Would you like to be a better manager?
I hope so. I’ve found difficulty receiving actionable feedback to improve. 360s or anonymous mid-quarter surveys might tell you a fraction of the truth. You will never get the complete story how you’re doing as a manager. You’ll get feedback when you leave, after a few years from a few engineers on your team but by then you’re probably on decent terms. Why ruin coffee with a vent about that one time you messed up telling an engineer to not backup data?
If you have a good manager, this person can tell you the honest truth how you are doing. Remember that’s from one perspective. Your company may offer 360 degree feedback designed to allow your higher-ups, peers, and direct reports to write you an opinion of what they think of you.
The intention is positive. When you receive the feedback, think of the following –
Would the reviewer have an incentive to give you negative feedback?
I am loathe to write harsh feedback which can be documented forever. If I have an issue, I’ll talk to the individual in private and sort out the matter if possible. And I keep trying until I’ve exhausted all other options. That’s my style.
You also need to consider your team might not care enough to tell you.
Do the reviewers feel they have true anonymity?
If my team only had 2 direct reports, I have no trouble guessing who submitted the review and who didn’t. I’ve seen some reviews require at least 4 direct reports to submit. What if your team started last quarter and you only have 3 on the team?
Are the reviewers calibrated?
I’ve experienced and learned about 360 reviews asking for numbers like “My manager listens to me: (1-10).” Discrete numbers don’t have any meaning if I can’t explain them. My 7 and your 8 could mean very different things. Like Yelp ratings. McDonald’s gets 2 stars but sometimes I really want junk food. That would be at least 4 star in my book as long as I didn’t get sick. For some foodies, a five means the food was a game-changer, a religious experience.
I would improve this by only allowing prose. Unfortunately writing won’t help with anonymity. I need a neutral third party to consolidate and summarize the written feedback. My hope is they won’t sanitize so much the meaning is lost.
Do you have a process to enforce the feedback?
Say the team gives the manager constructive feedback. Who will make sure the feedback is taken to heart? The manager’s manager? What if they don’t think the negative feedback is an issue?
I would guess the team wouldn’t feel empowered and might feel discouraged to provide useful feedback later.
Feedback isn’t easy!
So how could you get useful feedback from your team?
Honest 1 on 1’s take time to develop trust between your team. Be aware feedback can be distorted. If you’re the problem, you create action steps for yourself to follow. My suggestion is to pay close attention to the outcome of all your decisions. If you make a bad call and projects end up failing, then that’s the feedback you need to give yourself.
I recommend telling your team, “Hey team, I need to work on X. Here’s how I’m going to do that.” They may or may not offer suggestions. Carry out the plan. Gauge your team’s response at the end. And re-evaluate.
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