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20 Feedback Examples for varied Software Developer Roles

If you manage different roles in IT software development in your area, there is a lot of feedback to share in one-on-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.

First of all, if you're interested in a general introduction to regular one-to-one meetings, take a look at our post on the subject: A guide: 6 tips for successful 1-to-1 conversations.

And more generally, if this is already too deep for you: As a manager, do you feel unsure about what systematic & successful people management looks like? Then I have something for you: Our free online people management training course.

Take a look and learn, for example, a trick on how you can increase team performance relatively easily by 10-20%. Feel free to have a look, you can get started right away 🙂 But back to the topic.

(Senior) Software Developer - (Annual) Appraisal Comments

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-on-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."

By the way, if you want to take a more systematic approach to your employee development, I can recommend the following video. Spoiler: Servant leadership is not the best leadership style.

DevOps Engineer - (Annual) Appraisal Comments

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-on-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
    See also: What is a DevOps Engineer?

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?"

Software developer feedback interview: A template

Why do you actually give feedback to your colleague? Because you want to develop them, right. 

A simple method to achieve this effect is the principle of "leading by asking". Instead of giving direct feedback that is pulled out of your fingers, you reflect together with the software developer on how he or she can improve. 

This is exactly where our 1-to-1 meeting tool Echometer can help you. It identifies possible questions and gives you tips on how you can systematically develop your developers. 

Below I have inserted an example template for a corresponding – possibly regular – 1-to-1 call. You can try it out in our tool by clicking on the button (without login):

Check-In

  • How has your week been so far?

📊 Project updates

  • How are your current projects going? Are there any major successes or obstacles?
  • Are there any technical challenges that you would like to discuss or think through together?

💻 Code quality & development

  • How do you feel about the quality of your work lately?
  • Are there any areas in which you would like to improve or learn new skills?

🤝 Team, collaboration & next steps

  • How is the team working together? Are there any communication gaps?
  • Do the tools and processes we use support your work effectively?
  • How do you envision your career in the next one to two years?
  • How can I help you to be successful?

Conclusion

  • What are you most looking forward to in the coming months?
  • Do you have any further questions or concerns?

⁉️ Mood check (survey)

Free One-on-One-Meeting Template Form Satisfaction - English
Data Engineer - (Annual) Appraisal Comments

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."

"Why do my employees never bring topics to the 1:1 meetings?"

"I'm honestly too often ill-prepared for the 1:1 meetings as a manager."

"My employees don’t open up to me in 1:1s."

"I can’t identify patterns or trends across my 1:1s. Everything feels isolated."

"I like this employee, but he's underperforming. How can I address this in 1:1s?""

"I often don't know whether I was too hard – or too soft – in my 1:1s to make a positive impact."

"I can’t identify patterns or trends across my 1:1s. Everything feels isolated."

"I often don't know whether I was too hard – or too soft – in my 1:1s to make a positive impact."

"I like this employee, but he's underperforming. How can I address this in 1:1s?""

"I like this employee, but he's underperforming. How can I address this in 1:1s?""

"I often don't know whether I was too hard – or too soft – in my 1:1s to make a positive impact."

"I can’t identify patterns or trends across my 1:1s. Everything feels isolated."

"I like this employee, but he's underperforming. How can I address this in 1:1s?""

"I can’t identify patterns or trends across my 1:1s. Everything feels isolated."

"I often don't know whether I was too hard – or too soft – in my 1:1s to make a positive impact."

"I often don't know whether I was too hard – or too soft – in my 1:1s to make a positive impact."

"I can’t identify patterns or trends across my 1:1s. Everything feels isolated."

"I like this employee, but he's underperforming. How can I address this in 1:1s?""

"I often don't know whether I was too hard – or too soft – in my 1:1s to make a positive impact."

"I like this employee, but he's underperforming. How can I address this in 1:1s?""

"I can’t identify patterns or trends across my 1:1s. Everything feels isolated."

QA Software Developer - (Annual) Appraisal Comments

Example feedback to a QA software developer

QA software developers also have typical problem areas and responsibilities where feedback is appropriate in one-on-one meetings and 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."

Software developer feedback interview: A survey

I have already mentioned that asking questions is a clever way of developing software developers in a targeted manner.

Another approach is the use of surveys in 1-to-1 meetings. On the one hand, they help to reflect on relevant issues. On the other hand, they also make soft factors measurable!

Our 1-to-1 meeting tool Echometer can also help you with this. Below is another template that you are welcome to try out. 

