How to Give Feedback to Your Manager
The nature of modern business makes good management skills a critical training area across all industries & sectors. Time and time again, studies conducted in the field have confirmed that good management is instrumental to ensuring that businesses function effectively and achieve the best results possible, keeping demand for management and leadership training high.
Appraisal skills, performance management and the ability to give feedback to team members is a key part of what sets good managers apart from the rest. But what appears to be often forgotten is the fact that feedback is a two-way process, and that professionals in non-managerial positions may find it just as difficult to provide their managers with the feedback necessary to make their working relationship truly productive and effective. And this is, of course, particularly the case when they are unhappy or frustrated with a certain issue and want to convey the message in a way that encourages change, but doesn’t create unnecessary friction.
We thought we’d address this gap by providing a list of dos and dont’s for professionals needing to provide this kind of feedback in a firm but constructive way.
Do...
Appreciate that there is a time and a place for everything, so choose an appropriate setting in which to address the issue with your manager. A formal appraisal meeting or performance review in which you are receiving feedback yourself is a good opportunity for you to repay your manager in kind, either using a point that comes up for discussion as an "entryway" for your comments, or reserving some time at the end of the meeting to bring up the issue in a professional way. Alternatively, ask specifically for a slot of time to sit down and have a discussion in a one-on-one setting.
Don’t...
Get caught mid-rant at the coffee machine complaining about this or that decision that you are unhappy with. Similary, don’t blow up or make snyde comments in the middle of a meeting with other team members or, worse, other colleagues or external clients. Not only is this unprofessional, it is also unlikely to produce any positive results. It generates negative energy and can reflect more poorly on you than your manager, making you the "bad guy" and your boss the victim. If you need to vent, do it in your own time with friends or family, but keep your behaviour in the workplace under control.
Do...
Focus on yourself: talk about how you feel and why the issue in question is making you unable to work to the best of your ability.
Don’t...
Bring your fellow team members or colleagues into it. When we feel uncomfortable or nervous, it is easy to start talking about "we" rather than talking about ourselves individually. It is a largely unconscious effort to protect ourselves and to shirk responsibility by implying that "it’s not just me, all of us feel this way". Don’t do it: it is unfair to your colleagues (who may or may not feel the same way) and may also have completely the opposite effect to the one you are after. Your manager may think, for example, that other team members have put you up to it, or have somehow influenced you to give this negative feedback. The result may be that he or she decides to not give too much importance to the issue, rather than recognising that you are feeling uneasy or frustrated and thus unable to do your best work – something that they should instead take very seriously.
Do...
Approach your manager directly, at least as a first step.
Don’t...
March up to the CEO and demand for the person in question to be immediately removed from their position. Even if you don’t quite phrase it in this way, skipping levels of your organisational hierarchy should be an absolute last resort. There are several reasons for this: firstly, you can’t expect for a problem to be solved if you don’t at least try to address it with the person who is directly involved. Secondly, hierarchies exist for a reason – your CEO has other things to think about, which is why you have manager in the first place. Your situation is not their responsibility to solve unless all other avenues have truly been exhausted and the situation is becoming seriously dangerous for the business. Thirdly, since your manager will also have a manager whose job it is to evaluate their performance, your decision to bypass your boss will imply that that person isn’t really doing their job properly either. Result: you will likely antagonise more than one person and gain a reputation as someone who can’t be trusted to play by the rules. The renegade employee who feels that they can take every situation into their own hands, so to speak. This can be much more damaging to your future career in the company (and perhaps even outside it) than the original issue you are trying to address.
Do...
Take a proactive, solution-oriented approach. Think about potential ways of solving the issue at hand and approach your manager with those ideas already in mind, ready to find some common ground and reach a mutually agreeable solution.
Don’t...
Expect others to address your complaints single-handedly. If something is bothering you, think about how you would like it to be dealt with and approach your manager with a solution already in mind. Though you will certainly need their acknowledgement and input, it’s important to show that you are invested enough to want to solve the problem and not just complain about it. Otherwise there is not much point in raising the issue in the first place.
Do...
Be confident, assertive & professional.
Don’t...
Bring personal matters into it or have a complete breakdown in front of the boss. An absolutely critical thing here is bringing up the issue sooner rather than later and not letting it get to the point where it's ruining your life and making you a blubbering mess of an employee. If you have anxiety issues, try working on your confidence levels and learning to be assertive. This will pay off in countless professional situations and help you reach your goals more effectively, making you a happier and more satisfied employee overall.