Speedback Feedback

Sample Agenda & Prompts

1. If needed, host a 15 minute session to explain Speedback in person using this deck. This is especially helpful if it’s the first time the team has participated in a Speedback style feedback session.

   Speedback from VMware Labs Practices Site Slides

2. Let the team know a Speedback session is happening, and tell them how to prepare.

   Tip: Feel free to modify and use the email template in the Facilitator Notes & Tips section.

3. Send out calendar invites to block out times and rooms. If remote, include video-call sessions. Since people will be paired up, you’ll need half as many rooms or video call sessions as number of participants.

   Example: For a team of 8, book 4 rooms or set up 4 dedicated video call sessions.

4. Prior to the Speedback session, send a reminder for participants to make sure they have their feedback prepared.

   Tip: It is highly encouraged that every team member prepare written feedback for every other team member prior to the session. This helps sessions move quickly and smoothly, and shows respect to one’s teammates.

   Feedback should ideally contain both positive and at least one constructive thought. Consider using one of the feedback frameworks described in the linked Speedback slide deck, such as the Actionable, Specific, and Kind framework (ASK).

5. Set up a schedule. For example, on a team of 4 participants, you could set it up in the following way:

   • 1:00 PM - 1:05 PM: Room 1: Kick off together, time for any questions - all participants
   • 1:05 PM - 1:15 PM Room 1: Participants A and B
   • 1:05 PM - 1:15 PM Room 2: Participants C and D
   • 1:15 PM - 1:25 PM Room 1: Participants A and C
   • 1:15 PM - 1:25 PM Room 2: Participants B and D
   • 1:25 PM - 1:35 PM Room 1: Participants A and D
   • 1:25 PM - 1:35 PM Room 2: Participants B and C
   • 1:35 PM - 1:45 PM Room 1: wrap up together - all participants
   • 1:45 PM - 2:15 PM: restorative/reflection time - could be a team outing, or just a break before heading back to work

6. Speedback time. In any given session, one participant gives their feedback to the other, and they spend up to 5 minutes discussing. Participants are encouraged to take notes but remain engaged. After 5 minutes they switch roles.

   Tip: As needed, participants are encouraged to schedule follow-up sessions to discuss feedback in more detail.

7. At the end of the 10 minutes the next round of Speedback begins, with each participant paired up with a different teammate. This continues until all participants have had a chance to give feedback to one another.

8. As the facilitator, keep time. If pairs are not switching or are going over their allotted time, let them know and encourage them to wrap up.

Success/Expected Outcomes

At the end of all one-on-one interactions, gather the team together and perform a quick debrief about how the Speedback session went, anything they learned that they would like to share, suggestions for improving the session, when to schedule the next one, and whatever else is on their minds.

Speedback can be intense and overwhelming and some restorative or reflection time afterwards is important. Individuals can either do their own thing, or the team can go out for a coffee or ice cream - they can decide during the wrap up.

Facilitator Notes & Tips

How do I present Speedback to hesitant team members to get them on board?

Explain to hesitant team members that there is direct value to the project when team members provide and receive individualized feedback. Describe the ASK feedback system and reinforce that everyone participating is likely feeling similarly.

Additionally, the act itself of seeing and participating in a Speedback session is a valuable process/tool for encouraging ongoing feedback within the team even if the team members change over time.

How is Speedback different from other methods of feedback?

Participants receive a wide breadth of feedback in a short amount of time. Chances are, when an individual receives similar feedback from three different people within an hour, it may resonate more strongly than if the feedback was delivered three times but spread out over the course of a month.

Speedback is also a good way for everyone to get a quick health check on how they are doing as individuals on the team, and to set goals based on what they hear.

Speedback has an advantage of appearing more democratic in that it is initiated by an outsider, facilitated by an outsider, and all participants are on the same footing. This can be less daunting than say, a feedback session that person A initiates with person B specifically.

Speedback is not a cure-all

One disadvantage of Speedback is that due to its timeboxed nature, it can be difficult to go deep into any one topic. Participants can always schedule follow-up sessions to continue the conversation.

Speedback can be very effective when teams are going through a rough patch or if there are indications that the team’s health is taking a downturn. But if the team health or morale is already low, or if a subset of interpersonal relationships have truly deteriorated, Speedback is not the right format to resolve those issues.

Email Template

Feel free to use the following email template, modifying it as needed based on the size of your Speedback session.

Hi [name of team],

I’d like to run a “Speedback” session for your team next week when you’re all available. What is a Speedback session?

It’s feedback, but speed-dating style. Everyone gets a chance to give and receive feedback to/from everyone else in a timeboxed way.

How does it work?

Folks will pair up and spend 10 minutes with each other (each person does about 5 minutes of giving feedback, and 5 minutes of receiving), then switch pairs. Since this team has 4 team members, that means each of you will speak to 3 others for 10m each. I’ll facilitate and act as time-keeper. I’ve put 45m on the calendar because switching rooms and answering questions can take more time.

Should I prepare anything ahead of time?

Yes, absolutely. Speedback is time to deliver the feedback, not think it up! Please spend some time thinking of feedback for each and every one of your team members prior to the meeting and write it down. I like writing bullets down on 3 stickies or in my notes-app for each person in the following format:

• Things I think the person is doing well
• Areas where I think the person could improve
• Questions or suggestions I have for that person

Then I read through them with the person and I give or send them the notes afterwards. You can adapt whatever style you like, but I encourage writing down the feedback instead of relying on memory (or worse, making it up as you go). I will send out a reminder to have feedback written prior to the session.

How do I make my feedback valuable?

There is a lot of literature out there on this. I’ve included a deck that has some detailed suggestions and format: Interpersonal Feedback - Talk and Workshop.

It’s easy to heap on the praise; try to come up with at least one piece of constructive feedback for everyone.

Variations

For Remote Teams

If the entire team is co-located, try hosting Speedback in person. But if the team is even partially remote, set up the entire session as remote with video calls.

With some clever video-call preparation and facilitation over chat, you can have people virtually enter rooms to give and receive feedback, and the facilitator can use chat apps or the video conferencing tool itself to notify people to switch.

How do I make this work in a large team of 8 or more participants?

It can be logistically challenging to set up Speedback with a large group. Some teams also may benefit from discipline-specific sessions, such as an engineering-only group.

Try having two or more smaller sessions. Try to keep them somewhat close together (within a week of each other).

What if there’s an odd number of participants, e.g. 5 people on the team?

At any given time, one person will end up sitting out during each round. They can use that time to reflect, prepare, or just take a break.

Recommended Reading

Interpersonal Feedback - Talk and Workshop – Presentation