🪞Employee interview survey: For software developers

  • I scrutinize our work based on my understanding of our # team goals and the needs of our # customers.
  • I proactively contribute to the continuous improvement of our team. #TeamPlay
  • I know the challenges and problems of our # customers.
  • My work tasks usually progress very quickly, even if external # feedback is necessary.
Team Radar Tool Health Check Retrospective

Note: This appraisal interview template asks for agreement to the Health Check items (questionnaire) on a 1-7 scale.

Junior Software Developer - (Annual) Appraisal Comments

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."

By the way, if you lack observations for feedback: In theory, regular written employee reports can also help you with your performance appraisal. However, you should be very careful with such reports. You can find out more about this and about employee reports vs. regular 1-1 meetings in this blog post with 5 templates.

Before we come to the conclusion, a quick note. Ultimately, one of the main goals of a good feedback culture is to improve your team's performance. But how do you actually achieve this holistically? I explain an important mental model to answer this question in part two of our free People Development Online Training course:

Feedback in software development

Conclusion: Feedback for different roles in software development

Haven't you had enough yet? If you are a manager of software developers, the following article might be of interest to you: 6 Examples of feedback to software developers.

Let's come to the conclusion: 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 can once again 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 going through the following template with one of your software developers: 8 types of waste.

One-on-One Call Template: Echometer Software

One on One Meeting Template Software Engineer - Software Tool Echometer English
  • Take a look at the areas listed here. Where do you think both you and your team have the greatest potential for improvement?

Source: Echometer 1:1 Meeting Software

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FAQ about the 1:1 meeting tool

In Echometer there are two separate software solutions that are available within each workspace in Echometer:

  • 1:1 tool: Software for planning and conducting 1:1 meetings and tracking employee development
  • Retrospective tool: Software for planning and moderating retrospectives and tracking team development through team health checks

Both are independent software solutions, so they can be used separately from each other.

However, they work according to the same principles and aim to achieve the same added value: The continuous improvement of agile teams. In this respect, the simultaneous use of both software solutions is recommended.

Yes, you can assign administration rights to any number of users at both team level and workspace level. Please note the following:

  • Only workspace admins can take out and manage a Echometer subscription for a Echometer workspace.
  • Only workspace admins can create additional teams and name or remove additional workspace admins.
  • Team admins can appoint and remove additional team admins and team members for their team

First, simply register for free in Echometer. Then navigate to the workspace for which you would like to purchase the 1:1 software. If you haven't already done so, you can do so here: Create account in Echometer 1:1 tool

You can then manage your subscription (for both the retro tool and the 1:1 software) within the workspace settings.

You can choose from various payment methods when upgrading.

If you do not have access to your company's credit card yourself, you can simply add a buyer as a workspace admin in your Echometer workspace so that this admin can carry out the upgrade for you.

The best one-on-one meeting tool for managers (especially in agile remote teams) is probably Echometer. Why?

  • Typical HR management software providers (such as Lattice, Leapsome and 15Five) also offer 1:1 tools, but primarily market their complex HR suite and the functions for 1:1 meetings are less mature. In addition, HR software providers focus primarily on the needs of HR departments, not on the needs of employees and managers.
  • While generic tools for meeting transcriptions and summaries (such as Granola, Fellow or Spinach) also provide good summaries just like Echometer, Echometer also offers integrated AI coaching for managers and versatile templates, suggestions for employee development and building blocks for designing effective one-to-one meetings.

So here's a tip: If you're looking for the best one-on-one meeting software, take a look at Echometer's 1:1 tool first. The 1:1 tool from Echometer is even free for an unlimited number of 1:1 meetings with up to 2 employees: Try out the 1:1 tool Echometer

Yes, the Echometer one-to-one meeting software is the only 1:1 tool we know of that gives the manager feedback as an AI coach on how the next one-to-one meeting can be facilitated even better.

Typical tips from the AI coach are, for example:

  • Advice to ask more open and less suggestive questions
  • Use clarifying questions to ensure the same understanding of what is being said
  • Indication of a possibly uneven distribution of speeches or too little structure in the meeting.

The Echometer one-to-one meeting software helps managers to accelerate the development of their employees through the following everyday functions:

  • Hashtags: Making recurring topics recognizable and tracking long-term employee goals
  • Check-ins: Quantitative assessment of any factors relating to the employee's performance or development (including self-assessment)
  • AI coach: Based on the transcript of the one-on-one meetings, managers receive tips and advice on how they can coach their employees even better and involve them in the conversation.

Yes, with the Echometer 1-to-1 meeting software app you can track employee performance and goal achievement:

  • Check-in surveys can be used to measure the performance of employees (based on subjective statements). The assessment can be carried out during the one-to-one meeting (or even before) as a self-assessment by both the employee and the manager. The assessment can then be reflected on together in the one-to-one meeting.
  • Todos and action items for goal tracking and employee performance development can also be recorded in the one-on-one meeting notes.
  • You can also use hashtags in the one-on-one meeting notes to record and track qualitative progress towards employee goals. For example, you can use the hashtag on a measure to assign this measure to the employee goal.

