Team Feedback Template: Drive the Right Conversions

Team members desire feedback to grow and progress in their careers. Recent statistics show:

• Leaders who receive constructive and applicable feedback show 8.9% greater productivity compared to their counterparts.
• Team members of leaders who offer daily (rather than annual) feedback are 3.6 times more likely to strongly agree they are motivated to perform exceptional work.

This desire for feedback stems from team members looking for purpose in their roles within their teams and their organizations. Having a leader who understands this and regularly fuels the team’s progress through a team feedback template is key. This template can help identify your team’s strengths and opportunities for development, initiate conversations, and lead your team members on a path to success.

Below, we offer an interactive feedback template to guide you along the path to higher levels of performance along with insights on what you should and shouldn’t do when giving feedback.

Team Feedback Template Form: The Setup

Anytime you solicit feedback from team members, it is important to set the context and background as to why you are soliciting feedback and what the feedback will be used for. If you solicit feedback through a form or online data gathering tool, you will need to select a Likert scale that gives you the insights that you are seeking.

Gather General Information

It may be beneficial to gather basic information such as their name, role, and how long they’ve been with the company. This may help as you analyze the feedback.

• 1–6 months
• 7–12 months
• 1–2 years
• 2 years or more

Team Assessment Framework

There are four general qualities to consider when evaluating a team. These categories are intended to help assess the team through a holistic lens and provide the targeted feedback the team needs.

Based on the Likert scale you select, participants can respond to the following questions.

1. Culture

• I believe the team shares common values and beliefs.
• I feel that there is a high level of trust among the team.
• I feel like I can express my thoughts and concerns without judgment.
• The team members are well-versed in managing differences and handling conflict

2. Clarity

• The team has clearly defined goals that all team members understand and support.
• Individuals have a clear understanding of the role and responsibilities on this team.
• I understand how my role contributes to the overall success of the organization.
• Team members are willing to communicate effectively with one another.

3. Structure

• Team meetings have clear objectives and achieve their intended results.
• I feel like I have the resources and support I need to fulfill my responsibilities.
• Our team does a good job of collaborating to solve problems and make decisions that will produce results.

4. Execution

• This team has a good track record of completing the work it sets out to do.
• This team makes the necessary course corrections to achieve desired results.
• Team members are reliable and complete their individual tasks and assignments on schedule.
• Team members understand longer term strategies and plans.
• We are good at innovating when projects do not go as planned or when we encounter roadblocks.
• We have a good understanding of what other teams do and how our work affect them.

The Dos and Don’ts of Giving Feedback

Keep these guidelines in mind as you share and provide feedback to your team based on the data you have gathered from the form. Depending on the answers, feel free to note additional do’s and don’ts to ensure you have a successful conversation.

The Dos

Culture

• Do ask team members to share more specific information (e.g. Was there a specific event or project where you felt a low level of trust among the team?) when expressing any concerns regarding trust, values, and beliefs. This will help you identify root causes and solve culture issues in a productive manner.
• If a team member has positive feedback, do encourage team members to share specific culture aspects they enjoy and connect with. Just because feedback is positive does not mean it does not merit a conversation. Diving into the good parts helps you note specific areas that should continue to be reinforced.

Clarity

• Communication is key when it comes to clarity. Thus, do encourage team members to share what they believe are their roles and responsibilities or objectives. Use this information to fill in gaps and address those gaps.
• Do encourage individuals to share what their communication style is. This provides the opportunity for everyone to grow more aware and better understand one another.

Structure

• Do ask team members how yourself and the organization can better support your team.
• Do revisit the communication styles discussed during the “clarity” section to help team members understand how to improve on collaboration.

Execution

• Effective execution demands a goal. Discuss what action team members must take to fulfill better execution. In other words: How can we prepare for the future? What steps can we take to get better at XYZ? How can we encourage others to do the same?
• Do take an action-oriented approach. It can be overwhelming for team members to receive feedback. Thus, mapping out specific action items is helpful.

The Don’ts

Culture

• Do not criticize personalities. Rather, criticize actions. For example, if you are addressing a lack of trust among the team, you can specify certain actions such as failing to submit work by deadline.
• Targeting someone’s personality (something they can’t change) can hurt feelings and create uncomfortable and unproductive conversations. Instead, focus on the impact of the behavior and how that behavior may need to change. This will produce more goal-oriented discussions.

Clarity

• Again, communication is key when providing feedback on team clarity. When someone is speaking, do not interrupt them and encourage others to do the same. Let the speaker finish their thoughts. Feedback is a two-way conversation and therefore, should be a collaborative effort.

Structure

• Do not get defensive in the event you need to address negative team feedback regarding meetings and/or resource gaps. Instead, listen and ask follow-up questions. It’s easy for emotions to grow high. This can create unnecessary roadblocks to finding a collective solution. Approach your team members with empathy.

Execution

• Do not make decisions for the team. Rather, encourage everyone to have a free-flowing discussion and make a collective decision when adjusting roles to better reflect strengths or crafting a proactive gameplan for when issues arise. When a plan or decision has buy-in from everyone, team members will be more willing to support it and do their part.

We encourage you to take the next step by incorporating Feedback 360, a dynamic learning experience that focuses on both elements of feedback: giving and receiving. To help fill other gaps your team might have, look at CMOE’s portfolio of Teamwork and Team Development solutions.