FBI Feedback Model Practice

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.

Group arrangement: Pairs (with an optional trio of three if numbers are odd)

Timing: 15 minutes suggested by UWT to introduce, draft, practice both sides in pairs, and debrief

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.