Here's how you can foster honest feedback from your team members.

It takes time to build trust and trust must be earned. You can earn the trust of your team by showing up authentically day after day. Do not engage in gossip or move outside the scope of professionalism. Show your colleagues that you are a person of integrity, flexibility and high character. When you model qualities that allow others to feel secure in their own roles and relationships within the group, you set the standard for genuine trust. Consistency builds certainty. When those around you see that you are the real deal, you become trustworthy.

Have you ever received feedback that was helpful, shared with you privately, provided you with the opportunity to develop in an area, and yet was not shared with anyone else but you? How did that feel? Good, right? Me too. That micro establishment of psychological safety with one another is how trust is built when seeking honest feedback partners, whether professionally or personally. It can be done when both development partners create a two-way street of respect, honesty, integrity, and support.

-Build an environment of trust and psychological safety within your team by demonstrating transparency, integrity, and respect. -Encourage open communication and demonstrate a willingness to listen to your team members' perspectives without judgment. -Establish rapport with your team members through regular one-on-one meetings, team-building activities, and informal interactions. -By building trust, team members feel more comfortable providing honest feedback knowing that their opinions will be valued and respected.

Trust is the foundation of open communication. To foster honest feedback, build a relationship of trust by actively listening, responding thoughtfully, being transparent, and admitting mistakes. Show that you value their opinions by taking their input seriously and making changes based on it. Create an environment where feedback is encouraged through anonymous surveys and open forums. Recognize and reward honest communication, and lead by example in sharing constructive feedback and appreciating candor. This consistent, open dialogue nurtures trust, leading to a more engaged and collaborative team.

To foster honest feedback from team members: create a safe environment, lead by example, encourage constructive criticism, provide anonymous channels for feedback, schedule regular feedback sessions, practice active listening, follow-up on feedback with actions, offer training on giving and receiving feedback, and recognize and reward those who provide valuable input. These steps cultivate a culture of transparency and collaboration, driving continuous improvement within the team.

-Clearly communicate your expectations regarding feedback to your team members from the outset. -Emphasize the importance of honest and constructive feedback in driving team performance and fostering continuous improvement. -Encourage team members to share both positive and negative feedback in a timely manner, emphasizing the value of feedback as a tool for personal and professional growth. -Be explicit about the type of feedback you are seeking, whether it's related to project performance, team dynamics, or individual development. -Setting clear expectations helps create a culture where feedback is normalized and expected.

If you really want to grow, professionally, personally, or both because you’re an overachiever, then identify trusted development partners and get specific and transparent about your plans for growth. Get clear about what areas you are seeking improvement in (we all have something), about how what types of feedback you are looking to implement yourself, and that you are open to receiving it in order to grow. Spoiler alert: When you know what you want, it is far easier for others to help you get there.

Feedback is a gift, and I do understand how mind-boggling this might appear to some as I used to feel that way, too. One way that opened a new world to me was through role-playing exercises. Role-playing exercises are my favorite way to learn, especially when it comes to giving and receiving feedback. During coaching certification, you learn how to ask open-ended questions effectively so that conversations remain open to guidance, understanding, awareness, and new mental unlocks. The next time you prepare for giving or receiving feedback, leverage training provided from around the world, right at your fingertips, through a variety of free resources like YouTube and others, use them as examples to spar with a trusted development partner.

-Offer training and guidance to your team members on how to deliver and receive feedback effectively. -Provide resources, workshops, or coaching sessions to help team members develop communication skills, active listening skills, and constructive feedback techniques. -Teach team members how to frame feedback in a respectful and non-judgmental manner, focusing on specific behaviors or outcomes rather than personal characteristics. -Encourage a growth mindset, where feedback is seen as an opportunity for learning and improvement rather than criticism. -By providing training on feedback, you empower your team members to engage in honest and productive conversations that contribute to team success.

Remember that when you ask for Feedback, it may not come back as you expected. How they see you may be very different than how you perceive your behaviors, leadership, communication style... Don't say anything but listen, ask follow-up questions, but never challenge someones perception when they gove feedback. Once you do this the door to honest and true feedback is lost.

This may come as a surprise, but extending gratitude to others who are willing to invest time in you can make a huge impact on the relationship for years to come. When your team members receive recognition for helping you grow through constructive feedback, it fosters a sense of reinforcement to them that their opinions and perspectives have value. Go ahead and give it a try. You may just be the first person who has ever made them feel that they do.

Story time: Early on, I used to loathe circling back on feedback that I received. As wild as this may sound, I was embarrassed to admit that there were things I had to work on…don’t judge me, it was early on ;). I had not yet realized the power of following through on feedback received, and how encouraging that is for yourself, let alone for those who provided it to you. Building team collaboration takes intentional effort, providing safe spaces to share feedback challenges, and identifying areas to grow in takes trust. Being open to the feedback, being willing to take it, not judge it, run with it, apply it, and measure progress, would completely flip the script on how you value feedback going forward.

Right where you are, is the perfect place to start. Honest feedback begins with creating an environment of psychological safety. I have learned that this begins in a very unpopular way, which is brick by brick. One conversation at a time, stacked over multiple conversations, in a safe, constructive, collaborative, and open way. Not level-led, not hierarchically, not by committee, individually. In previous sections we shared about setting expectations, providing (and receiving) training, aligning on communication channels, offering recognition when things go well, and following through on the asks presented. Step-by-step, brick-by-brick, these can all be accomplished by starting right where you are.