A workplace skills course
Most feedback conversations go wrong before a word is spoken. The course works through the actual language — word for word — of difficult workplace moments. Not theory about communication. Scripts you can use on Monday morning.
Explore the Course
Giving feedback well is a skill, not a personality trait. So is receiving it without going defensive. Both sides get equal attention here — because the loop only closes when both parties handle it well.
How to frame observations so they describe behaviour, not character. When to have the conversation. What to do when the other person gets upset.
How to stay open when something stings. How to ask clarifying questions without sounding defensive. What to do with feedback you disagree with.
Every module ends with word-for-word language you can adapt. Not because conversation is scripted, but because having a starting point removes the freeze.
Manager-to-report, peer-to-peer, upward feedback, written feedback, performance reviews. The scenarios are drawn from actual work situations.
The problem is rarely bad intentions. It is usually imprecise language, poor timing, or no mental model for what the other person is experiencing.
Saying "you were unclear in the meeting" triggers a different reaction than "the proposal didn't make the trade-offs clear." Both observations may be equally valid. One sounds like an attack on the person. The other describes something that can be fixed.
Right after a stressful moment is rarely the right moment. The course covers when to wait, and when waiting makes it worse.
Understanding why people go defensive makes it easier to avoid triggering it, and easier to manage it in yourself.
The goal is not to deliver feedback without friction. It is to have conversations where the friction is productive rather than personal.
From the course introductionSix modules, each built around a specific feedback situation. Each module includes context, common mistakes, a worked example, and scripts.
This is the most common situation and the one where language matters most. The module works through how to describe what you observed, separate it from what you inferred about the person, and open the door to a two-way conversation rather than a verdict. You will work through scripts for in-person feedback, written feedback on a document, and feedback delivered after the fact when you have had time to think.
Telling your manager something is not working requires a different approach than peer feedback. The power dynamic changes what feels safe to say, and how you frame things affects whether you are heard or dismissed. This module covers how to raise concerns, give positive feedback that does not sound sycophantic, and handle situations where your manager is the problem you are trying to describe.
Peer feedback is often avoided precisely because the relationship feels too close for honesty. People either soften feedback to meaninglessness or avoid it altogether. This module looks at how to be genuinely useful to a colleague without damaging the relationship, and how to receive peer feedback without reading too much into it.
The receiving side is underserved in most feedback training. This module is dedicated entirely to it. You will learn what happens neurologically when critical feedback arrives, why defensiveness is a natural response, and what practical techniques help you stay open. The module includes scripts for asking clarifying questions, handling feedback you think is wrong, and processing feedback after the conversation.
Performance reviews concentrate a year's worth of feedback into a single formal conversation, which is why they are so often high-stakes and unsatisfying. This module covers how to prepare feedback that is fair and evidence-based, how to structure the review conversation, and how to handle the common flashpoints: the employee who disagrees, the rating they find unfair, and the feedback they claim to be hearing for the first time.
Written feedback removes tone of voice and facial expression, which means the reader supplies their own. This module looks at how to write feedback in emails, documents, and 360-review systems in a way that reads as intended. You will work through examples of written feedback that went wrong and learn what made them ambiguous or harsh, and how to rewrite them.
Most people on this course are not here because they have been told they give bad feedback. They are here because they want to close the gap between what they mean and what the other person hears.
Each module is self-contained. You can work through them in order or go directly to the situation most relevant to you right now.
The course is designed to be completed at your own pace. There are no live sessions, no cohort schedule. You work through the material, practise the scripts, and return to any module when a specific situation comes up.
See pricing optionsEach module opens with a short video that sets the scene and explains the key concepts before the scripts begin.
Two or three versions of the same scenario — one handled poorly, one handled adequately, one handled well — with annotation on the differences.
Condensed reference cards with the key language from each module, designed to be kept near your desk.
Return to any module when a new situation comes up. The material does not expire.
The course draws on research in communication, applied linguistics, and organisational behaviour. The scripts are tested in real workplaces, not constructed from first principles.
The script design draws on research into how word choice shapes how messages are received in professional contexts.
Scenarios are drawn from documented patterns in workplace communication research, not invented for illustration.
Content was developed and refined with input from managers, HR practitioners, and people who had been on the receiving end of difficult feedback conversations.
All scenarios and scripts reflect UK workplace norms and communication conventions. Nothing is adapted from US training material.
A few things people often ask before starting the course.
Both. The course covers manager-to-report feedback in depth, but also peer feedback, upward feedback, and receiving feedback regardless of your role. Most people find they get something from every module even if some are more immediately relevant than others.
Most people work through all six modules over two to four weeks, spending roughly an hour per module. That said, the course is designed to be used as a reference resource, not consumed once and filed. Many people return to specific modules when a situation comes up at work.
No, and the course says so explicitly. The scripts are starting points that you adapt to your voice and situation. The value is in understanding why each phrase works the way it does, so you can construct something similar when the script does not quite fit.
This course tends to be useful even for people with prior communication training, because the focus is narrower. It is not about communication generally. It is specifically about feedback language — the particular challenge of saying something critical in a way that helps rather than hurts. If you have done general communication training, the scripts here are likely to add something specific that broader courses do not cover.
Yes. Team pricing is available and there is a group licence option for organisations who want to provide access to a cohort. Get in touch via the contact page to discuss what makes sense for your team's size and structure.
A completion certificate is available. It reflects that you have worked through all six modules. It does not confer a professional qualification, but some people find it a useful marker for their own development record or for demonstrating continuing professional development.
You do not have to work through the course in order. If peer feedback is the thing keeping you up at night, start there.