Yes, in the Echometer one-to-one meeting software, both the manager and the employee can create and manage actions and tasks. For each new one-to-one meeting, the outstanding tasks from previous meetings are displayed.

Compared to other software apps for one-on-one meetings, the following functions are unique:

  • While other tools such as Granola are limited to the AI summary, Echometer also uses the transcript for the integrated AI coach for managers
  • In addition, the check-ins (i.e. statements with a scale answer) are a unique function in their concrete implementation in Echometer: employees can answer the statements before or during the 1:1 meetings and then trends are automatically created from the answers.
  • Integration with software for team retrospectives: Echometer is the only tool on the market that integrates software for agile retrospectives alongside the one-to-one meeting software and thus offers all tools for the essential management tasks in agile remote teams from a single source.

The 1-on-1 meeting software Echometer places particular emphasis on the following features that make it unique on the market:

  • AI coach: The 1-on-1 meeting software Echometer records an audio transcript of the meeting and uses an AI to give the manager tips on how to improve the next meeting.
  • Template library: The tool helps managers to discuss the right questions and topics in the one-to-one meeting with a well-founded library of questions and templates in order to develop employees in a targeted manner. The visual, lovingly designed "conversation starters" in particular are rated by managers as valuable icebreakers in 1-to-1 meetings.
  • Employee development KPIs: The software also helps to make trends in employee development historically visible through survey KPIs, so-called check-ins, in a beautiful analysis dashboard. These check-ins can be taken from the library (e.g. job satisfaction, customer focus, etc.) or created flexibly.
  • Employee goals and recurring topics through hashtag management: The flexible hashtag feature makes it easy to record and filter employee goals or other recurring topics, for example to call them up in the annual employee appraisal.
  • Private notes: Echometer offers the option of recording private notes in addition to the notes that are shared with the employee in the 1-on-1 meeting series. This means that these notes are not visible to the employee, but are still stored directly in the same place as the actual 1-on-1 meeting agenda.
  • Direct access to retrospective software: Echometer is the only tool on the market that offers integrated software for agile retrospectives in addition to one-to-one meeting software.

In summary, these features make Echometer one of the best, if not the best, software for remote one-on-one meetings between employees and their managers.

The following are confirmed, independent statements from customers and users of the Echometer one-to-one meeting software:

  • Joël Vierboom, Agile Coach & Team Coach at JTL-Software GmbH: "The software has paid for itself super quickly by saving me many hours of work. I hold a lot of 1-1 meetings and the tool has taken them to a new level in terms of efficiency and productivity!"
  • Michael Engel, Team Lead IT: "It's annoying when you have to change tools for every 1:1 meeting. Since I've been using Echometer, this has changed to – and I even have an overview of the development trends of individual employees. A highly recommended tool!"
  • Ronny Engel, Team Lead Development IoT at SMF GmbH: "I'm thrilled! More structure in our 1:1s, better discussions and ultimately more progress. Props to the Echometer team!"
  • Matt Alioto, Director of Engineering at Smyl Fitness: "One of the things that my own boss has done to support me, is get me a communications coach. And I actually had a meeting with her a couple of days ago and I showed her this [Echometer] feature, and it blew her mind, absolutely."

The Echometer 1-to-1 meeting software offers a generous free plan: managers can hold unlimited free one-to-one meetings with up to two of their employees.

If you want to hold 1-to-1 meetings with more than two employees, you have to switch to a fee-based tariff:

  • Monthly 29€ per manager with an annual subscription, or
  • Monthly subscription of €35 per manager

So you only pay for the 1-to-1 meeting software for managers and not for employees.

Further information on the prices of the Echometer tool for one-on-one meetings can be found here: Echometer Prices One-On-One Meeting Software

The Echometer one-to-one meeting software offers integration with the Microsoft calendar. This synchronizes the appointments from the appointment series with the 1:1 meetings in Echometer.

If, for example, appointments are moved in the Microsoft calendar, the meeting in Echometer is also automatically moved.

Echometer also offers a login with Google. SSO (Single Sign On) is also available in paid plans.

Yes, Echometer's 1-to-1 meeting software offers a generous free plan:

  • Managers can hold unlimited free one-on-one meetings with up to two of their employees.
  • All functions are also included in the free version.

You only need a paid license if you want to hold 1-to-1 meetings with more than two employees. Only one paid license per manager is required. Employees are free of charge.

