How to Encourage Feedback Between Others 3 | 10

The Radical Candor Order of Operations is a four-step sequence for building a feedback culture: (1) Get Feedback — start by soliciting feedback yourself; (2) Give Feedback — model candid, caring feedback for others; (3) Gauge Feedback — assess how well feedback is flowing on your team; and (4) Encourage Feedback — create conditions where others give and receive feedback with each other. Encouraging feedback between others is the final step, and it depends on having done the earlier steps well first.

Psychological safety — a concept developed by Amy Edmondson — means people feel heard and acknowledged rather than fearing retaliation. As a manager, you create it by actively and continually soliciting feedback and visibly rewarding it when you receive it. The goal is to make the rewards of speaking up more visible than the risks. It may never feel 100% safe, but your job is to tip that balance in favor of candor through consistent, positive reinforcement.

Don't allow people to talk about colleagues behind their backs. Instead, facilitate what Radical Candor calls a "clean escalation" — encourage the person to address the issue directly with their colleague first. If they still can't resolve it, step in as the manager and set up a three-way conversation. This approach builds trust between both parties and demonstrates that sharing criticism leads to better outcomes for everyone, rather than creating political side conversations.

One simple tactic is to create a dedicated peer recognition channel in your team's communication tools. For example, if your team uses Slack, set up a #kudos channel where anyone can publicly celebrate a colleague's win — this works especially well for remote teams. If you use Google Docs or Office 365, create a shared document for shout-outs. Making praise visible and easy to share normalizes positive feedback and helps build a culture where all feedback — not just criticism — flows freely.

You can't credibly ask your team to practice Radical Candor if you haven't modeled it yourself first. The Order of Operations is intentionally sequenced: you start by learning to receive feedback, then give it well, then assess how it's flowing, and only then do you focus on encouraging it between others. Skipping ahead undermines trust — people will see the initiative as performative if you haven't already built a psychologically safe environment through your own behavior.