The Fine Art of Team Feedback
One theme we see popping up time and again in our leadership development work with teams, and one that can so often be overlooked, is the power of feedback.
Leaders often focus on one-to-one feedback conversations, which are of course vital, but can sometimes overlook prioritising feedback on a more collective level. This can mean they end up missing out on a critical driver of high performance; helping teams align, learn, and grow together. What we’ve observed is that sometimes this is down to a bit of a fear factor – leaders can feel more vulnerable offering feedback in a group setting. But our belief is, if the necessary leadership skills to offer team feedback are developed and honed it can be mightily effective.
At Maier feedback isn’t just a standalone activity—it’s woven into everything we do, from leadership development to team and individual coaching. It has the power to transform team culture, yet many organisations struggle to embed effective feedback practices. This is where skilled facilitation comes in. Coaches and facilitators help teams establish feedback habits, knowing when to push and when to guide, ultimately creating an environment where feedback is not just given, but welcomed and actively embraced.
But for team feedback to land well—and to drive real performance gains—it must be rooted in candour. Too often, teams equate psychological safety with being nice or avoiding discomfort. In reality, psychological safety is not about comfort—it’s about permission for honesty. It means creating an environment where people can take risks, speak up, challenge ideas, and admit mistakes—without fear of punishment or embarrassment. It’s not always easy, and it’s certainly not always comfortable, but it is essential for growth.
Why Team Feedback Matters
Feedback isn’t just about individual growth; it’s also about creating a culture where teams can challenge and support each other independently to improve shared group performance.
Some research highlights :
- According to Gallup, employees who receive regular feedback are 3.6 times more likely to be engaged at work.
- A Harvard Business Review study found that employees who receive effective positive feedback are significantly more productive and motivated.
- Yet, many leaders struggle with feedback. A report by iNews suggests that ‘nice’ managers who avoid giving honest feedback can inadvertently hold teams back from growth and success.
When teams openly share feedback, they:
- Enhance collaboration & trust – fostering an environment where honest conversations lead to better decision-making.
- Increase psychological safety – not by avoiding challenge, but by normalising it in a respectful, learning-focused way.
- Drive accountability – ensuring that responsibilities and expectations are clear, reducing misunderstandings and friction.
- Accelerate learning – helping teams reflect on what’s working and what isn’t, allowing for continuous improvement.
Importantly, psychological safety doesn’t require a top-down mandate. It’s something that emerges locally, team by team, through everyday conversations and actions. Everyone contributes to it. Asking a good question, sharing a mistake, or offering respectful challenge all help to build a climate where candour is expected and valued.
The Role of Leaders in Shaping Feedback Culture
Leaders play a crucial role in setting the tone for team feedback. It’s not just about giving feedback well; it’s about receiving it openly and fostering a culture where feedback flows in all directions. A strong feedback culture doesn’t happen by chance—it needs to be cultivated deliberately. Understanding feedback fundamentals is essential in embedding these practices effectively;
- Modelling vulnerability – openly receiving and acting on feedback to set the tone without defensiveness. This includes showing that tough feedback is welcome—not just praise.
- Normalising team feedback conversations – making feedback a routine part of meetings, rather than an annual event.
- Encouraging balanced feedback – focusing on both strengths and areas for development to build confidence and capability, both as individuals and as a team
- Creating structured moments for feedback – using retrospectives, team debriefs, and facilitated sessions to embed feedback in the team’s rhythm.
- Clarifying expectations around candour – making it clear that disagreement, curiosity, and critique are not only acceptable, but expected. The goal is shared performance, not individual comfort.
Useful Feedback Frameworks
To make feedback meaningful and effective, it helps to have a clear structure. Here are a couple of models we like…
1. SBI Model (Situation-Behaviour-Impact)
- Situation: Describe the context.
- Behaviour: Explain what the person/team did.
- Impact: Highlight the effect of the behaviour.
- Example: “In yesterday’s team meeting (situation), when you challenged the idea constructively (behaviour), it encouraged a richer discussion and helped us refine our approach (impact).”
2. ‘Stop, Start, Continue’
- What should the team stop doing?
- What should they start doing?
- What should they continue doing?
- This is a simple but powerful framework for team retrospectives.
The Quality of Team Conversations
Conversations—whether spoken, written, synchronous or asynchronous—are where much of the work happens. They’re how teams coordinate, make decisions, give feedback, shift direction, and celebrate progress. In our experience, the quality of these conversations often determines the quality of the team’s results.
High-quality conversations are both a driver and a product of psychological safety. They invite honest contributions, make room for challenge and reflection, and move discussions forward with intention. Crucially, they don’t have to take longer than less effective conversations—in fact, many low-quality interactions are indirect, repetitive, or meander without purpose.
We encourage teams to strengthen their conversational habits by:
- Asking good, open questions that bring different voices into the discussion
- Listening actively and with curiosity
- Ensuring everyone’s contributions are heard and considered
- Pushing for clarity and closure when it’s needed
Teams that do this consistently find they make better decisions, build deeper trust, feedback becomes easier, risks feel safer to take, and progress feels more collective.
The Impact of Team Feedback
Teams that embrace feedback don’t just perform better—they thrive. They build stronger relationships, innovate more effectively, and adapt faster to change. A well-established feedback culture transforms how teams collaborate and communicate’
As leaders, the challenge is to embed feedback in a way that feels natural and constructive without any sense of apology and that’s where we can come in. Get in touch to talk about how we can help you and your teams embrace a culture of feedback rooted in honesty, purpose and performance.
Find out how Maier can help you embed an effective feedback culture: Maier | Leadership Development Consultancy | What We Do
