If you manage different roles in IT software development in your area, there is a lot of feedback to share in one-to-one meetings and beyond. Depending on the role, there are very different factors and expectations. So if you need to prepare feedback for Junior / Senior Software Engineers, DevOps Engineers, Data Engineers, QA Engineers and other roles, the following examples and templates can be helpful food for thought.
Example feedback to a (senior) software developer
Let's start with a senior software developer. What areas are there in which this IT role typically receives feedback in one-to-one or performance reviews, and what could be specific examples and possibly templates for feedback?
Typical examples of performance appraisal criteria for Senior Software Engineers
- Code quality and architecture
- Technical mentoring
- Problem-solving skills for complex challenges
See also: What is a Senior Software Engineer?
Examples of positive feedback to senior software developers
- "The architectural decisions you made for the new feature contributed significantly to the scalability and stability of our platform. Especially your documentation and communication within the team made a big difference."
- "I appreciate your ability to coach junior software engineers and break down complex topics so that everyone can understand them. Your mentoring has noticeably strengthened our team."
Examples of negative or constructive feedback to senior software developers
- "Your technical solutions are often very well thought out, but sometimes you tend to get lost in the details. This could slow down the pace of the project. You should focus on finding the balance between depth and pragmatism."
- "I've noticed that other team members sometimes seem reserved in meetings if you have a strong opinion on a topic. It could be helpful to deliberately ask open questions to include all perspectives."
Of course, there is also software to simplify feedback discussions and longer-term coaching of software developers.
Our one-to-one meeting software offers you various templates for employee meetings with software developers and even makes employee development measurable. Take a look at our tool and try out the following template:
1:1 Meeting Tool Template: Mood as weather
- If you had to describe your emotional state as the weather, what is the weather like in your project or your tasks at the moment?
How is the weather in relation to your employer, your personal life and your private life?
1:1 Meeting Tool Template: Communication
Where do you see your team: How are contributions distributed?
Where do you see yourself? What role do you play, depending on the meeting?
What would be a first step to ensure that contributions are distributed more evenly within the team?
1:1 Meeting Tool Template: Fail forward
When was the last time you had the feeling that you had made a mistake with something?
How did you react to this mistake?
What would be a constructive view of this "mistake"?
What are the next important mistakes you need to make to get closer to your goals?
1:1 Meeting Tool Template: Learning from the best
Who in your team do you look up to and why?
What are the things you want to learn when you think about your colleagues in the company and beyond?
Get in touch with the people you want to learn from.
1:1 Meeting Tool Template: Conflict types
Name a recent conflict you had in your team.
Take a look at the 5 different conflict styles: Can your behavior and attitude be classified into one or more of the conflict styles?
How could you have handled the conflict better?
Example feedback to a DevOps Engineer
Let's continue with DevOps software developers. Here, too, there are the classics in the IT industry, where feedback can be given in one-to-one or employee meetings and beyond.
Typical examples of performance evaluation criteria for DevOps engineers
- Automation and infrastructure management
- System reliability and availability
- Solution-oriented communication
Examples of positive feedback to a DevOps engineer
- "Your automation of the CI/CD pipeline has massively increased the efficiency of our development process. The reduction of manual error sources is a great benefit for the team."
- "I noticed how proactively you set up monitoring tools to alert us to performance issues early on. That saved us from potential outages."
Examples of negative or constructive feedback to a DevOps engineer
- "The new infrastructure changes have a lot of potential, but we should make sure that all affected team members are involved in the process at an early stage to avoid misunderstandings."
- "Sometimes your deployment scripts are very specific to current requirements. Perhaps we could define a standard together to improve reusability. What do you think?"
Example feedback to a data engineer
Next comes the data software engineer. You can use the following typical areas and examples of feedback as the basis for your feedback in your one-to-one or appraisal interview.
Typical examples of performance evaluation criteria for a Data Software Engineer:
- Data pipeline and ETL performance
- Data quality and governance
- Collaboration with analysts and data scientists
See also: What is a data engineer?
Examples of positive feedback to a data engineer
- "The new ETL pipelines you have developed are a big step forward. The data quality and processing speed have improved significantly, which makes a real difference to the teams that rely on this data."
- "I think it's great how carefully you adhere to data protection and compliance guidelines. That creates security for the entire company."
