My tone normally is "I believe this should be extracted to a separate function, and here's WHY". The WHY is to typically refer to some best practice, coding st

My tone normally is "I believe this should be extracted to a separate function, and here's WHY". The WHY is to typically refer to some best practice, coding standards, something as neutral as possible. I use the combination "believe" and "should" as it's friendly but still has some hint of authority. Another tip is to not just post negative review comments, I also comment on things that went well. When I see somebody repeatedly make the same mistake, or very severe mistakes, I schedule a session to discuss the topic, as there's likely a knowledge gap or misunderstanding. Invest in people like that and make it clear that this improves life for both themselves and the reviewer. Win-win. People can be very diverse, of course. Still, if you need to sugar coat feedback too much and are afraid of a possible backlash or drama, that's unhealthy. The exchange of good faith professional feedback is part of business.