You're saving it for the review. That's an ambush.

How do you give negative feedback to an employee?

Soon, in private, and in plain words. Do it within a few days, while you both still remember what happened. Say what you saw, not what you think it says about them: "In Tuesday's stand-up, you finished Mia's sentence twice." Say why it matters. Say what you'd like instead. Then stop talking and ask what's going on from their side.

That last part is where you find out you missed something. Sometimes you did.

Keep it short. Give it five minutes after the meeting; for most things, that's enough. The longer the speech, the more it sounds like a verdict.

And make it about one thing. If you bring a list, they'll hear "you're bad at your job" and stop listening after the second item. One point, said early, is something they can do something about by Friday.

Why do managers save it for the review?

Because the review feels like permission. It's in the calendar, there's a form, and HR expects you to say something. Saying it on a random Wednesday feels like starting a fight.

There's a kinder-sounding reason too. You don't want to knock their confidence over one bad week. So you wait to see if it happens again. It does. Now you've got three examples and a reason to keep waiting.

We think "the right time" mostly means "a time when it'll feel less awkward for me". Our post on why managers avoid difficult conversations goes through the rest of that list.

Why is the review the worst time to hear it?

Because it's too late to fix and it's tied to money. In November, Dev could have changed how he runs stand-up by Friday. In March, all he can do is argue about whether it's fair, because his rating and his pay rise are on the same page.

He also learns something you didn't mean to teach. You saw it, said nothing, and kept a file. After that, every quiet week with you will feel like a week you're writing things down.

The longer you hold it, the bigger it lands. A note in week one is a small thing. By the review it's an ambush, and he'll remember the ambush long after he's forgotten the point.

The review should hold no surprises. If something in it is news to them, the feedback came too late.

What if they get upset?

Let them. Being upset is a normal reaction to hearing something hard, and in our experience it passes faster than you fear. Don't take the point back to make the moment easier. Say "I can see that's hard to hear" and give them room.

If it goes badly, you'll have a week, not a year, to try again. That's the point of saying it now. The Hard Conversations self-test is a good place to look at which talks you put off, and why.