Module 5: Giving Effective Feedback

Feedback Logbook

A lightweight running record of every feedback conversation you have with educators. So nothing is missed, nothing is said twice, and the patterns get visible before the performance review.

Why keep a feedback logbook

Most Service Managers do not lack feedback. They lack a record of it. You said something in the kitchen. You sent a quick thank-you email. You had a hard two-minute chat after a family conversation. A week later, you cannot remember whether you raised it with this educator or a different one, whether you followed up, or whether the pattern has actually shifted.

The Feedback Logbook fixes that. Every time you give feedback, positive or constructive, in the moment or planned, you add a line. It lives in this browser only, on this computer, private to you. Nothing is sent anywhere. It is your working record of what you have said, to whom, when, and what was agreed.

It also makes the patterns visible. Who is getting feedback from you regularly. Who is getting very little. Which educators you are having constructive conversations with. Which actions you agreed and have not followed up on. What you will bring to the six-month performance review that is already on the record, not new.

01 Write as you go One minute after the conversation. Any later and you will write a softer, tidier version than what you actually said.
02 Specific not general Name the moment, the behaviour, the impact. "Did well today" is not a log entry. "Settled [Child] at drop-off, family messaged thanks" is.
03 Track the follow-up A conversation without a follow-up is a conversation that did not happen. If you agreed an action, give it a review date and flag it when it is due.
04 No surprises at review Nothing in a six-month performance review should be new to the educator. The logbook is what the review reads from, not an alternative to it.
01 What to log and what not to

Log these: any piece of feedback beyond a passing thank-you. Recognition moments where you named specifics. Constructive feedback on practice, communication, attendance, attitude or pattern behaviour. Planned conversations. Written feedback sent in an email. Follow-up from a previous conversation. The moment an educator raised feedback for you.

Do not log these: general chat, daily coordinating, "have you got the iPad for documentation", family handover information. The logbook is for feedback specifically, not a communications log. If it is unclear, the test is: could this be referenced in a performance review or a probation check-in. If yes, log it.

What each entry captures: the educator, the date, whether it was positive or constructive, the one-line COIN-style description (what you observed, the impact, what was agreed), the delivery channel (in person, email, text, meeting), and whether a follow-up is needed and when.

02 Writing the one-line feedback summary

The description field is where the COIN model from Module 5 Topic 7 earns its keep, condensed. Every entry should name at least the observation and the impact. For constructive feedback, also name the next step that was agreed.

Positive example: "Morning drop-off on Tuesday with the Turner family. Got down to child's level, stayed at the window ten minutes, brought the bear in. Child settled, family messaged thanks. Named it as the kind of practice I want in [Room] at pickup tomorrow."

Constructive example: "Programming folder not completed four Fridays in a row. Named it after shift Tuesday. Educator said it was happening during nap transition. Agreed to move folder time to 2pm with room leader cover for five minutes. Review Friday week.

The aim is that reading the entry six months later, you can recall the substance of the conversation and whether it was handled. If you cannot write it in a sentence, the entry is not specific enough.

03 Using the stats strip

Above the entry list you will see five stats. They update every time you add, edit or delete an entry:

  • Total entries. All feedback recorded.
  • Last 30 days. A leader giving healthy regular feedback should see a number that sits in double digits across a team of 8-10 educators.
  • Positive : constructive split. Module 5 is clear that positive outweighs constructive most of the time. A healthy ratio is roughly 3:1. If your ratio is inverted, the team will feel it.
  • Educators on the log. How many different educators have received feedback from you recently. If this number is much lower than your team size, some people are getting a lot and some are getting none.
  • Follow-ups due. Entries you marked as needing a follow-up, where the review date has passed. Clear these down. Conversations without follow-through are the single most common complaint educators raise about leaders.
04 Patterns panel: spotting what the list cannot

Below the entry list is a Patterns table that groups by educator. For each educator you have logged feedback for, it shows: total entries, positive count, constructive count, days since last feedback, and any open follow-ups.

This is the layer that makes the logbook worth keeping. Skim it monthly. The educator with zero entries in the last 45 days is the one the performance review will catch you out on. The educator with six constructive entries and zero positive is the one who is already wondering whether you like them. The educator with three open follow-ups is the one carrying something you have not closed off.

The table flags amber when days since last feedback crosses 45, and flags red when it crosses 90. It flags amber when constructive entries outweigh positive by more than 2 to 1 for a specific educator.

05 Privacy, retention and export

Where the data lives. Your logbook is saved in this browser only, on this computer, under localStorage. Nothing is uploaded anywhere. If you clear your browser storage, change computer, or use a different browser, the data is not there. Once the CLA saves Worker is live, this tool will wire up so your logbook travels with you.

Retention. You own the record. There is no automatic retention period applied in this tool. If an educator leaves, consider exporting a copy of their entries via the per-educator export button in the Patterns table, then delete their entries from the active log. Exported CSV lives wherever you save it on your computer.

Shareability. For performance reviews, probation check-ins and difficult conversations, use the per-educator export button to pull a clean CSV of entries for that educator. Import it into Word, print it, or paste it into the Performance Review Builder. The Logbook is not designed to be shared directly. It is your working record, and some entries will contain leader-only context that does not belong in a review document.

06 How the Logbook sits with the other feedback tools

Before the conversation. Use the COIN Feedback Planner to draft the content of a planned constructive conversation. Use the Scripts Library for the words of everyday in-the-moment moments. Use the Pre-Mortem for the hard conversations you have been avoiding.

After the conversation. Open the Logbook and add the entry. Every time. Treat it as the final step of the conversation, not a later admin task.

At the review. When you sit down to write a Performance Review, a probation confirmation letter or a PIP, start in the Logbook. Pull the entries for the educator. That is your evidence base. Nothing in the review should be new.

0Total entries
0Last 30 days
0 / 0Positive / Constructive
0Educators on log
0Follow-ups due

Patterns by educator

Skim this monthly. An educator with zero entries in 45 days, or with constructive outweighing positive, is the one to notice first.

Educator Total Positive Constructive Days since last Open follow-ups

Privacy

Every entry is saved in this browser only. Nothing is sent anywhere. Clearing your browser storage or switching computers will lose the log. Export per-educator CSVs for reviews, probation and exits.