What's your approach to giving difficult or critical feedback to a direct report?
Why This Is Asked
Interviewers want to see that you can deliver hard truths in a way that drives improvement rather than defensiveness. They're assessing your communication skills, empathy, and commitment to helping people grow.
Key Points to Cover
- Delivering feedback promptly and in private
- Being specific and behavior-focused, not personality-focused
- Balancing honesty with empathy and support
- Following up and offering resources for improvement
STAR Method Answer Template
Describe the context - what was happening, what team/company, what was at stake
What was your specific responsibility or challenge?
What specific steps did you take? Be detailed about YOUR actions
What was the outcome? Use metrics where possible. What did you learn?
đź’ˇ Tips
- Use a real example where feedback led to positive change
- Show you use frameworks (e.g., SBI: Situation, Behavior, Impact) if applicable
✍️ Example Response
STAR formatSituation: At a payments company, I had a senior engineer who was technically strong but had developed a pattern of dominating discussions—interrupting others, dismissing ideas in standups, and making junior engineers hesitant to speak up. The behavior had been noted in 360 feedback, but no one had addressed it directly. It was affecting team psychological safety and collaboration.
Task: I needed to deliver critical feedback in a way that would drive behavior change rather than defensiveness, while preserving the relationship and their sense of value.
Action: I scheduled a private 1:1 and used the SBI framework. I described the specific situation (e.g., "In last Tuesday's design review, when Maria proposed an approach..."), the behavior ("you interrupted and said her idea wouldn't scale before she finished"), and the impact ("she hasn't volunteered an idea since, and others have told me they're hesitant to speak up"). I made it clear this was about behavior, not intent or capability—I knew they cared about the team. I asked for their perspective and listened. Together we agreed on one concrete change: they would wait for others to finish before responding, and I would give them a subtle signal if they slipped. I scheduled a follow-up in two weeks.
Result: Within a month, the engineer had noticeably changed—they started asking others for input first in meetings. Team feedback in the next 360 improved. The engineer later thanked me for the directness and said they hadn't realized the impact. I learned that specific, behavior-focused feedback delivered with empathy is far more effective than vague or delayed criticism.
🏢 Companies Known to Ask This
| Company | Variation / Focus |
|---|---|
| Amazon | Earn Trust, Insist on Highest Standards — "Tell me about a time you had to give difficult feedback" |
| Collaboration, candid conversations | |
| Meta | Making hard calls, high-performing teams |
| Microsoft | Candid feedback, growth mindset |
| Netflix | Candor, direct feedback, high performance |
| Professional growth, collaboration |