Coaching and Feedback: The SBI Model

A very effective way to give feedback is by following the situation, behavior, impact, or SBI, feedback model. Here's how this works. First, describe the situation you've observed. Then relate the person's behavior, what they did or said in the situation. And, finally, share the impact of the person's behavior.

The situation provides the context, so that you and the other person are on the same page and talking about the same circumstance. The behavior is how the person acted in the situation. Not what they may have intended or what you thought they meant, but what actually took place. And the impact explains how you and others were affected by the behavior.

Here's an example. Hey Chris, I'd like to talk to you about something that happened in this morning's team meeting. That's the situation. I noticed that four times you didn't let others finish speaking before you interrupted. You wound up speaking much more than anyone else on the team. These are the behaviors. We didn't hear others' ideas because we ran out of time. I left feeling frustrated because I wanted to hear all the ideas, and later two others told me that they were frustrated also. That's the impact.

When you give feedback that is brief and focused, you are providing information people can use to improve. And that's the purpose for giving and receiving feedback.