Last week, I was speaking with our Intake Manager when she raised a concern. One of her team members was underperforming, and she was unsure whether she should address it now or wait for our annual performance review cycle in March 2027.

My response was immediate: March is too long to wait.

If someone is struggling today, waiting several months does not help them. It leaves the manager frustrated while the employee continues working without a clear understanding of what needs to change. By the time the formal review arrives, a correctable performance issue may have become an established pattern.

That conversation echoed a message I recently shared in a meeting with my team about the upcoming review cycle. I encouraged our leaders not to save difficult conversations for March. If they are experiencing challenges with someone on their team, the best practice is to address the performance issue directly, respectfully, and while there is still time to improve it.

Too often, managers do the opposite. They notice a problem but say nothing. The examples accumulate, frustration builds, and the employee remains unaware that anything is seriously wrong. Then a minor incident opens the floodgates—or the annual performance review arrives. The manager unloads months of criticism all at once. What was supposed to be a constructive conversation feels more like an ambush.

There is another version of the same failure. Some managers avoid the difficult conversation entirely. They soften every concern, whitewash the performance review, and act as though everything is fine when it clearly is not.

One approach stores up the truth until it becomes a weapon. The other hides the truth until it becomes useless.

Neither one helps people improve.

Surprise is not a feedback strategy

No employee should discover during an annual review that the manager has been disappointed for six months.

If an issue matters enough to affect someone’s evaluation, it matters enough to discuss when it happens. Waiting does not make the conversation easier. It usually makes it more emotional, less precise, and harder for the employee to act on.

By the time the review arrives, the details may be blurry. The manager is no longer addressing one behavior; they are presenting a case. The employee, understandably, becomes defensive. Instead of discussing what can improve, both sides end up debating the past.

The annual review should summarize an ongoing conversation, not reveal a secret verdict.

Candor is a form of respect

Avoiding honest feedback can look like kindness, but it is often discomfort in disguise.

Managers may tell themselves they are protecting morale or preserving the relationship. In reality, they may be protecting themselves from an awkward conversation. Meanwhile, the employee loses the opportunity to understand the issue, make an adjustment, and succeed.

People deserve to know where they stand.

That does not mean feedback should be harsh. Honesty and hostility are not the same thing. The purpose is not to attack someone’s character, catalogue every irritation, or prove that the manager is right. The purpose is to identify a behavior, explain its impact, and help the person move forward.

Good feedback says, in effect: This matters. You matter. Let’s address it while there is still time to improve it.

When people are attacked, they lose trust. When they are misled, they lose respect. In both cases, they can lose pride in their work and faith in the organization.

One approach stores up the truth until it becomes a weapon. The other hides the truth until it becomes useless.

Feedback works best while the moment is still fresh

I firmly believe that feedback is one of the most cost-effective strategies available to a leader.

It can be given quickly. It costs nothing. It requires no new system, outside consultant, or complicated program. When it is delivered well, it can change the direction of performance faster than many formal interventions.

The most useful feedback has four qualities:

  • It is timely. Address the issue close enough to the event that both people remember what happened.
  • It is specific. Discuss observable behavior and its impact, not vague judgments about personality or attitude.
  • It is two-way. Ask what the other person saw, intended, or needs. Feedback should begin a conversation, not end one.
  • It is forward-looking. Make the next step clear. The goal is better performance, not a longer record of past mistakes.

A simple conversation might sound like this:

“Here is what I noticed. Here is the effect it had. How did you see it? What can we do differently next time?”

That is not complicated. But it requires courage, consistency, and genuine interest in the other person’s success.

Do not save the good feedback, either

The same principle applies to positive feedback.

Managers often notice strong work and assume the employee already knows it was good. Then, months later, they offer a generic compliment in a formal review: “You’re doing a great job.”

That may feel pleasant, but it teaches very little.

Specific recognition reinforces the behaviors an organization wants to see repeated. Tell people what they did well, why it mattered, and who benefited. Positive feedback should be as timely and precise as corrective feedback.

If people only hear from their manager when something is wrong, feedback begins to feel like punishment. If they receive honest recognition as well as honest correction, it becomes part of how the team learns.

Make feedback ordinary

The healthiest organizations do not treat feedback as an annual event or an emergency measure. They make it part of the normal rhythm of work.

That means small conversations instead of accumulated grievances. Clear observations instead of vague labels. Honest praise instead of empty reassurance. Early course corrections instead of late surprises.

Not every issue requires a formal meeting. Often, a few thoughtful minutes at the right time are enough.

My conversation with our Intake Manager was a reminder that leaders do not serve people by making them wait for the calendar. March 2027 will come, and the formal review cycle will have its place. But the work of helping someone improve belongs to today.

Feedback really is the breakfast of champions—not because every conversation is comfortable, but because improvement needs regular nourishment. Leaders who provide it consistently give people something far more valuable than approval: a fair chance to get better.

The question is not whether your people need feedback. The question is whether they are receiving it soon enough, clearly enough, and honestly enough to use it.