Managers giving their team members feedback is common practice, it’s what is expected and often an employee won’t even need to ask. But what about the other way around? Should managers also be asking their team members to give them feedback on their performance as a manager? The short answer? Yes! If you’d like the long answer keep reading this article.
Managers asking for feedback from their team members is an excellent way to find out what they are doing well and what they could be doing better to support their team.
Their team knows them best
Who better to give managers feedback than the people they manage? Who else has first-hand experience seeing them manage a team, in one to one check-ins, helping with blockers, assisting with goal setting and so on?
A manager’s team sees them perform as a manager on a daily basis, they most likely watch them grow, learn and develop their skills as a manager. Almost everybody will have an opinion on how their manager leads them and their team, after all it has a direct impact on their daily working lives.
Helping to meet team member’s needs
Managers can use this feedback to alter the way they manage, to fit the needs of their team members. For example if one team member’s feedback is ‘I don’t feel like we have enough one to one time to talk about my performance and development.’ Then another team member’s feedback is ‘I feel like we check-in too regularly and it disrupts my work flow’. This lets the manager know that these two individuals want to be managed differently; one would like a more hands on approach, whilst the other wants more autonomy.
By taking on feedback from team members, managers can be sure they are operating in a way that is most beneficial to all their team members, thus improving performance all round. Ultimately a manager’s job is to support their team, so finding out how they can best do this is a win win all round.
Feedback shows their leader they are performing well
Managers also have people to report in to, and will also have their performance reviewed. Having feedback from their team members is a great way to show their leaders how they are performing, and how they are using the feedback they receive to improve and grow as a manager.
Using this information, business leaders can make a fuller and fairer assessment on how their managers are performing, and set more specific goals for management based on the feedback they receive. This also allows HR teams insight into employee satisfaction across the organisation, meaning they can take action if they see teams are unhappy with the way they are being managed.
How should a manager ask their team for feedback?
Many employees might feel uncomfortable giving their manager feedback, after all this is their boss, and some people might fear repercussions from giving constructive feedback.
Therefore managers should take the initiative to send a feedback request to their teams, rather than waiting for their team members to offer it up. By letting their team know they want their feedback, they are telling them their opinion matters, and that they are open to hearing their thoughts on their skills to learn from it.
Managers could also use Feedback Circles, a tool within OneAdvanced Performance and Talent, which allows people to send out specific feedback rounds to a group of people. These templates can ask more specific questions about areas of performance, such as ‘What do you like about the way I lead the team?’ ‘What is one thing you want me to stop doing?’ ‘What is one thing you want me to start doing?’
These sorts of questions give employees a starting point, and can make them feel more comfortable, as they are being directly asked to give constructive feedback, rather than having to choose to offer it up voluntarily.
Empowering managers to ask for feedback, and employees to give feedback results in better communication, more in-tune managers and overall stronger team dynamics. All of this means better performance from the team as a whole. Learn more about how our performance management platform can provide your people with the tools they need to request and give real-time feedback. Take a look at OneAdvanced Clear Review.