Creating a Feedback Culture in Training Programs

I once had a team of insecure overachiever analysts. They were introverts, brilliant at their work, and incredibly nice people. Too nice, as it turned out. They were so nice that they wouldn't tell each other what was really going on. Instead, they'd come to me: "So-and-so is doing this thing that's really annoying. Can you do something about it?" I got sick of everyone putting me in the middle instead of taking ownership of their issues with each other. So I did something about it. I brought in trainers from the Center for Creative Leadership to teach everyone the Situation-Behavior-Impact (SBI) model (link in comments). The process was simple but powerful: 1. Describe the situation so everyone's on the same page. 2. Share the specific behavior you observed (no judgments about intent). 3. Explain the impact on you or the other people in the room. We started with positive feedback to create safety. We practiced saying things like, “When you walked into that meeting with a big smile, the impact was that it put everyone at ease." Everyone started spotlighting the good that was happening, and that encouraged more thoughtful interactions. Then, we practiced constructive feedback—harder, but even more important. The impact was almost immediate. Soon, I heard people asking each other, "Hey, can I give you an SBI?" The framework made it safe. More importantly, we came to give and receive feedback for the gift that it is. That ability to give and receive honest, thoughtful feedback is the foundation of every healthy team culture. But it's a skill we rarely train for. I’m curious: What frameworks have you used in your organizations to create a culture of feedback?

When Good Training Fails: A Neuroscience Wake-Up Call I will never forget walking into that tech company’s sleek office. Awards lined the lobby, the energy was palpable. Their HR director welcomed me with a familiar mix of enthusiasm and frustration. "We have done everything," she said. "Leadership programmes, feedback training, even brought in the high-profile consultants. Our managers nod along, take notes… and then nothing changes." I smiled. I had heard this before. This was not a training issue. It was a brilliant team stuck in the oldest trap in organisational development: assuming that knowing better automatically leads to doing better. When I spoke with their team leaders, the real story emerged: - I know I should give more feedback, but by Thursday, I am drowning - It feels awkward to bring it up. - I tried, but it felt forced. Then one engineering lead said something I will never forget: "You are teaching us to swim, then dropping us back in the desert and wondering why we are not practising." This was not about willpower. The environment was not designed to support the behaviour. So we changed that. +  We embedded 7-minute "connection checkpoints" into Monday meetings. + Placed simple "feedback cards" on desks. + Blocked out sacred time in calendars labelled "Team Investment Time". + Created peer accountability with one powerful weekly question: + "What conversation did you have that made someone stronger?" Months later, I received a video of a wall filled with anonymous notes of meaningful feedback. 😊 One note simply read: "For the first time, I feel seen here." 💙 Behaviour change is not about what we teach. It is about what people return to. Our brains need environments that make the right behaviours the easy ones. 🧠 So I will leave you with this: What behaviour are you trying to change in your organisation? And what have you done to redesign the environment to support it? Start with what matters. Use neuroscience to uncover the barriers. Then reimagine and reinforce the environment around the behaviour. Because we cannot expect people to change if everything around them stays the same. 💡

Everytime I talk to a team looking to get better at feedback - the first place everyone wants training is the mechanics of giving feedback. It’s like we imagine if we can be perfect at giving it, then we’ll magically create a culture of it. It is my experience that you have to create the emotional bandwidth, imagination, and motivation for feedback before you create the skills for doing it right. I generally start by helping people see the contradictions in their desire and relationship to feedback. Their own personal reactions to it. Then you train how to recieve feedback. An appetite to recieve will always go way further than the ability to give. An appetite to receive across your team will relieve the pressure of having to give feedback exactly right. So the next time you or your team want to develop a feedback culture. Find people to train you who get that. I watch so many places waste money on trainings that focus on mechanics and do nothing to change the dynamics of a team.

100% of companies will tell you they want a learning culture...but why then does learning become something that's done 'when things calm down'? Because in many places, they never do 🤷♀️ What I mean by a learning culture is when an organization is set up so that people continuously get better at their work, every week, not by accident, but in an intentional, structured way- supported by their learning habits and behaviours. A learning culture is most visible when it's normal and expected to share the problems you see, share what you don' know, share the knowledge you have and listen to hear what others have to say. And the best way to create this culture?? Through continuous micro behaviour and habit changes. Such as... 1) End meetings with a 2-minute “What did we learn?” Ask: What did we learn today? What should we do differently next time? 2) Replace “Who did this?” with “What in the process allowed this?” When something goes wrong, model the language: “Let’s fix the system, not hunt a person.” 3) Make one question your default answer to a problem: "What do you think happened and what should we do? It trains people to think, not just react. 4) Turn mistakes into a 5-minute “lesson captured” Store it somewhere visible (Teams channel, shared doc, noticeboard). 5) Normalize “I don’t know… yet” Leaders say it first. 6) Do a weekly “one improvement” round In a huddle or team check-in- each person shares one small improvement they made or noticed. 7) Use “ask and listen” after decisions or training After explaining something, ask: “Can you tell me what you understand from what I said?” Not to test people- to confirm shared understanding. 8) Create a “question parking lot” that actually gets answered When questions come up mid-work, park them. Assign an owner and a date. 9) Praise learning behaviours, not just outcomes Catch people doing the right things and say thanks! 10) Build a micro-habit of feedback Once a week, everyone gives one piece of helpful feedback to someone. Really importantly, while these ARE simple tweaks to habits and behaviours, they require people to step out of their comfort zone- and that challenge has to be recognized and supported. What have you seen or introduced to shape a learning culture? What gets in the way? Leave your comments below 🙏