Establishing a Feedback System for Team Growth
Effective feedback is essential to strong collaboration. When done well, it promotes learning, builds trust, and drives continuous improvement. But without shared norms, feedback can quickly become a source of confusion, misalignment, and frustration—undermining both team culture and outcomes.
Background
During my time on the team, it became clear to our team that we lacked a shared understanding of effective feedback practices—often leading to miscommunication and misinterpreted intentions.
To address this, I set out to understand our team’s perspectives on feedback and design a system that better supported our needs.
The goal was simple: to create a space where everyone felt heard, understood, and motivated to grow.
Team
I independently led and coordinated the project, but sourced insights from my broader team of 11 individuals composed of attorneys, scientist, policy analysts, and paralegals.
Timeframe
Methodology
Survey
Focus Group
3 -4 weeks
Project Outputs
A documented feedback system and shared team norms to guide how feedback is given and received.
My Role
Designed and distributed a survey to uncover team attitudes toward giving and receiving feedback
Analyzed insights and facilitated a team discussion to align on shared needs and expectations
Developed and implemented a feedback system based on team input and communication dynamics
Understanding Team Attitudes
In my survey to my team, I asked:
What makes feedback feel helpful or unhelpful to you?
How comfortable do you feel giving feedback to teammates? What makes it easier or harder?
Describe barriers you face when giving or receiving feedback.
Do you think our team has a shared understanding of what good feedback looks like? Why or why not?
Building off of that survey, I summarized some key ideas and refined some more detailed questions for a facilitated focus group discussion with my team.
How do you generally feel when receiving feedback?
What factors influence how you feel when you receive feedback?
What kinds of support or structures would help you feel more comfortable giving feedback?
Have there been moments when you wanted to share feedback but chose not to? What held you back?
Are there fears or concerns about how feedback might be received or how it could impact relationships?
Thematic Breakdown of Survey and Focus Group Results
1. Tone & Delivery
Struggling to provide feedback that addresses problems without sounding too harsh
Ensuring written feedback doesn’t come across as too aggressive
Acknowledging positive aspects when giving feedback
3. Trust & Transparency
Difficulty receiving feedback when it feels overly directive
Lack of confidence that feedback from colleagues is fully honest (i.e., beating around the bush)
2. Power Dynamics & Hierarchy
Junior staff feeling unsure how to give feedback to senior staff
Fear of retaliation or negative reactions
Uncertainty about giving feedback to someone being supervised by another person
Senior staff unsure how to invite honest feedback from junior colleagues
4. Logistical Barriers
Difficulty finding time to provide spoken feedback on smaller scale work
Not being sure when to give feedback
Solution
From those insights, I designed a new system of feedback over the course of a project:
Kickoff Meeting: When a project team first forms, the lead member will solicit and record feedback preferences from all members of the project team.
Monthly Feedback Check-Ins: Once a month, the project team holds a 30-minute verbal check-in focused on what’s working, what needs adjustment, and how collaboration can improve.
Anonymous Feedback Survey: Halfway through the project, the project lead distributes a short, anonymous written survey to gather feedback—especially useful for surfacing concerns across power dynamics. Responses are synthesized and shared with the team.
Debrief: At the end of a project, the team comes together for a reflection session to discuss what went well and what could be improved,
Independently of any single project, the team also co-creates and updates a “Feedback Do’s and Don’ts” document. This serves as a living guide for respectful and productive feedback practices.
How the System Addresses Key Challenges
Sets expectations early by collecting feedback preferences at project kickoff.
Builds safety through anonymous check-ins that reduce fear of retaliation.
Elevates junior voices with structured channels to share feedback with senior staff.
Normalizes feedback by making it a routine part of the project lifecycle.
Creates shared standards with a team-developed feedback norms document.
Ensures follow-through with end-of-project debriefs for reflection and growth.
Impact
I initially piloted the feedback system with one project team, where I gathered positive responses around the structured check-ins and shared norms.
Based on early feedback, I decreased the frequency of the monthly check-ins to every other month.
After refining the system, I extended it to the broader team. We’re currently testing the full process, with plans to collect further feedback after a few more cycles.
Reflections
Designing this feedback system sharpened key design research skills: uncovering user pain points through open-ended inquiry, synthesizing qualitative insights into actionable themes, and co-creating solutions that respond directly to user needs. Just like in UX, the process required empathy, facilitation, and iterative thinking—ensuring the final system felt intuitive, inclusive, and usable by everyone on the team.