For a course we recently needed to come up with guidelines for feedback on work products. This is what I suggested. Discuss! ;-)

When giving feedback, there are a few pointers that help making it easier for you to give and for the other person to receive feedback:

• Use the sandwich-principle: Start and end with positive remarks*
• Be descriptive: Make sure both of you know exactly what you are talking about.
• Be concrete: Point out exactly what you like and where you see potential for improvement.
• Be constructive: Show options of how you might improve upon what is there.
• Be realistic: If you are working on a tight timeline, do consider whether pointing out all issues is necessary or whether there are points that are more essential than others.
• Don’t overdo it: Point out a pattern rather than criticizing every single occurrence of a systematic problem.
• Point out your subjectivity: You are not an objective judge. Make sure the recipient of your feedback knows that you are giving a subjective opinion.
• Don’t discuss: You state your point and clarify if you are asked for clarifications.
• Don’t insist: It’s the recipient’s choice whether to accept feedback.

When receiving feedback, there are also a couple of behaviors that make it easier for the other person to give you feedback:

• Don’t interrupt: Let them finish explaining the point they are trying to make.
• Don’t justify: Accept their feedback on your choices or actions without trying to make them understand why you chose what you chose.
• Ask for clarification: If in doubt, ask what they meant by what they said.
• Take notes: Write down the important points and review them later.
• Be appreciative: Let them know you value their feedback and are grateful they took the time to give it to you.

*edit 2.9.2022: These days, I tend to not recommend the sandwich principle any more. Instead, I really like this structure:

1: neutral acknowledgement (“I see you put a lot of effort into bringing together a lot of information!”)

2: warning of a problematic aspect (“with so many different ideas, it is not easy to find a red thread”)

3: suggesting a solution (“provide the reader with a structure by …”)