Works with Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini, or your own local model: paste this prompt and your AI will co-facilitate this exercise with you.

Help me prepare and run the exercise below. First ask for my participant count, time, setting, access needs and intended result. Check these against the stated limits. Use the supplied rules and materials. Explain any proposed changes before using them, and label them as adaptations. Do not invent source claims or require personal disclosure. Give me one step at a time when I say start. I manage the people, physical activity and clock; do not claim to observe the room. Ask me what happened before choosing a next step.

Reference revision: 125963f391c2771d62e4a7e5b58daa9ebcb05fac6b88be2427fde8cb3d1d81fb

# FBI Feedback Model Practice

Participants draft and rehearse constructive feedback in pairs using three components: Feeling, Behaviour, and Impact. Each person tests an example statement, receives peer notes on clarity, and refines it for real-world delivery.

**Time:** 15 minutes. 15 minutes suggested by UWT to introduce, draft, practice both sides in pairs, and debrief
**People:** 4 to 24. Pairs (with an optional trio of three if numbers are odd)

## Choose this exercise

**Purpose:** Draft and rehearse a three-part feedback statement to clearly communicate observed actions and consequences without personal attacks.
**Use it when:** Use during manager training, team resets, or communication workshops when colleagues need a structured format for direct conversations.
**Skip it when:** Skip during active team conflict resolution or when emotional tension makes live roleplay unsafe.

## Materials and tools

- One FBI Feedback Worksheet per participant or blank note cards
- Pens or pencils (one per participant)

## Before participants arrive

1. Print worksheets or provide index cards.
2. Arrange seating so pairs can speak without speaking directly over each other.

## Say this to open

When giving feedback, clarity protects the working relationship. We will use the FBI framework: Feeling, Behaviour, and Impact. You will draft a statement based on a recent situation or a provided scenario, then test it with a partner. Partner feedback will focus purely on whether the Behaviour was specific and the Impact was concrete.

## How to run it

### 1. Introduce the framework (3 minutes)

Display or explain the three parts: Feeling (state your own emotion without blame), Behaviour (name the specific, observable action, avoiding 'always' or 'never'), and Impact (describe the concrete consequence to the work or team). Read the neutral example from the worksheet so participants see the format.

### 2. Draft individual statements (4 minutes)

Participants work silently to write one feedback statement using the FBI format. They may use a real workplace situation or select a provided practice scenario. Anyone who prefers not to write a personal situation can use the printed scenario.

### 3. Rehearse in pairs (5 minutes)

Participants pair up. Person A reads their statement aloud. Person B gives two minutes of feedback: Did the statement stay with observable facts? Was the impact clear? At minute two and a half, call time to swap roles so Person B reads and Person A responds. In a trio, divide time into three 90-second rounds.

### 4. Debrief and transfer (3 minutes)

Gather the full room. Ask two or three volunteers to share what made phrasing the specific behaviour challenging. Close by reviewing the rule to always give constructive feedback in private.


## Debrief questions

- Which part of the formula felt hardest to keep objective: feeling, behaviour, or impact?
- How did removing words like 'always' or 'never' change the tone of your statement?

**Finished output:** A written, rehearsed three-part feedback statement ready for a private 1-on-1 conversation.

## Remote

Run in video breakout rooms in pairs for 5 minutes after screen-sharing the template and instructions. Provide the worksheet via a shared digital document or chat snippet. Set an automated broadcast message at 2.5 minutes to prompt partners to swap roles.

## Hybrid

Pair in-person participants with in-person peers and remote participants with remote peers in video breakout rooms. Provide digital links to the worksheet so all participants access identical scenario cards. Conduct the whole-room debrief in the main joint video room with room microphones active.

## Access and participation choices

- Participants may use a provided neutral scenario instead of sharing personal workplace incidents.
- Participants may pass on reading their statement aloud and instead review the phrasing silently with their partner through written text.

## If the session gets stuck

**A participant uses accusatory language like 'You were being lazy' under Behaviour.**

Coach them to describe only what a video camera would record, such as 'The report arrived two days after the deadline.'

**Pairs spend all five minutes on Person A without switching.**

Give an audible time check at the halfway mark (2.5 minutes) and instruct everyone to switch roles immediately.


## Terms used here

- FBI Model: A feedback structure consisting of Feeling, Behaviour, and Impact.

## Participant material: FBI Feedback Worksheet

FBI FEEDBACK MODEL

1. FEELING: Name your own reaction.
Example: 'I felt concerned...'

2. BEHAVIOUR: State the specific, observable action. Avoid words like 'always' or 'never'.
Example: '...when you missed the project update meeting on Tuesday without sending a note beforehand...'

3. IMPACT: State the concrete result for the work, the team, or the project.
Example: '...because the team could not finalize the client schedule, and we had to reschedule the presentation.'

---
PRACTICE SCENARIO (Optional):
Your colleague promised to send client interview notes by 3:00 PM yesterday so you could prep for an 8:00 AM presentation today. They sent them at 11:30 PM last night, leaving you unprepared for the morning briefing.

YOUR DRAFT:
Feeling: I felt...
Behaviour: when you...
Impact: and the result was...

## Sources and adaptation

Observed in WorkshopBank, which attributes the FBI Model to the Center for Creative Leadership in the 1980s.

Retained the core FBI (Feeling, Behaviour, Impact) components, 1-on-1 preparation guideline, and behavioral criteria from the WorkshopBank source page. UWT adapted the reading into a structured 15-minute partner rehearsal exercise with defined timings, practice scenario, and debrief prompts.

[WorkshopBank](https://workshopbank.com/tools/how-to-give-feedback-fbi-model)

Current run sheet: https://unitedwetransform.com/exercises/fbi-feedback-model-workshopbank/