Further information on the prices of Echometer's tool for On-on-One Meetings can be found here: Prices Echometer's 1:1 Meeting Software Tool

Yes, both the software tool for 1-on-1 meetings and the tool for team retros from Echometer are secure and GDPR-compliant.

Data in Echometer is sent in encrypted form and also stored in encrypted form on servers in Germany.

Several European financial institutions have chosen to purchase Echometer over competitors due to Echometer's stringent data security measures.

Echometer is the best software tool for On-On-One Meetings for the following reasons:

  • Collaborative notes with integrated AI summary (based on the transcript)
  • Integrated AI coach for managers with the option of recording central KPIs for employee development
  • Simple evaluation of trends in preparation for performance reviews and employee coaching –
  • "Everything in one place": Echometer allows the tracking of recurring topics and employee goals via hashtags in the meeting notes, allows private notes for participants and an extensive template library for 1:1 meetings with agenda building blocks.

One-to-one meetings are accordingly very effective for managers with Echometer's software for 1-to-1 meetings and yet simple and time-saving.

Echometer's software for one-to-one meetings can also be tried out on a permanent free plan: Try the best 1-to-1 meeting software for free

The greatest strength of the one-to-one meeting tool Echometer is to increase employee engagement in 1-on-1 meetings. This is made possible by:

  • As a moderator of 1-to-1 meetings, you can fall back on versatile templates for 1:1 meetings
  • The integrated AI coach supports managers in organizing 1-to-1 meetings.

Users confirm that 1-on-1 meetings with Echometer are more fun and more productive than average.

The one-on-one meeting software Echometer has a diverse range of features that make it unique on the market.

  • Agenda management: The interactive and synchronized agenda helps the two participants to set the agenda at an early stage.
  • Notes management: Notes can be transparently recorded at any time in the synchronized agenda by both the employee and the manager.
  • Template library: The tool helps managers to discuss the right questions and topics in the one-to-one meeting with a well-founded library of questions and templates in order to develop employees in a targeted manner.
  • AI summary: The Echometer 1-to-1 meeting software records an audio transcript of the call and summarizes the conversation to save time. In addition, tasks are automatically recorded, thus laying the foundation for preparing the next one-to-one meeting in a time-saving manner.
  • Integrated AI Coach: The one-to-one meeting software Echometer records an audio transcript of the meeting and uses an AI to give the manager tips on how to improve the next meeting.
  • Employee development KPIs: The software also helps to make trends in employee development historically visible through survey KPIs, known as check-ins, in a beautiful analysis dashboard. This allows, for example, the sentiment or mood of employees to be measured over time.
  • Task management: The 1-to-1 software Echometer helps employees and managers to manage action items from the one-on-one meeting in a dashboard so that tasks are not forgotten.
  • Employee goals through hashtag management: The flexible hashtag feature makes it easy to record and filter employee goals or other recurring topics, for example to call them up in the annual employee appraisal.
  • Private notes: Echometer offers the option of recording private notes in addition to the notes that are shared with the employee in the 1-to-1 meeting series. This means that these notes are not visible to the employee, but are still stored directly in the same place as the actual 1-to-1 meeting agenda.
  • Automatic reminders: In the Echometer one-to-one meeting software, you can set both you and your employees to receive a reminder via e-mail before the 1-to-1 meeting. This helps to ensure that the meeting agenda is better prepared on both sides.
  • Calendar integration: The Echometer one-to-one meeting software offers integration with the Microsoft calendar. This means that meetings that are moved in the Microsoft calendar, for example, are also automatically moved in the Echometer calendar.
  • All-in-one dashboard: Echometer offers a dashboard where you can see all employee tasks and results of the last check-in survey KPIs in one place. This helps enormously to get an overview of the status in the team.
  • Direct access to retrospective software: Echometer is the only tool on the market that offers integrated software for agile retrospectives in addition to one-to-one meeting software.

In summary, these features make Echometer one of the best, if not the best, software for one-to-one meetings between employees and their managers.

Echometer's one-to-one meeting software is a tool that supports the conduct of regular one-to-one meetings between managers and employees. Especially in online or virtual remote 1-to-1 meetings, it helps to conduct productive meetings in a time-saving manner thanks to various features.

The 1:1 meeting software from Echometer includes, among other things:

  • Customizable 1:1 meeting templates
  • Collaborative live editor for meeting notes
  • Transcription and AI summary
  • AI coaching tips
  • Library for conversation starters (open questions) and check-ins (scale evaluations)
  • Tracking recurring topics and goals with hashtags
  • Evaluation options for check-ins (scale ratings with comments) to analyze trends in employee satisfaction and other factors
  • Private notes for both participants

Further questions?