Focusing on behaviours, impact, and balanced feedback

Covering three of the core principles set out in AC 1.3 of FREE07, this video examines the distinction between behaviour-focused feedback and personality-based criticism, the role of impact in making feedback meaningful, and what balanced feedback genuinely requires. Rather than addressing abstract ideals, the video works through the reasoning behind each principle, using concrete workplace examples — including a missed deadline scenario — to illustrate why the framing of feedback determines whether it is constructive or counterproductive.

The video gives particular attention to why observable, changeable behaviours must be the target of feedback rather than character or personality traits, and how connecting those behaviours to real consequences — for colleagues, teams, customers or business outcomes — changes the way feedback lands. The missed deadline example appears in two forms: first as a behaviour description, then expanded to show the downstream effect on a colleague's workload, demonstrating how impact-focused language differs from a simple instruction to follow rules.

On balanced feedback, the video addresses both what the principle means in practice and a specific pitfall associated with it: the feedback sandwich. The video discusses why this formulaic pattern — praise, criticism, praise — has become counterproductive, with recipients either dismissing the positive comments or recognising the structure as a device. The distinction drawn here is between genuine acknowledgement of strengths alongside development areas and a rigid formula that undermines the credibility of the feedback itself.