Which tool to choose
The tool is the conversational assistant, used to give shape to observations that are yours. You bring it the concrete facts — what the person did well, what needs improving, with real examples — and it helps you structure them into clear, constructive feedback. The valuable part is the form: how to start, how to deliver a criticism without demolishing, how to close so the person comes out motivated. Knowledge of the team member and the judgment stay yours: AI doesn't know who they are, it only knows how to help you talk to them better.
How to do it
- Gather the concrete facts: what the person did well and what needs improving, with real examples.
- Give them to the AI and ask for balanced, specific feedback aimed at improvement.
- Verify that every point is tied to a concrete example, not to a vague impression.
- Make it yours: adjust the tone so it sounds the way you actually speak, and adapt it to the person in front of you.
A concrete example
Sara had to give feedback to a team member who was good but always delivered late. She wanted to recognize the value without ignoring the problem. She gave the AI the facts — excellent quality, but three deliveries out of four past the deadline — and asked for feedback that valued the quality and addressed the lateness constructively. The assistant helped her structure it: concrete recognition, then the timing problem with examples and a proposed solution. Sara adjusted the tone so it sounded like her. The team member took the criticism well, because it was specific and accompanied by genuine respect.
When it does NOT work (and how to fix it)
If the feedback is generic
"Good but you can improve" helps no one. Every point should be tied to a concrete example: what exactly went well, what exactly should change. Give the AI the specific facts; without them, it produces only vague phrases the person forgets at once.
If it sounds fake or impersonal
Feedback that smells of a pre-packaged text is felt and does more harm than good. Rewrite it in your own words, your own tone, your own manner. AI gives you the skeleton; the voice must be yours, because you're speaking to a real person who knows you.
If it's all criticism or all praise
All-negative feedback demoralizes, all-positive feedback doesn't help anyone grow. Ask the AI to balance, but honestly: don't invent strengths to sweeten it, nor flaws to fill it out. The balance must reflect reality, not a formula.
A tip from someone who really uses it
Use AI for the how, never for the what. The content of feedback — what you observed, what you really think of the person, which examples you bring — is the heart, and no assistant can pull it out for you, because it wasn't there to see and doesn't know who you're facing. What AI does very well is help you say it: find the words for a difficult criticism, keep a good intention from sounding like an attack, balance without hypocrisy. It's valuable help, especially if difficult conversations make you uncomfortable. But feedback remains an act of responsibility toward a person: put the facts, the judgment and the sincerity in yourself, and use the assistant only to deliver them in the most human way possible.
Frequently asked questions
Can AI write the feedback for me?
It can write the form, not the substance: the examples, the judgment and the knowledge of the person are yours. Give it the concrete facts and use it to structure them well, then make the text yours in tone.
How do I keep it from sounding pre-packaged?
By rewriting it in your own words and adapting it to the specific person. Feedback is a conversation between two people who know each other: it has to sound like you, not like a template.
Better to give feedback in person or in writing?
Often the important part happens out loud: AI helps you prepare — what to say, how to say it, in what order — but the real moment is the direct exchange, where you also listen to the answers. Use the text as preparation, not as a script to read.
If AI writes it well, have I given good feedback?
No, and it's an illusion that can damage a working relationship. Good feedback isn't a well-phrased text, it's a true message, based on things you observed, said by someone the person knows and trusts. If you delegate the substance to AI too, you get something polished but empty, which the team member perceives as impersonal or, worse, unfair because it doesn't match reality. The assistant helps you find the words; the facts, the honesty and the responsibility toward the person stay yours. Trusting a text with the weight of feedback is the most common way to say something well that means nothing.