Giving and Receiving Feedback Training for Stronger Workplace Communication
Master the art of giving and receiving feedback to create a culture where development conversations feel natural, constructive, and empowering. Our hands-on workshop equips teams with the tools and confidence to give and receive feedback without defensiveness or confusion.
Feedback Training Workshop Overview
Whether your team avoids giving feedback altogether or struggles with sugarcoating and unclear messaging, this interactive feedback training offers a psychologically safe environment to strengthen communication and accountability. Participants learn how to deliver feedback that’s both honest and constructive—while receiving it with openness and curiosity.
We’ve built upon well-known frameworks like the SBI feedback model (Situation–Behavior–Impact) and the feed-forward technique to develop a holistic feedback process. This moves our training beyond theory to a practical flow of how feedback is derived, delivered, and discussed. Teams engage with live scenarios and real-time coaching exercises to apply what they learn in the moment. The result is a culture where feedback isn’t avoided or feared—it becomes a shared language for growth and connection.
Whether delivered as an on-site workshop, virtual feedback workshop, or hybrid cohort, this experience equips your team with practical skills they can use immediately. Over time, those new habits strengthen engagement, trust, and long-term retention.
Why Feedback Skills Matter in Every Workplace
Poor feedback processes stall team growth, reduce trust, and lead to misalignment.
Great feedback unlocks innovation, nurtures high performance, and makes people feel seen and valued.
Research consistently shows that teams who practice effective, emotionally intelligent feedback experience greater psychological safety, improved collaboration, and stronger engagement (Edmondson, 1999; Kluger & DeNisi, 1996; Gallup, 2022). Our feedback workshop will get you there. When employees know how to give and receive feedback skillfully, they’re more likely to take ownership, communicate openly, and stay engaged.
That’s why feedback isn’t just a soft skill—it’s a measurable driver of retention, performance, and trust. Our feedback training helps leaders and employees apply practical frameworks to turn communication breakdowns into growth opportunities.
By integrating feedback into your regular conversations, you strengthen your organization’s resilience and create a workplace where people continually grow—together.
Why Mastering Both Sides of the Feedback Conversation is Critical to Success
Employees thrive in environments where communication flows both ways. Mastering the art of both giving and receiving feedback allows individuals to feel heard, respected, and supported to provide feedback in all directions, up, across, and down. When people can deliver constructive feedback clearly and also help clarify and accept feedback with openness as the receiver, teams grow stronger and build trust.
Research shows that employees who receive regular, constructive feedback and acknowledgement that is specific and highlights what’s going well are more engaged and less likely to leave. At the same time, organizations that train staff to receive feedback without defensiveness often see greater collaboration and retention. This training goes beyond performance management—it creates a learning culture where feedback is sought regularly as a tool for professional growth.
By mastering both sides of feedback, you reduce turnover, increase engagement, and create leaders who are confident in navigating challenging conversations.
How to Give Feedback with Clarity and Receive Feedback with Openness
When teams master both giving and receiving feedback, communication becomes clearer, relationships become more resilient, and performance improves across the board. At Humessence, our giving and receiving feedback training helps employees and leaders build confidence in navigating the full feedback process with emotional intelligence and clarity.
We draw on evidence-based frameworks that ensure feedback is delivered objectively with the intention and end goal in mind. We also prime receivers with the mindset and tools to engage in a future-focused discussion where new actions and behaviors are established.
Below are key principles from both sides of the feedback exchange that participants can immediately apply to promote a culture of growth and psychological safety.
👂 Receiving Feedback Training Includes:
- Practicing active listening without defensiveness
- Asking clarifying questions to understand intent and impact
- Noticing emotional reactions and responding with curiosity, not reactivity
- Thanking the giver—especially when the message is difficult to hear
- Distinguishing between helpful insights and misaligned assumptions
- Taking ownership of development areas without over-personalizing criticism
💬 Giving Feedback Training Focuses On:
- Using clear, non-judgmental language that separates observation from evaluation
- Grounding feedback in shared goals and impact rather than personal critique
- Adopting a coaching mindset that seeks to develop, not diminish
- Choosing timing and tone that support psychological safety
- Framing feedback as a two-way conversation, not a monologue
- Delivering positive reinforcement that’s specific and sincere
By equipping teams with these dual skillsets, we empower people to turn every feedback moment into a growth opportunity—and a chance to build stronger working relationships.
Why Choose Humessence for your Feedback Training?
Choosing the right feedback training provider makes all the difference. At Humessence, we don’t just teach communication techniques—we transform how leaders and teams relate, respond, and grow together. Our approach blends evidence-based coaching psychology with hands-on facilitation to help participants internalize feedback as a skill, not just a script.