Examples of negative or constructive feedback to a data engineer
- "Some of your solutions are technically very sophisticated, which is great. However, we should consider how to reduce the complexity to increase maintainability, especially for team members who have less experience in this area."
"In the last project, the data modeling was not clearly communicated at the beginning. We should use a more visual format to make the requirements and dependencies more tangible for everyone."
Example feedback to a QA software developer
QA software developers also have typical problem areas and responsibilities where feedback is appropriate in one-to-one conversations and beyond. Here are some examples and possibly templates for your feedback.
Typical examples of performance evaluation criteria for QA software developers
- Test coverage and effectiveness
- Error analysis and communication
- User focus and usability testing
See also: What is a QA Engineer?
Examples of positive feedback to a QA software developer
- "Your thorough tests have ensured that we have gone into production with significantly fewer bugs. Your commitment saves us time and nerves – thank you for that!"
- "I think it's great how you keep reminding us to look at the user experience from different perspectives. Your attention to detail takes the quality of our software to a new level."
Examples of negative or constructive feedback to a QA software developer
- "When prioritizing test cases, we should work together to focus more on the critical paths in order to optimize test times."
- "I've noticed that sometimes feedback on bugs comes relatively late. Perhaps we should consider how we can improve our communication and processes here so that the developers can react early."
Example feedback to a junior software developer
Junior software developers in particular need a lot of feedback in regular performance reviews or 1-to-1 routines and beyond to help them develop. Here are a few examples of typical areas and wording that will help you coach them.
Typical examples of performance appraisal criteria for a junior software developer
- Learning ability and initiative
- Code quality and compliance with standards
- Cooperation and communication
See also: What is a Junior Software Engineer?
Examples of positive feedback to a junior software developer
- "You got to grips with our code stack very quickly and implemented your first features with minimal support. This shows that you are willing to learn and can adapt well to new challenges."
- "I appreciate that you ask for feedback during the code review and use it specifically to improve your code. Your willingness to learn is a big plus."
Examples of negative or constructive feedback to a junior software developer
- "Your code works well, but there is sometimes potential for optimization in terms of readability and modularity. Maybe we should work together on best practices to improve that."
- "I've noticed that you sometimes hesitate to ask for help with complex problems. That's understandable, but we should look at how you can get support early on so that you can make faster progress."
Conclusion: Feedback for different roles in software development
Effective feedback in personal performance reviews is the key to personal and professional development – and it is all the more effective when it is tailored to the specific role and responsibilities of the recipient. Whether senior software engineer, DevOps engineer, data engineer or QA engineer: each of these roles has its own challenges, strengths and development potential that can be promoted through targeted and thoughtful feedback.
The various examples in this article offer you inspiration and structure for formulating feedback clearly and constructively. They show how you can specifically address technical skills, soft skills and teamwork in performance reviews. Use them as a guide to strengthen your feedback culture and give your employees the appreciation and support they deserve.
In the end, feedback is not just feedback – it is an investment in the growth of your employees and the success of your entire team.
And if you like hacks that make your life easier, I recommend our 1-to-1 meeting software Echometer.
You can try them out completely free of charge.
It offers you various templates for employee appraisals with software developers and even makes employee development measurable. Take a look at our tool by trying out the following template:
1:1 Meeting Tool Template: Mood as weather
- If you had to describe your emotional state as the weather, what is the weather like in your project or your tasks at the moment?
How is the weather in relation to your employer, your personal life and your private life?
1:1 Meeting Tool Template: Communication
Where do you see your team: How are contributions distributed?
Where do you see yourself? What role do you play, depending on the meeting?
What would be a first step to ensure that contributions are distributed more evenly within the team?
1:1 Meeting Tool Template: Fail forward
When was the last time you had the feeling that you had made a mistake with something?
How did you react to this mistake?
What would be a constructive view of this "mistake"?
What are the next important mistakes you need to make to get closer to your goals?
1:1 Meeting Tool Template: Learning from the best
Who in your team do you look up to and why?
What are the things you want to learn when you think about your colleagues in the company and beyond?
Get in touch with the people you want to learn from.
1:1 Meeting Tool Template: Conflict types
Name a recent conflict you had in your team.
Take a look at the 5 different conflict styles: Can your behavior and attitude be classified into one or more of the conflict styles?
How could you have handled the conflict better?
