Continuous feedback
The second pillar of Performance Enablement
In our previous post, we covered the foundation of performance enablement: setting clear expectations. But growth doesn’t stop there—continuous feedback is the next key step, providing the timely insights people need to adjust and improve while the work is still unfolding.
New to performance enablement?
Read an overview of all the 6 elements of performance enablement first.
What is continuous feedback?
Continuous feedback is an ongoing, structured approach to giving and receiving insights that drive personal and team performance. Unlike traditional reviews that happen once or twice a year, continuous feedback is embedded into daily work—turning development into an active, iterative process rather than a retrospective one.
It ensures that feedback happens when it matters most—in the moment, tied to specific goals, tasks, and behaviors. Whether after a project milestone, a cross-functional meeting, or a peer collaboration, continuous feedback helps individuals course-correct, build on strengths, and adapt quickly.
"Feedback should be seen not as a threat, but as a tool for growth—focused, fair, and frequent."
Why continuous feedback matters
From our interviews with 100+ People and Tech leaders, one theme emerged loud and clear: timely, relevant feedback is the lifeblood of modern performance cultures. Here's why:
- Accelerates Growth: Employees don’t have to wait for quarterly or annual reviews to understand how they’re doing. Real-time input helps them refine skills, tackle challenges, and drive results continuously.
- Boosts Engagement: When feedback is regular and meaningful, people feel seen, valued, and supported—not just evaluated. This enhances intrinsic motivation and ownership over personal development.
- Strengthens Collaboration: Open, ongoing communication reduces friction, aligns expectations, and builds trust among peers. Teams move faster and with greater clarity.
- Reduces Bias and Eases Performance Evaluations: Collecting feedback continuously reduces recency bias, shifts the focus from evaluation to growth, and eases formal reviews by giving managers a clearer, ongoing view of performance.
"Feedback isn’t just a performance lever—it’s how people find meaning in their work."
Building a feedback culture that works
A strong feedback culture is built on daily behaviors, not just quarterly processes or tooling alone. These six practices help organizations make feedback feel natural, valuable, and safe.
Lead by example
Managers set the tone. When they ask for feedback first—and receive it with openness rather than defensiveness—they show that feedback is welcomed, not feared. A quick “What’s one thing I could do better?” models humility and encourages others to speak up.
Prioritize quality
Great feedback is clear, actionable, and based on what was actually seen or heard—not assumptions. Models like CORE (Context, Observation, Result, Emotion) and SBI (Situation, Behavior, Impact) provide simple structures that make even difficult feedback feel constructive, fair, and easier to deliver.
Make it a habit
Feedback shouldn’t be a special event—it should happen routinely, in moments that matter: after a demo, a team retro, or a big win. Encourage teams to start small. Short, in-the-moment feedback is more effective than waiting for a formal review.
Balance feedback on strengths and growth areas
Feedback shouldn’t just focus on what needs fixing—highlighting strengths is just as important. Starting with what’s working builds confidence and makes people more receptive to growth input. Aiming for a 3:1 or 5:1 ratio of strengths-based to growth feedback helps create a balanced, supportive feedback culture.
Use anonymity thoughtfully
People are more likely to give and receive feedback when they feel safe. In larger teams or early-stage cultures, anonymous feedback can help reduce fear and unlock honesty. That said, use it with care—in small teams, anonymity can backfire by creating mistrust or confusion if comments feel too personal.
Train for feedback
Feedback is a skill—and like any skill, it needs practice. Offer lightweight training on using frameworks like CORE and SBI, giving feedback with empathy and clarity and receiving feedback with curiosity instead of defensiveness. Equipping everyone with a shared language and approach helps build consistency across teams.
What great continuous feedback looks like
At Taito.ai, we view continuous feedback as personalized, contextual, and light-touch. We believe it should be:
- Linked to Personal Expectations: Feedback is most useful when it’s grounded in the goals and performance areas each person is actively working on.
- Timely: Feedback should be gathered at key moments—right after relevant work, not weeks or months later.
- Employee-led: Individuals own their feedback and are responsible for keeping it part of the conversation to drive their growth.
- Actionable: Effective feedback isn’t vague praise or critique. It offers clear, specific guidance for what to repeat or improve.
Applying the CORE feedback framework from Radical Candor, here’s what great written feedback can look like.
Example feedback identifying a growth area
"In today's meeting (Context), I noticed you interrupted a teammate multiple times (Observation). This made it harder for others to share their ideas (Result). In the future, let’s try to give everyone space to contribute (Expectation)."
Example feedback pointing out a strength area
"During the project deadline crunch last week (Context), I saw how you took the lead in organizing tasks and keeping the team focused (Observation). This really helped us stay on track and meet the deadline smoothly (Result). Keep bringing that leadership mindset—it's making a big difference! (Expectation)."
How Taito.ai supports continuous feedback
Taito.ai is designed to make continuous feedback seamless, relevant, and personalized—without adding extra overhead for your team. Here’s how it works:
- Ask the right questions: Feedback prompts are tailored to your individual growth goals and personal expectations, ensuring every response is meaningful.
- In the right place: Feedback requests are delivered directly in Slack—where your work and conversations already happen.
- From the right people: Taito.ai identifies collaborators with the most context—based on meetings, projects, and shared work—so feedback is grounded in real interactions.
- At the right time: Prompts are timed around key moments like 1:1s, project milestones, or recurring check-ins, so feedback feels natural—not forced.
- With full transparency: Your feedback is collected into a private personal summary, giving you a clear view of your growth and trends over time. You control what’s shared.
The result? A continuous flow of feedback that supports growth, aligns expectations, lightens performance evaluations—and ultimately drives both individual and organizational success.
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What’s next?
If clear expectations define the "what" of great performance, continuous feedback powers the "how." It’s the compass that keeps individuals aligned, adaptable, and growing—week by week, not just year by year.
- To learn more about setting expectations, read our previous post about the topic
- In our next post, we’ll explore how to translate feedback into action through Regular 1:1 Check-Ins—keeping performance enablement grounded in real conversations.
Sources
- Chandler, Tamra (2019). Feedback (and Other Dirty Words): Why We Fear It, How to Fix It. Berrett-Koehler Publishers.
- Scott, Kim (2017). Radical Candor: Be a Kick-Ass Boss Without Losing Your Humanity. St. Martin's Press.
- Harvard Business Review (2025). “Why Feedback Can Make Work More Meaningful.” Retrieved from https://hbr.org/2025/01/why-feedback-can-make-work-more-meaningful
- Center for Creative Leadership (n.d.). “SBI Feedback Model: A Quick Win to Improve Talent Conversations & Development.” Retrieved from https://www.ccl.org/articles/leading-effectively-articles/sbi-feedback-model-a-quick-win-to-improve-talent-conversations-development/
- Taito.ai interviews with 100+ People and Technology leaders in European tech companies (2024)