Focus on behaviour, not personality: Your feedback should address specific behaviours or actions rather than personal characteristics. This keeps the conversation professional and constructive. Be specific and provide examples: Vague feedback is not useful and can even cause undue frustration.
When giving negative feedback, focus on concrete examples of behavior or performance, avoiding vague statements. For example, instead of saying, “Your work isn't good enough,” say, “In the last project, the report you submitted had several formatting errors, and it was missing key data on customer engagement.”
Work Quality and Attention to Detail John maintains exceptional attention to detail, ensuring tasks are completed with precision. Sarah ensures work is well-researched and clearly articulated before presenting it to stakeholders. Carl regularly follows up on tasks to prevent oversights and ensure projects stay on track.
A Snapshot of Flawed Manager Behavior Arrogant, Know-It-All, and Bossy. Poor Communication Skills. Indecision and Lack of Organization. Complacency and Resistance to Change. A Willingness To Bend the Rules. Never Recognizing the Contributions of Others. Increase the Frequency of Manager Performance Reviews.
More tips on how to give feedback to your manager Focus on the task or specific behaviors rather than the individual. Focus on the future, not the past. Use specific, recent examples to provide suggestions for improvement. Be sure to mention something your manager did or does well.
Provide concrete examples of situations where the manager's behavior was problematic. Describe what happened, how it impacted you or the team, and why you feel it was an issue. Frame the feedback in terms of how the manager's actions affected the work, rather than criticizing their personality or character.
Here are some positive feedback examples you can extend to your manager. Good Leadership. “I admire the way you keep the entire team together. Growth And Development. Gratitude For Recognition. Keeping The Morale Up. Performance Management. Workload Management. More Regular Feedback. More Detailed Feedback.
Examples of what to tell your manager to improve on A few other ways to give feedback could include; "More one-on-ones would help ensure that everyone feels supported within the team." "Clearer deadlines matched with specific goals would allow for better focus our efforts."
Phrases you might use as starters for constructive feedback examples to your manager include: “I see room for improvement here…” “I think the team could benefit from…” “Perhaps a better way to handle this would be…” “I see an opportunity to improve this function in X way”
Employees should feel empowered to tell their managers when they need more direction. For example, if you need more guidance on a project, but you know that your manager (and you) hates handholding. Example of feedback: “I know you're busy, but it would help me to have more regular check-ins with you.