The best way to get actionable feedback from your team


Hi there!

How many times have you tried to ask for feedback from your team and all you got back was a lukewarm “it’s all right”? Well, that doesn’t really help you grow or support your team better, right?

When I was first starting out in my career, I faced similar challenges. I knew I needed to find a way to get honest, actionable feedback, but the trust within the team wasn’t quite there yet. So I had to get creative.

In my upcoming book, I share a tool that’s been super helpful for me and many of the leaders I’ve worked with. It’s designed to help you get the real, unfiltered feedback you need—even when trust is low.

The Anonymous Feedback Method

Here’s how you can implement it:

  1. Anonymous Notes: During your next team meeting, ask your team members to write anonymous notes answering questions like:
    • What do we need to change to be a better team?
    • How can we better support each other?
    • What’s the one thing stopping us from being the great team we can be?
  2. Offline or Online: You can do this offline using paper cards or online using a virtual board. Make sure you also write your note answering the same questions.
  3. Shuffle and Distribute: Shuffle the cards and randomly distribute them among all team members, including yourself.
  4. Advocate for Points: Ask each team member to read what’s written on a card and be an advocate for that point. Other team members can chime in if they feel it’s important.
  5. Vote and Action Plan: After everyone has read their points, vote for the most important ones and create an action plan to address them.

This method not only helps you get honest feedback but also starts the process of transforming your team into a high-performing unit.

Try It Out!

Give this a try with your team and let me know how it worked for you. I’d love to hear your stories and insights. Feel free to send me a message or share your experience on LinkedIn.

Take care and keep pushing forward,

Daria

PS - I share articles, tips, and business & career advice on LinkedIn. Let’s connect there! And if you haven’t already, subscribe to my YouTube channel for interviews with fascinating business thinkers.

Meaning Makers

A no-nonsense newsletter for busy leaders who are done with overwork and ready to scale smarter. Join a community of 15K+ leaders and followers across platforms getting concise, actionable insights on leadership, team building, and how to use AI and hybrid intelligence to make work easier—so you can earn more, go home earlier, and lead with purpose without burning out.

Read more from Meaning Makers

Hi Reader! Let me introduce my team. There's me. There's my assistant. And then there are the AI bots. These are custom AI assistants that handle marketing, content creation, research, data analysis, and even self-reflection. Tasks that used to take weeks now take hours. And no, I haven't lost my mind. I've just stopped pretending I can do everything myself. Here's How People Are Using AI Bots Custom AI bots aren't just productivity hacks. They're becoming something much more personal. Nearly...

Hi Reader! Last week I wrote about how AI is quietly taking over our cognitive powers—and what we need to do about it. This week's newsletter is on a more positive note: how to learn anything with AI. Because, honestly, we now have the best tutor in the world. One who knows everything we want to know and can teach us anything we need. Sure, he can also give us a bunch of crap. But using the right approach, you can learn anything you want. Fast. The Learning Crisis of Too Much Information...

Hi Reader! We talk a lot about AI replacing jobs. But the actual risk is cognitive offloading at scale. AI doesn't just automate tasks - it automates judgment. And when we hand over our thinking to machines, we don't just save time. We drain our mental engagement. A 2025 research paper found that extended AI use leads to "cognitive strain, attention depletion, information overload, and decision fatigue." The more AI thinks for us, the less mentally present we become. AI multiplies decisions...