Creating a Feedback Culture on Your Team

You can be part of the culture of peer-to-peer feedback when you combine three important components; competency, caring, and courage.

Competency refers to the skills you need to give and receive peer feedback effectively. You and your colleagues may need to learn how to both give and receive feedback so that it's effective rather than ineffective. Remember: situation, behavior, impact as a feedback tool to help you grow your feedback competency.

Caring means that peers want to help each other when team members are struggling or getting in their own way. Ask yourself, "Wouldn't I want to be given feedback if it helped me see my situation more clearly? Wouldn't that help me be more successful at work and in life?" Caring means you each provide support to help one another be successful, and you don't depend upon your managers to give all of the feedback.

Courage means stepping up to difficult, redirecting feedback, and engaging in conversations rather than holding back even when it feels easier to do so. A feedback rich culture is fostered by clear expectations on the team, but it's natural for there to be misunderstandings and problems when people work together. It is also natural and expected that when difficulties occur, they are not sweptunder the rug, but are addressed openly and respectfully. When this becomes an expectation that you and your peers understand and live out in daily work, pure feedback flourishes. Do your part to see that this happens.