Good feedback answers three questions. What exactly is the problem? Why does it matter? What should I do next? "This needs work" answers none. "The price change is in paragraph four; the client reads the first two lines; move it up" answers all three. Say the fix, not the feeling.
The note that helps nobody
"Not quite there. The tone is a bit off and it feels unfocused. Can you take another pass?"
The person reads this three times. They do not know what to change. So they change everything, or they change nothing and send it back with a question. Either way, another day is gone.
The reviewer was not being lazy. They were being fast. But vague feedback is only fast for the person who writes it. It is slow for everyone else.
The three-question formula
For each thing you want changed, say:
- What, exactly. Point at it. Quote it. Name the line.
- Why it matters. One short reason. The reader, the goal, the rule.
- What to do. The specific change.
"The price change is in paragraph four. (What.) The client will only read the first two lines. (Why.) Move the price change to the first sentence. (What to do.)"
Three sentences. Ten seconds to write. The person can fix it without asking anything.
Five swaps
| Instead of | Try |
|---|---|
| "The tone is off." | "You call the client 'you guys.' Use their names and keep it formal." |
| "Too long." | "It is 400 words. They asked for one minute. Cut to 120 and keep the three findings." |
| "Make it pop." | "The headline is the same size as the body text. Make it twice as big and use the brand blue." |
| "This is confusing." | "Step 2 says to click Save, but the button is called Continue. Match the real button names." |
| "Not what I asked for." | "The brief asked for new customers. This is written for existing ones. Change the first paragraph so it assumes they have never logged in." |
Keep it about the work
Feedback about the work is easy to act on. Feedback about the person is not.
"You always rush these" cannot be fixed by Friday. "The link in line three is broken" can. If you see a pattern in how someone works, that is a separate conversation, in a one-on-one, with examples. It does not belong in a review note.
The Performance review generator flags lines that are vague or about the person, and suggests a rewrite for each.
Say what is right, too
Not as a cushion. As information. "The structure is right, keep it" tells the person what not to touch. Without it, they may rewrite the good part while fixing the bad part.
Put it in order
Lead with the one thing that matters most. If they only fix one thing, which one? Then the rest. End with what happens next: "fix these two and send it, no need for another review."
A full example
Two fixes and this is ready.
1. Move the price change to the first sentence. The client reads two lines, not four paragraphs.
2. Replace "you guys" with their names. Keep it formal, they are a bank.
The structure and the closing are right. Keep them. Once these two are done, send it. You do not need me to look again.
The person can do this in ten minutes and knows they are done.
Where M-Tracker fits
You will not always have time to write feedback this carefully. M-Tracker gives the first review for you. When a task is marked done, it compares the work with the request and tells the person, in one plain paragraph, what matches and what is missing and exactly what to change. No score, no judgment of the person. By the time you look, the obvious fixes are done, and your feedback can be about judgment, not missing dates.
Try M-Tracker free14-day trial. No credit card. No employee surveillance.
Work you can trust, without redoing it.
Your team gets feedback before work reaches you, or your client.
Copyright © 2020 – 2026 M-Tracker. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy