5 rules for giving feedback your PR team will actually use
Feedback is a gift.
Keri Toomey is an EVP, Professional Services Co-Lead and Head of Employee Experience at The Bliss Group.
In the communications industry, being a people pleaser can be a superpower and a curse.
While it helps us anticipate client needs and navigate complex relationships, it’s also the number one reason leaders fail to give feedback that actually drives growth. That people-pleaser instinct can become a liability when it prevents you from having crucial development conversations with your team.
Drawing from Kim Scott’s “Radical Candor” philosophy, the most effective feedback combines genuine care with direct challenge. This balance is particularly crucial in communications, where relationships and results are equally important. Yet leaders often struggle to deliver: Korn Ferry research reveals that only 59% of employees feel they receive adequate feedback. The cost of this feedback gap isn’t just stunted professional growth — it’s missed opportunities, team burnout and unrealized potential.
As your colleagues prepare for their 2025 career goals and milestones, here are five principles for delivering feedback that will help you supercharge professional growth.
- Take the fear out of feedback
One of the first things you can do to be a better coach is to reframe your mindset around coaching. Here’s your new mantra: giving constructive feedback is an act of kindness. This isn’t a meaningless rebrand designed to make you feel better about delivering a tough message. If you are withholding feedback that an individual needs to be successful, you are creating rather than minimizing harm.
From there, you can also help transform the feedback process from a dreaded conversation into a growth opportunity. Instead of jumping straight to, “This deck needs a lot of work,” start with something like: “Do you have a few minutes for some feedback that will help you with your next presentation?” When you ask for consent and set your intention, you help minimize anxiety that can compete with your colleague’s ability to hear and digest your guidance.
When it comes to the guidance, get specific. Generic feedback rarely drives meaningful improvement. Provide concrete examples and actionable steps that align with your firm’s best practices and client expectations. “You need to become a stronger media strategist” is not as helpful as, “Next quarter I’d like to see you take more ownership of the media planning and messaging workshop for our healthcare client by researching industry trends, analyzing competitor communications and developing three differentiated story angles.”
- Lean into strengths while addressing non-negotiables
Make sure your colleagues are not only hearing from you when something isn’t working. Take a moment to send kudos when a team member delivers a great insight or idea. Call out a great first draft when you see one, and make sure to pass on praise. Everyone has strengths, and when you are able to help your colleague feel seen in an area of achievement or improvement like creative campaign development or stakeholder relationship management, it builds trust. But don’t shy away from addressing critical improvements. In our industry, certain elements are non-negotiable: meeting deadlines, quality control, maintaining accuracy and upholding client confidentiality. Frame feedback around these essentials while acknowledging and building upon existing strengths. For example, “Your diligent approach and creative thinking on the influencer research project was outstanding. Let’s apply that same attention to detail and proactive thinking on the next client call agenda.”
- Focus on intention and impact
One of the most important questions in the communications industry is “Why?” Why helps us understand our client goals and what’s behind a trend. It’s also extremely valuable in helping your team understand the context behind your coaching. When starting a one-on-one meeting, explain both the “why” for your feedback and why it matters. Context is critical, and it helps your colleague see the bigger picture in addition to the specific development point. For example, “Demonstrating industry expertise will be critical as you step into the manager role, so take another look at the survey data to see if you can go a layer deeper and think about the ’so what‘ of each trend. That will help you write a more compelling narrative for our target audience and the media and in turn help the team reach our KPIs.”
- Show humility
Client service professionals have to meet a very high standard of work consistently to be successful in the long term. But that doesn’t mean everyone is perfect. Great leaders have made many mistakes and missteps, and when it comes to coaching, that can be an asset. When you are preparing to deliver constructive feedback, ask yourself if you faced this same issue or something similar in the past. The goal is not to make it about you, but to show humility and help your colleague understand that this development point is achievable. For example, “We have all struggled with deadlines at times – I had to ask for more time from Client X just last week – but we need you to be proactively managing time to make sure this doesn’t become a pattern.”
- Expect reciprocity
Feedback cannot only flow top-down or one direction to be effective. To build trust and ensure you have all of the information you need to be an effective coach, turn the tables. Ask your colleague, “Is there anything I can do to support you in reaching this goal?” or simply, “Do you have any feedback for me?” Showing accountability and aligning your own practices to your colleagues’ needs not only models good behavior in being receptive to feedback but also builds a true dialogue with the individual. It can also help you identify ways to show up more effectively for your team by uncovering details about how your colleague learns better, processes information, and what motivates them.
In an environment where feedback flows in all directions, everyone has potential to level up in each coaching conversation.
The bottom line:
In an industry driven by rapid news cycles and client demands, it’s easy for feedback to be viewed as a “nice to have” rather than a strategic imperative. But here’s the reality: meaningful coaching conversations are not just non-billable time. It’s an investment that is key to developing the counselors and leaders who will drive your firm’s future success and innovation.
Your next move? Don’t let this be another article you bookmark for “later.” Schedule that feedback session you’ve been putting off. The sooner you start, the sooner you’ll see the impact — on your team, your clients and your agency’s success.
Great tips! It’s very hard not to take criticism personally and become demoralised. But helping to see the bigger picture and stressing context refrain these as growth opportunities
I appreciated these insights on delivering constructive feedback! The emphasis on clarity, specificity and timing is crucial for fostering a productive team environment. I especially appreciate the point about balancing praise with constructive criticism. Too often, feedback skews too much in one direction. Implementing these rules can truly enhance collaboration efforts. Thanks for sharing these practical tips!
— Gracie Powell, Platform Magazine editor/writer