SBI Feedback Model: Examples, Template and Scripts

The SBI feedback model gives feedback in three parts: the Situation (when and where it happened), the Behavior (what the person did, described without judgment) and the Impact (what effect it had). For example: “In Tuesday’s sales meeting, when you shared the lost-deal numbers before anyone asked, the team saw the problem early and we fixed the pricing that week.” The examples below show SBI for praise and correction.

SBI was developed by the Center for Creative Leadership (CCL), and it is one of the most widely taught feedback tools for managers. This guide explains how it works, gives eight worked SBI feedback model examples and offers a template you can copy.

What is the SBI feedback model?

Most feedback fails because it is vague or judgmental. “You need to be more professional” tells the person you are unhappy, but not what to change. SBI fixes this by forcing you to name a specific moment, an observable action and a concrete effect.

CCL’s research team describes SBI as a way to reduce anxiety for the person giving feedback and defensiveness in the person receiving it. Both effects make sense: when you stick to facts, there is less to argue about.

Situation, Behavior, Impact: the three steps

SBI, plus the optional fourth step

1. 1SituationName the specific time and place.
2. 2BehaviorDescribe what you saw or heard, like a camera.
3. 3ImpactExplain the effect on you, the team or the result.
4. 4Intent (SBII)Ask what they were trying to achieve, then listen.

Situation: anchor it in a moment

Be specific about when and where. “In yesterday’s 3 pm call with the supplier” is clear. “Lately” or “always” is not, and it invites an argument about whether it really happens that often.

Behavior: describe what a camera would record

Describe actions and words, not traits or motives. CCL’s own contrast is useful: “You interrupted me while I was presenting the budget” is a behavior; “you were rude” is a judgment. A good test is whether two people watching the same moment would agree on your description.

Impact: say what it changed

Explain the effect on you, the team, the customer or the work. Personal impact (“I felt frustrated because I lost my train of thought”) is honest and hard to dispute. Business impact (“the client had to wait two extra days”) connects the behavior to results.

Intent: ask, then listen

CCL points out that people usually intend to do the right thing, but intent and impact can differ. If you skip the conversation, you fill the gap with your own assumptions. So after the impact, ask a genuine question such as “What were you aiming for there?” and listen to the answer. Often a simple solution appears.

SBI feedback model examples for praise

Positive feedback is where SBI is most underused. “Great job” feels good, but it does not tell anyone what to repeat. All examples in this guide are hypothetical, written to show the structure.

Vague praise vs. SBI praise

	Vague	SBI version
Customer service	Nice work with that customer.	On this morning's call, when the customer was angry about the delay, you apologized once, explained the cause and gave a firm new date. She calmed down and kept her order.
Teamwork	Thanks for helping out.	On Friday afternoon you stayed to help Linh check the shipment labels. We sent everything on time, and Linh told me she learned the new system faster.
Initiative	Good thinking.	In Monday's planning meeting you flagged that two projects needed the same designer in March. Because of that we moved one deadline early, not at the last minute.
Quality	The report was great.	Your monthly report had a one-page summary with the three numbers that changed. I read it in two minutes and could answer the board's questions without calling you.

SBI feedback model examples for correction

Constructive feedback needs the same specificity, plus the intent question so the conversation does not feel like a verdict.

Notice that none of these examples uses words like careless, unprofessional or negative. The person can disagree with your impact, but not with the facts of what happened, which keeps the conversation on solving the problem.

How do you give constructive feedback with SBI?

The model is the easy part. Delivery decides whether feedback helps or hurts.

1. Give it soon. Feedback is most useful within a day or two, while both of you remember the moment. Gallup reports that employees are 3.6 times more likely to strongly agree they are motivated to do outstanding work when their manager gives daily rather than annual feedback.
2. Prepare in writing. Write your three sentences before the conversation. If you cannot describe the behavior without a judgment word, you are not ready.
3. Choose the right setting. Praise can be public if the person is comfortable with it. Correction should be private.
4. One behavior at a time. A list of five issues feels like an attack. Pick the one that matters most.
5. Ask about intent and listen. Stop talking after the question. Let the silence do the work.
6. Agree a next step. End with what will happen next time: “So for the next proposal, you will message me by Tuesday if it is at risk.”

