Joe, I really appreciate the time you’ve put into documenting the new feature recently, I know it’s not the most interesting task. Just one note, in sections 1 and 4, we could do with some diagrams to make it clearer to non-technical people. Is that something that could be added? Overall, the rest is looking great, keep up the good work!”

When you might not want to use this method:

1. Series or urgent issues

2. Senior employees

3. Team mates you have a close relationship with

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