We go beyond slide decks—our workshops use real-life scenarios, roleplays, and reflective coaching techniques that get people talking, thinking, and applying concepts immediately.
Participants walk away with clear, repeatable frameworks they can use in their very next feedback conversation—no fluff, just practical tools that work in real teams.
Our training is grounded in emotional intelligence, neuroscience, and communication research from thought leaders like Douglas Stone, Sheila Heen, and Amy Edmondson, ensuring your team learns what actually moves the needle.
Feedback is a core leadership skill. This workshop helps participants develop the confidence and mindset needed to lead with clarity, empathy, and accountability.
By mastering the delivery and reception of feedback, your team will experience fewer misunderstandings, more productive dialogue, and increased psychological safety. Ultimately, cultivating mutual respect and shared ownership across roles and departments.
Humessence workshops are intentionally designed for lasting impact. By combining psychological safety with research-backed methods, we help teams create visible improvements in collaboration, trust, and performance. Our clients often tell us they notice a difference after one session—clearer communication, stronger relationships, and leaders who feel confident guiding feedback conversations.
Those changes aren’t just cultural; they’re measurable.
ROI of Giving and Receiving Feedback Training
When HR leaders and executives invest in professional development, they expect results that go beyond “feel-good” sessions. That’s why our programs are built to deliver a quantifiable feedback training ROI—strengthening engagement, psychological safety, and, ultimately, retaining your best people.
A well-established feedback culture reduces turnover costs, improves team morale, and prevents small issues from escalating into major conflicts. Leaders skilled in coaching and feedback have the tools to inspire accountability while maintaining trust.
Every Humessence program is designed with measurable outcomes in mind. Through straightforward frameworks and applicable examples and scenarios, participants leave feeling connected to the material with skills they can apply immediately—leading to faster alignment, better collaboration, and a measurable boost in performance.
Giving and Receiving Feedback Training Learning Outcomes
- Give Feedback Without Triggering Defensiveness
Use emotionally intelligent frameworks to communicate clearly and as objectively as possible while maintaining empathy.
- Separate Intent from Impact
Understand the gap between what’s meant and what’s felt—and how to bridge it with different individuals.
- Receive Feedback Without Taking It Personally
Build resilience and develop a growth mindset that favors curiosity over justification, defense, and shutting down.
- Practice, Reflect, and Apply
Engage in realistic roleplays and coaching-style debriefs to solidify learning and build comfort with day-to-day implementation.
“Feedback is not just about the content of what’s being said. It’s about the relationship, the identity, and the emotional triggers it activates.” — Sheila Heen, co-author of Thanks for the Feedback
Making Feedback a Core Part of Your Team's Culture
Even the best feedback training will fall short if it isn’t followed by consistent practice and cultural reinforcement. That’s why Humessence emphasizes feedback culture training—so your team doesn’t just learn new skills, but lives them.
A healthy feedback culture goes beyond performance reviews and one-off comments. It fosters a workplace where honest, compassionate communication is the norm, whether it’s upward, downward, or peer-to-peer. When feedback becomes part of daily operations, team members feel more engaged, more aligned, and more accountable to one another.
In this training module, we help leaders and teams:
Create feedback rituals that support regular, low-stakes practice
Build systems that reward open communication and vulnerability
Develop shared agreements around feedback norms and expectations
Use feedback as a driver of innovation, trust, and psychological safety
Whether your team is navigating conflict, adjusting to change, or pursuing big goals, embedding feedback into your culture is one of the most powerful ways to drive progress. Through our coaching and feedback training, we help you build not just better communicators—but better collaborators.
Interactive Methods: Role-Plays, Feedback Circles & Real-Time Coaching
The best way to learn these feedback principles is by practicing them. That’s why our training is highly interactive. We meet with you prior to the event date to derive applicable scenarios that resonate throughout the workshop exercises:
- Role-plays and case studies to simulate real workplace scenarios.
- Feedback circles where participants practice both giving and receiving feedback in a safe setting.
- Real-time coaching where our facilitators provide guidance on body language, tone, and phrasing.
This experiential approach ensures participants don’t just learn concepts—they embody them. The safe, structured environment builds confidence so employees can bring these skills directly into their workplace. Whether in-person or in a virtual feedback workshop, our training emphasizes hands-on practice for lasting impact.
Delivery Formats: On-Site, Live-Virtual & Hybrid Cohorts
Every organization and team has unique needs. That’s why we offer flexible delivery options:
On-site Workshops: Immersive, interactive experiences tailored to your workplace.
Live Virtual Workshops: Ideal for remote or distributed teams, ensuring accessibility without losing impact.
