30 Positive Feedback Examples That Motivate Employees
Giving positive feedback to your employees is one of the most powerful tools a manager have. Praises can make employees feel motivated, polish your employees' strengths, increase employee performance, and improves the relationship between you and your team.
However, many managers struggle to give positive feedback. They may feel like they don't want to appear insincere, or they may be worried about appearing weak.
If you've been struggling to give positive feedback, then you're in the right place.
How to Give Positive Feedback: A 4-Point Praise Structure
At Elevate, we've developed a simple 4-Point Praise Structure as a guide for you to give positive feedback in an effective and impactful way. Whether you’re running a year end review or simply want to motivate your employees more, this is a simple structure to follow.
Here’s how the 4-Point Praise Structure works:
First, state how you feel about the good work. When you use a feeling word, people tend to tune into what you’re saying and this helps the message land.
Second, explain how the behavior made a difference. This helps your employees identify the behaviors they need to succeed in their roles.
Third, tell them the “so what”. What is the wider impact as a result of their behavior? Employees will feel more motivated knowing that they’re contributing to something bigger.
Fourth, remember to thank them for demonstrating those behaviors.
To further help you, here are 30 examples you can use right away to praise your people. All of these examples are based on the 4-Point Praise Structure. You can also easily replace the words according to the situation.
30 Examples of Positive Feedback That Make a Difference
For Doing Great Work
I was excited to see how you're being so proactive and contributed a lot of ideas to today's meeting. The meeting ended well with a concrete action plan. Thank you, I really appreciate it.
I felt delighted to see you've put in the extra hours to meet the project goals. Thankfully, we managed to meet the deadline for our key client. Thank you for doing that.
I was relieved to hear that you handled the tough conversation with the client so thoughtfully and empathetically. The tension was diffused and the meeting ended well. Thank you, I really appreciate what you did.
I was grateful for how attentive you were about the risk of going over our budget in the presentation today. Now, we can roll out our change management strategies better. Thank you so much for highlighting the risks, I really appreciate it.
I was inspired by your willingness to take risks and make quick decisions before the issues escalated. This sends a message to our team that it's okay to take risks. Thank you, I appreciate what you did.
For Being a Good Team Player
I felt delighted to see that you're putting in the extra hours to cover Tom's work since he went on vacation. Thanks to you, the team can continue delivering projects on time. I really appreciate it.
I was relieved to see how you're putting in the efforts to keep everyone on the same page and explaining any complexities before moving forward. We can run the projects smoothly with minimal hiccups. Thank you, I appreciate what you did.
I was proud to see you're making decisions based on everyone's well-being and not just your own. Whatever initiative we're making, people can see we're doing it for them. Thank you so much for doing that.
I was excited to hear how you've acted as a mediator in the recent conflict among your team. Because of what you did, the team members understood each other better. I really appreciate it.
I was astonished when I saw you ask questions to get the quieter team members to participate in today's meeting. I can understand their thoughts better and it helps me plan for the next quarter. Thank you, I really appreciate it.
For Accomplishing Milestones
I was relieved to see how you've collaborated with different teams to fast-track your part in the project. We've finished this challenging project in record time. Thank you, I appreciate you for going beyond.
I felt excited to see how you've put in the extra effort to speak your mind in meetings. Because you got the ball rolling, we ended up with plenty of ideas. Thank you!
I was proud to see you took the initiative to gather the team when everyone was working in silos. Thanks to you, we managed to deliver the product on time. I really appreciate your effort.
I was grateful to see you act as a sounding board for other people's ideas. We managed to get the good ideas and created the results we have today. Thank you, I really appreciate your initiative.
I felt delighted to see how you're willing to take on more challenging tasks and put in the effort to learn from scratch. This sends the message to the rest of the team that it's possible to learn even if you don't have experience. Thank you, I appreciate it.
For Treating Customers Well
I was grateful to hear that you handled the customer's complaint so well. Because of what you did, the customer didn't feel angry anymore and we managed to keep them as our clients. Thank you so much, I really appreciate it.
I was proud of how you took the time to understand the customer's needs and offer them a solution that's tailored to them. Thanks to you, we managed to increase our sales by 20%. I really appreciate it.
I was astonished to see how you upsell the products without being pushy. The customer ended up buying more than they originally intended and they were happy with their purchase. Thank you, I appreciate what you did.
I was excited to see how you handled the situation when the customer was angry. Thanks to you, we managed to retain the customer and they even praised our service on social media. Thank you for doing that.
I was relieved to see how you're willing to go the extra mile for the customer. Thanks to you, we managed to create a loyal customer who will continue to use our service for a long time. I really appreciate it.
For Improving Their Skills and Abilities
I was grateful to see you put in the extra effort to improve giving constructive feedback. Thanks to you, our team members know where to improve on. I really appreciate it.
I was proud of how you took the initiative to learn new agile project management skills and abilities. Thanks to you, we managed to improve our project delivery quality. Thank you for doing that.
I was astonished to see how you managed to improve your project delivery speed without compromising quality. Thanks to you, we were able to meet our deadlines and deliver the project on time. Thank you, I really appreciate it.
I was excited to see how you improved your data entry accuracy. Thanks to you, we were able to avoid mistakes and deliver a high-quality product. Thank you so much.
I was relieved to see you improve your communication skills. Thanks to you, we were able to avoid misunderstandings and miscommunication. I really appreciate it.
For New Hires
I was grateful to see how you managed to quickly adapt to our company's culture and values. It sends a positive message to all the new hires. Thank you, I really appreciate it.
I was proud of how you took the initiative to learn about our products and services. The customers were really satisfied when they got on a call with you. I really appreciate it.
I was astonished to see how you quickly learned the new software and were able to use it effectively. Thanks to you, the team has become more productive. Thank you so much, I really appreciate it.
I was excited to see how you managed to build good relationships with your colleagues. We were able to create a positive and productive work environment. Thank you for doing that.
I was relieved to see that you're willing to take on more responsibilities. We were able to delegate tasks and get things done more efficiently. I really appreciate it.
Free 'How to Give Feedback' Training
There you go. You've learned what you need to give positive feedback. If you want to make giving feedback a habit, whether it’s positive or constructive, we have just the perfect thing.
This 10-minute video training "How To Give Feedback" reminds you how to give feedback well without straining the relationship and still be able to get your message across
This simple model helps convey your message with empathy. This way, your direct report won't feel defensive and be more open to talking to you about their underlying issues.
Many managers said the 4-Point No-Drama Feedback model gave them the confidence they need to manage their direct reports.
Lucy Georgiades, Co-Founder and CEO
In London and Silicon Valley, Lucy has spent over a decade coaching Founders, CEOs, executive teams and leaders of all levels. She’s spent thousands of hours helping them work through challenges, communicate effectively, achieve their goals, and lead their people. Lucy’s background is in cognitive neuropharmacology and vision and brain development, which is all about understanding the relationships between the brain and human behavior.
Lucy is an Oxford University graduate with a Bachelors and a Masters in Experimental Psychology and she specialized in neuroscience. She has diplomas with distinction in Corporate & Executive Coaching and Personal Performance Coaching from The Coaching Academy, U.K. She also has a National Diploma in Fine Art from Wimbledon School of Art & Design.
