If you dread the mad scramble for peer feedback every review cycle, you’re not alone. Whether you’re a manager, HR lead, or just someone trying to wrangle feedback for your own review, the process is often messy, awkward, and way more painful than it needs to be. This guide is for anyone who wants to actually organize and use peer feedback—without spending hours chasing emails or copying comments into spreadsheets.
Fellow (fellow.html) bills itself as a tool for meeting notes and feedback, but it can be a real lifesaver for the whole peer feedback process. Here’s how to actually use it, what to watch out for, and a few traps to avoid.
Step 1: Decide What You Want from Peer Feedback
Before you even open Fellow, get clear on what you’re after. Are you collecting feedback for a formal performance review? Trying to help someone grow? Or just ticking a box for HR? If you don’t know, your feedback requests will be vague and your results scattered.
Be specific:
- Who needs to give feedback? (Peers, direct reports, cross-functional partners?)
- What are you asking about? (Collaboration, technical skills, something else?)
- Is this anonymous, or is transparency more important?
- Do you need a written record, or just high-level themes?
Pro tip: If your company has a “feedback culture” but nobody knows what that actually means, ask your HR team for the real requirements before you start.
Step 2: Set Up Your Peer Feedback Process in Fellow
Now that you know what you want, it’s time to set up your process in Fellow. Here’s the honest breakdown:
Create a Feedback Template
Don’t just send an open-ended “Any feedback for Sam?” request. You’ll get crickets or, worse, a wall of vague praise. Instead, use Fellow’s template feature to guide people.
How to do it:
- Go to the “Feedback” section in Fellow.
- Create a new feedback template.
- Use clear, targeted questions. For example:
- “What’s one thing this person does well?”
- “What’s one thing they could improve on?”
- “Any examples to back this up?”
What works:
Templates keep things focused and make it easier for people to respond.
What doesn’t:
Long, multi-part forms with jargon or “rate on a scale of 1–10” questions. People will rush through or skip them, and you’ll get junk data.
Set Up Feedback Cycles (Optional, but Handy)
If you run reviews on a schedule (quarterly, bi-annually), use Fellow’s recurring feedback feature. Set up a cycle so everyone gets a reminder and you’re not sending dozens of one-off requests.
What to ignore:
The temptation to over-engineer. If your team’s small or this is your first time, keep it simple and manual.
Step 3: Request Feedback from Peers (the Right Way)
Don’t just blast out requests to everyone you know. Be intentional.
Pick the right people:
- Ask for feedback from those who actually work with the person, not just the usual suspects.
- 2–4 people per review is plenty for most teams.
Send your requests:
- In Fellow, start a new feedback request using your template.
- Personalize your message. A quick note (“Hey, I’d really value your feedback on X’s collaboration this quarter”) gets more responses than a generic ping.
Make it easy:
- Give a clear deadline—ideally a week, not “whenever.”
- Remind people that honest, constructive feedback is what’s actually helpful. It’s not about sugarcoating or nitpicking.
What works:
Being specific and giving context for why you’re asking.
What doesn’t:
Sending requests with no explanation, or spamming the whole team.
Step 4: Gather and Organize Responses
Here’s where Fellow shines: it collects all the responses in one place, linked to the person and review cycle. No more digging through email chains or Slack threads.
Your options:
- All feedback lands in the “Feedback” tab for the person.
- You can tag or label responses for easier sorting.
- Fellow lets you see who’s replied (if not anonymous), so you can nudge people who haven’t.
Pro tip:
If you’re dealing with a lot of feedback, use the search and filter tools to find themes or repeated comments.
What works:
Centralizing feedback keeps you organized and makes it easier to spot patterns.
What doesn’t:
Copy-pasting feedback into other tools “just in case.” Trust the system unless you have a good reason not to.
Step 5: Share and Use the Feedback
Collecting feedback is only half the job. The point is to actually do something with it.
For managers:
- Summarize the key points—not every comment, just the themes.
- Share the feedback with the person being reviewed. Be direct but fair.
- Use the “Share” feature in Fellow, or sit down together for a discussion.
For individuals:
- Read through all the feedback, not just the positive stuff.
- Look for specific examples you can act on.
For HR or admins:
- Export reports if you need to file things formally.
- Keep records tidy, but don’t obsess over formatting.
What works:
Turning feedback into a conversation, not just a checklist.
What doesn’t:
Dumping raw feedback on someone with no explanation, or hiding anything “negative” because it feels awkward.
Step 6: Close the Loop and Improve Next Time
Performance reviews are a cycle, not a one-off. After the dust settles:
- Ask for feedback on the process itself—what worked, what was awkward.
- Adjust your template or approach for next time.
- Remind people to give informal feedback year-round. Fellow can help with that too.
Don’t:
Try to make the process perfect on the first go. Just run it, see what works, and tweak.
What Fellow Does Well (and What It Doesn’t)
Here’s the no-nonsense rundown:
Good stuff:
- Keeps all feedback in one place, easy to find later.
- Templates make requests clear and responses more useful.
- You can see who’s responded, so no more guessing.
Not-so-good stuff:
- The interface can feel busy if you’re new—expect a learning curve.
- If your team’s not already using Fellow for meetings, adoption might be slow.
- Anonymous feedback is possible, but don’t expect ironclad anonymity—it’s still a workplace tool, not a whistleblower hotline.
Ignore:
Overly complex setup or automations unless you have a big team. You don’t need to use every bell and whistle.
Common Pitfalls (and How to Avoid Them)
- Vague requests: Use templates. Spell out what you want.
- Too many reviewers: More isn’t better. Quality over quantity.
- Ignoring the results: Actually discuss the feedback—don’t just file it away.
- Trying to “game” the process: Don’t cherry-pick only positive peers or coach people on what to write. It backfires.
Keep It Simple, Iterate Often
Collecting and organizing peer feedback doesn’t have to be a headache. Fellow can help, but only if you keep your process clear and focused. Start small, use templates, and adjust as you go. The real trick? Make feedback a regular thing, not just a frantic scramble at review time. The rest gets easier.