Live Hybrid Cohorts: A blended approach combining online participants with an in-person group. This requires an extra facilitator to support an equitably engaging experience.
- Custom Cohort Programs: Combine multiple programs into a leadership development series or add 1:1 or focused group coaching sessions for training cohorts. We’ll work with you to understand what best serves your goals.
Our flexible formats keep your feedback training investment aligned with meeting your organizational goals. No matter the format, participants receive the same quality instruction, practice opportunities, and facilitator support.
Feedback Workshop Success Stories
These stories highlight the real-world outcomes possible when organizations move from fear-driven silence to feed-forward dialogue.
Your Step-by-Step Program Journey
We make it simple for organizations to integrate feedback training. The journey typically looks like this:
1) Consultation – Aligning program goals with organizational needs.
2) Pre-Training Assessment – Gathering insights on current feedback culture.
3) Interactive Training Delivery – Live facilitation, practice sessions, and coaching.
4) Action Plans – Participants commit to applying skills immediately.
5) Follow-Up & Support – Optional group coaching sessions or advanced modules.
This structured approach ensures measurable outcomes and sustainable culture change.
Giving and Receiving Feedback Training Facilitators
Brett Larson, MBA, CLC
Leadership Development Program Facilitator & Coach
Brett’s expertise in leadership development and organizational behavior, along with his experience coaching Fortune 500 executives, makes him a powerful guide for teams learning to give and receive feedback effectively. As the author of Discovering Leaders Within, he brings a practical, empathetic approach to behavior change and team growth. Check out his profile to learn more about his approach and story.
John Marshall, MS, PCC, NBC-HWC
Integrative Leadership Coach & Humessence Founder
John’s background in leadership coaching and positive psychology, paired with his experience teaching emotional intelligence through mindfulness and communication frameworks, makes him the ideal facilitator for feedback training. His coaching style helps leaders deliver feedback with clarity and receive it with openness, creating stronger relationships and high-trust teams. Check out his profile to learn more about his credentials and story.
Feedback Training Investment and Delivery Methods
Leadership Teams or Cross-Company Leader Cohorts
For workshops of up to 18 leaders(additional fee for larger groups)
+ Travel, Expenses, & Materials
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2.5-hour in-person/virtual workshop
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Promoting a feedback culture additional content
-
Interactive and engaging group and self-reflective exercises
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Professionally printed workshop manual with take-home resources
Employees or Mixed Employee/Leader Groups
For workshops of up to 24 people(additional fee for larger groups)
+ Travel, Expenses, & Materials
-
2-hour in-person workshop
-
Increased receptivity and desire to engage in feedback conversations
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Interactive and engaging group and self-reflective exercises
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Professionally printed workshop manual with take-home resources
Virtual Employee or Mixed Employee/Leader Groups
For online workshops of up to 48 people(additional fee for larger groups)
(No additional fees)
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2-hour virtual workshop
-
Increased receptivity and desire to engage in feedback conversations
-
Interactive and engaging group and self-reflective exercises
-
Professional fillable digital workshop manual with take-home resources
Ready to Schedule Your Giving and Receiving Feedback Workshop?
Call today or submit the form below to secure the date for your workshop
- (832) 800-3596
- info@humessence.com
Feedback Training FAQ
This training is ideal for leaders, managers, and team members at any level who want to improve how they give and receive feedback. It’s especially helpful for organizations seeking to build a culture of trust, clarity, and continuous learning.
Unlike generic communication workshops, this session is grounded in emotional intelligence, evidence-based communication models, and experiential learning. We focus on both the mindset and the skillset needed to make feedback feel natural and effective—not forced or uncomfortable.
The workshop is most effective in a dedicated two-hour segment. The shortest timeframe we’ll support is 90 minutes (of content delivery, not including introductions or other organization content). Two and a half to three hours allows for expansion and an extended Q&A if available. You can also combine with other complementary Humessence workshops for full-day and multi-day trainings.
Absolutely. We tailor examples, feedback scenarios, and discussion prompts to your organization’s context and needs. We’ll work with you beforehand to ensure relevance and resonance.
Yes! The participant workbooks have links to our entire library of free resources and supplemental materials to sustain and build on what they learn, integrating it into their day-to-day lives.
Yes! You have the option to enroll participants in an email list to receive ongoing communication tips and strategies every month. A team or group coaching cohort is also a great follow-up option to integrate the learnings into team dynamics and culture over six months to a year.
You can book a workshop by contacting us via phone at (832) 800-3596 or submitting the contact form above. We will confirm your date availability within 24 hours and partner with you in tailoring the workshop delivery to the specific challenges your group is facing.
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