Hacking the Habit Loop: Build a Feedback Habit

Want to build the habit of sharing high quality, regular feedback? Continuous feedback is fuel for learning, growth, and top performers. You can use behavioral science to get on the right track fast.

The Habit Loop Explained

Back in the 1990s, researchers at MIT defined the “habit loop.” This loop describes the pattern our brain follows when we’re acting out a habit. By understanding this pattern, you can build new, positive habits.

The habit loop consists of three parts:

1. The Trigger (or Cue): These are signals that tell our brain it’s time to start the habit
2. The Routine: This is the habit itself
3. The Reward: This is the benefit you get from doing the habit

Cues for Feedback

Sharing feedback can seem hard.

But if you don’t share feedback now, you’ll face MUCH bigger problems later. Think: difficult PIPs, tense relationships, surprises at performance reviews, top performers leaving, and open conflict.

You don’t want to wait for cues like those to give feedback. Instead of creating dumpster fires, create a proactive feedback habit with positive cues.

There are five types of cues you can use to build a feedback habit:

1. Time
2. Emotion
3. Location (or Context)
4. Preceding Action
5. Other People

Time Cues - We live by our calendars at work! Use your calendar to schedule a specific time for feedback and recognition. Or set an agenda item in a regular meeting.

• Schedule examples: Schedule 5 minutes every Monday morning to give praise to team members
• Agenda examples: Use the first 5 minutes of your 1:1s with colleagues to ask for feedback. You can request feedback in advance so they aren’t caught off guard - "I'm working on concise communications this month. Can I ask you for feedback at the start of next month?"

Location Cues - Location cues involve giving feedback when you’re in a specific place or doing a certain task.

• Example: When reviewing dashboards or metrics, use this time to note or share feedback
• Example: Ask ChatGPT to prompt you to give feedback
• Example: Shadow team members while they work - e.g. sales call - and share feedback and coaching after

Emotion Cues - Avoid using negative emotions as feedback triggers. Instead, focus on sharing praise when you feel excited or proud about someone’s work. Instead of giving a passing, “Great job” write the positive feedback down so that the message sticks!

• Example: Write someone a message and leave it on their desk
• Example: Use a tool like HeyTaco to publicly praise teammates and reinforce values

Preceding Action Cues - Preceding action cues involve giving feedback right after something has just happened.

• Example: After a meeting, make it a habit to ask for feedback
• Example: After a one-on-one meeting, use feedback tools to document and share what was discussed

Other People Cues - Other people can support a habit.

• Example: Spend the first 5 minutes of a meeting giving shout-outs in a team channel. This way, everyone can see, appreciate, and track the positive feedback.
• Example: In your leadership meeting, dedicate the first few minutes to requesting feedback. This sets the tone for the entire company.

Feedback Routine

When it comes to giving and receiving quality feedback, there’s so much research and advice that it can be hard to see the forest through the trees. The average employee or manager doesn’t have time to research the right framework or catch up on behavioral science.

What’s important is making the routine as easy as possible. Some quick ways to do this are:

• Using validated frameworks like the situation-behavior-impact (SBI) and the Start-Stop-Continue models,
• Adding an agenda item to your 1:1s (template here)
• Training team members on best practices, and
• Getting in the right mindset (5 Mindset Shifts to Overcome Feedback Avoidance)

Framework: Situation-Behavior-Impact (+Expectations)

Great for sharing feedback on behavioral issue or notable accomplishment

• Situation: When did you observe the behavior/skill? Include context like dates and events
• Behavior: Which behavior(s) or action(s) were notable?
• Impact: What does this mean? Is there an impact on team, customer, business, and/or your team member?
• Expectation: What do you expect of this team member’s role or their actions moving forward?

Framework: Start-Stop-Continue

Great for sharing feedback on a project, meeting, or deliverable.

• Start: In order to be successful, this person needs to START demonstrating [Insert] actions or behaviors
• Stop: In order to be successful, this person needs to STOP demonstrating [Insert] actions or behaviors

• Continue: In order to be successful, this person needs to CONTINUE demonstrating [Insert] actions or behaviors

Rewards of Giving Feedback

You might wonder, “What IS the reward for giving feedback regularly?!”  Believe it or not, there are a lot of benefits. To name a few…

• Trust-Building: Builds trust with colleagues through honest communication, especially our Genz teammates who want different performance management
• Recognition: Teammates feel appreciated and can understand their strengths. A Workleap Officevibe survey found that "69% of employees say they would work harder if they felt their efforts were better recognized".
• Time-Saving: Saves time during 360 reviews and performance evaluations; not to mention avoiding time-sucking personnel issues like PIPs, conflict, and underperformance
• Early Problem-Solving: Catches performance issues before they become major problems and avoids surprises during reviews and at promotions
• Skill Development and career growth: Develops important skills and accelerates how quickly people reach their potential and progress in their careers

‍

It’s key to reinforce a culture of feedback with tangible rewards. Here are some ideas:

• Spotlight a team member who’s received shout-outs each company meeting
• Share your feedback leaderboard and give a gift card to the top 5 people investing in feedback each month
• Give managers a budget to celebrate teammates who improve after receiving constructive feedback
• Award a monthly company prize to the person who best demonstrates a growth mindset

Create Your Feedback Habit Now

Here’s what you can do to get started:

1. Set Up a Cue: Schedule 10 min each Friday to ask for feedback, share feedback right after meetings, or use the first 5 min of team meetings to share praise
2. Start Small: Share praise about one teammate or ask one colleague for feedback this week
3. Build a Positive Feedback Bank: Gradually accumulate positive feedback to create the right environment for the tougher stuff

By understanding and applying the habit loop to feedback, you can turn feedback into a regular, valuable part of your team’s routine. Start small, be consistent, and watch your team grow and improve.

Want help building the habit of feedback? Join the waitlist for our upcoming Navigator Course - Build a culture of feedback and get an early discount. Navigator Courses are 2-4 week courses with self-paced lessons and live Leadership Labs to discuss, practice, and grow with peers.