Collaboration & Process › Communication

Receiving Feedback

Listening, asking for specifics, and acting on it.

Also known as: code review feedback, accepting feedback

Feedback is information about how your work looked to someone else. You don’t have to agree with all of it, but you do need to hear it before you decide what to do with it. The first step is to listen without defending yourself.

When feedback is vague, ask for the specifics. “This function is hard to follow” is more useful after you find out which part confused the reviewer.

Vague:     "This could be cleaner."
Specific:  "Which part? Would you split the loop into a helper, or rename the variables?"

After you’ve understood it, decide what to do. Some points will be right and you’ll change them. Some will be a matter of taste, and you can say why you prefer your version. Thank the person either way, because they spent time on it.

The classic mistake is treating every comment as a judgement on you as a person, which leads to either defensiveness or quietly ignoring feedback. Keep the comment about the work. If you disagree, explain your reasoning in a sentence, and move on. Feedback in a one-on-one works the same way.