At its best, feedback is a conversation about students' progress in relation to the objectives and goals of an activity, assignment, or entire course. For that conversation to be possible, the people having it need to trust one another. And for that trust to be possible, instructors need take active steps toward creating the kinds of environments where trust can thrive. Some of these steps include:

• Starting with the syllabus. A syllabus that is transparent about the goals of the course and the role of feedback in achieving those goals can set the tone for students as well as the teaching team. This overall transparency and sense of purpose, together with a statement on diversity and inclusion, are meaningful first steps in signaling to students that your course will be one where their voices are heard. 
• Taking time in the first days to introduce yourself and build rapport among students. For most students, giving and receiving feedback from instructors or peers is going to feel more personal—in a good way—if it's coming from people they know as persons and who know them as persons in turn. Taking time early in the semester to build rapport will make subsequent feedback more about talking "with" one another, rather than "at" one another. 
• Finding out where your students are coming from and where they're at. A short survey at the start of the term can help you find out the kinds of academic experiences and interests your students are bringing with them to your course, and this can be paired with a "writer's letter" that asks them to reflect on their identities as academic writers: What was their experience in Expos like? What have been the most meaningful writing experiences they've had in college? What kinds of writing are they more/less familiar with? What parts of writing do they find most challenging? Do they have any areas of writing they're excited to work on?