Here's how you can foster open feedback in your engineering team.

Cultivating open feedback is critical for any engineering team's success. To accomplish this, we must regularly evaluate our feedback culture and actively seek suggestions on how to improve our procedures. By fostering an environment in which team members feel comfortable discussing their ideas, we may uncover new solutions and improve our projects. It is critical that we remain adaptable and adjust our strategy in response to the changing needs of the team. This open communication not only improves our technical skills, but it also promotes a more collaborative and efficient work atmosphere, resulting in better engineering solutions.

Building trust by leading with example. But how? Being a leader need to accept mistake and correct it. Encourage ideas and correct yourself which leads to trust building. This action build a confidence in team that you are open to listen and adapt. There is a thin line between criticism, blame and open feedback. Need to respect feedback and guide as well. Show no biasness towards anyone which will remove hesitation, fear and build confidence.

In one of my previous roles as an engineering manager, I wanted to foster a culture of open feedback within the team. To lead by example, I initiated a weekly "feedback circle" where everyone, including myself, shared one piece of constructive feedback about our processes or performance. I started each session by openly discussing my own areas for improvement and actively seeking input from the team on how I could better support them. By showing vulnerability and demonstrating that I valued their opinions, I created a safe space for honest dialogue. Over time, team members felt more comfortable sharing their thoughts, which led to enhanced collaboration and continuous improvement.

1. Encourage a culture where team members feel safe to share their thoughts. 2. Schedule routine meetings 3. Show genuine interest and listen actively to team members’ inputs.

Trust and empathy are the bedrock of effective feedback. Once established, there are ways to refine both the input and the output, to achieve the outcome of growth. To generate good input, what has helped me is to become a keen observer and active listener. Note down observations immediately and deliver it as quickly as possible. To improve the output, I’ve found structures like COIN helpful. However, don’t let perfect stand in the way of good. To foster this in a team, role model it yourself and create space for others to do it. In one of my teams we introduced a a short ceremony ‘feedback Friday’, where we gave feedback to each other.

To build a culture of trust and empathy within your team, which is essential for seeking constructive and honest feedback, consider the following approaches: 1. Value and respect the unique perspectives and thought processes of each team member. 2. Engage actively in discussions, showing genuine interest in team members' ideas and opinions. 3. Ensure that every team member feels valued and heard, which encourages them to share their thoughts openly. 4. Create an environment where open discussion and the sharing of ideas are encouraged and facilitated 5. Demonstrate humility and openness by acknowledging your own mistakes. This sets a precedent for honesty and vulnerability within the team.

Build a toolkit to navigate the framework of a Psychologically Safe environment. Emotional intelligence is useful and about how to say uncomfortable truths in a way that provides for finding constructive, collaborative ways forward. Radical Candour is another tool empowering people to speak the truth in a way that demonstrates you care about the people you are talking to. Active listening to truly understand another person's point of view, before responding. Models like SBI, The Sandwich, the Pendleton model, CEDAR, BOOST, IDEA are all useful to structure feedback. Feedback is only useful if the person receiving it is ready for it and believes you are an honest actor with best interest at heart. And its easy to tell if you are not.

Feedback is essential for professional growth as it guides employees on their responsibilities, helping in skill development and identifying areas for improvement. Furthermore, it encourages self-evaluation and reflection, ensuring everyone is aligned with organizational goals. As managers, we must provide feedback regularly, specifically, and constructively to foster individual growth and organizational success.