For harder situations, where emotions run high or the issue has repeated many times, SBI is a good opening but not enough on its own. Our guide to difficult conversations at work covers how to prepare for those.

What if the person gets defensive?

Even well-built SBI feedback can meet resistance. That is normal, and it does not mean the method failed. A few moves help.

• Acknowledge before you explain. “I can see this feels unfair” lowers the temperature more than repeating your point.
• Go back to the facts. If the person disputes your judgment, return to the behavior: “Let us set aside whether it was the right call. Do we agree that the proposal arrived on Friday?”
• Separate impact from blame. You can say “the client was upset” without saying “you upset the client on purpose”. Most people relax when they hear that you are not questioning their character.
• Ask more, tell less. “What did it look like from your side?” often reveals a cause you did not know about, such as an unclear deadline or a conflicting request from another manager.
• Pause if needed. If emotions are high, agree to continue tomorrow. A calmer second conversation beats a heated first one.

If the same behavior keeps returning after two or three clear SBI conversations, the issue has moved from feedback to accountability. At that point, agree on a written commitment and a date to review it.

SBI in remote and hybrid teams

Feedback is harder when you are not in the same room, because small moments are easy to miss and text messages lose tone. Three adjustments help. First, give corrective SBI feedback on a video or phone call, not in chat, so the person hears your tone and can respond. Second, use written SBI for praise: a short, specific message in the team channel is quick and lasts. Third, be extra careful with the Situation step. In remote work, “in the Tuesday stand-up” or “in your message to the client at 4 pm” anchors the conversation in something both of you can check.

SBI feedback template you can copy

Use this as a fill-in-the-blanks script. Write it before the conversation, then say it in your own words.

SBI(I) feedback script

• Situation: When and where exactly? ('In Monday's 10 am client call...')
• Behavior: What did they do or say, as a camera would record it?
• Impact: What effect did it have on me, the team, the customer or the result?
• Intent: What question will I ask to understand what they were aiming for?
• Next step: What do we agree to repeat, stop or try next time?
• Check: Have I removed every judgment word (rude, lazy, careless, great)?

Copy this into your notes before a one-on-one meeting, where most feedback naturally belongs. If you use our free one-to-one script tool, it builds this structure into the agenda.

Why does feedback frequency matter?

A perfect SBI sentence once a year will not change much. What changes behavior is regular, specific feedback. Gallup’s analysis found that 80% of employees who said they received meaningful feedback in the past week were fully engaged. Gallup’s recommendation is that feedback should be common, for most jobs a few times per week, rather than saved for an annual review.

These are associations from survey data, not proof that feedback alone causes engagement. But they point in a clear direction: make SBI a habit in your weekly rhythm rather than an event. Brief SBI notes collected over a year also make a performance review far easier to write, because you have real examples instead of vague impressions.

Common mistakes with the SBI model

• Hiding judgment inside the behavior. “You were dismissive in the meeting” is still a label. What did they say or do that seemed dismissive?
• Using “always” and “never”. These turn one moment into a character verdict.
• Inventing the impact. Say only what you know. “I think the client was upset” is weaker than “The client emailed to say they were upset.”
• The feedback sandwich. Wrapping correction between two compliments trains people to distrust your praise. Give positive and corrective feedback separately and honestly.
• Skipping the conversation. SBI followed by “OK, that is all” is a lecture. The intent question and the agreed next step make it feedback.

SBI and your wider leadership toolkit

SBI fits naturally into other leadership routines. When you delegate tasks effectively, the review at the end of each handoff is the moment for SBI. When you are coaching employees to improve performance, SBI describes the starting point and coaching questions take it from there. And specific recognition is one of the strongest tools in our guide on how to motivate employees without money.

Summary

The SBI feedback model, developed by the Center for Creative Leadership, structures feedback as Situation, Behavior and Impact. Name a specific moment, describe only observable behavior and explain its effect. Add the Intent question to make it a two-way conversation. Use SBI for praise as often as for correction, give feedback soon after the event, and make it a weekly habit rather than an annual event.