Feedback is an excellent tool in business management, and very important. After all, through feedback you can tell your employees where they are doing badly and how they have performed well.
But how do you proceed when you need to evaluate your boss? In this case, for feedback to be effective it is important that it be a two-way street.
As intimidating and unsettling as it may seem, showing the leader the positives and negatives of his management is just as important as he does with you. Therefore, both parties must be willing to improve when necessary.
With that in mind, we have put together some important tips on how to give feedback to your manager. Read on and learn how to act when you call your leader to have “that conversation.”
How to evaluate your boss?
There are several tools that can help you evaluate your boss, taking into consideration aspects that are important for growth, not only for him as a professional but for the entire team. These are some:
Identify the right time to approach your boss
The first tip when giving feedback to your boss is to find the right moment to address it.
It is of the utmost importance that you ensure the moment to give this feedback is really the most appropriate. You could end up getting close to your boss on a bad day, hurting the results you were looking for.
In general, companies have a calendar where they establish specific dates for this type of evaluation. However, there are also emergency cases where you must give that necessary feedback as soon as possible.
When comments cannot wait, carefully choose the time and place for this conversation to take place.
Maturity first
Many people use their bosses’ performance reviews to vent their frustrations and dissatisfactions, and they indulge entirely in personal opinions and feelings. However, what remains to be done is to ask yourself about your own actions, and if this has contributed to making the daily work better, making the relationship with your boss healthy as well.
With this, you must determine exactly what happens in the daily work environment within the company, honestly pointing out all the behaviors and attitudes of your boss that contribute to the growth and development of the team he leads within the organization, as well as those actions that are hindering processes and negatively impacting.
We believe that it is important to talk about maturity first, because many professionals, including bosses, are guided by personal evaluations and opinions when responding to a performance evaluation, and end up giving answers with the intention of hurting those evaluated.
This does not mean ignoring bad behaviors and harmful attitudes. However, these are observations that should be made with maturity and not with the intention of belittling, because otherwise nothing will change positively in practice.
See evaluation as an opportunity
In general, within companies, performance evaluation is carried out by managers towards their subordinates, and not vice versa.
So, if you are ever asked to evaluate your boss, it is important that you consider it as a great opportunity for improvement for everyone.
Is also a way in which the company recognizes the importance of your point of view in the organizational processes.
This is also an opportunity that the company is taking advantage of, to value its employees and leaders, and you must leverage it to change what you think needs to improve, not only in the behavior and attitudes of your boss, but also in your organization.
Stay firm in your position
When you give your boss feedback, he or she may become defensive and refute what you say. In that case, stick with your point of view and do not be intimidated by the authority figure.
This is a time to point important actions for the company management, so be prepared to make your case.
Focus on management skills
How does your boss treat you in relation to other team members? Is he honest with your opinions and expectations?
Do you generally acknowledge your achievements, contributions and how you have carried out your activities? Do you encourage and motivate your colleagues to do the best they can daily? Do you clearly communicate all your plans and provide fair feedback to help improve?
These are important questions, and your answers will shed a lot of light on the way forward when giving your opinion.
Try to focus your comments on your boss’s management skills. Here are some important topics to cover:
- The relationship with employees;
- The ability to efficiently allocate resources and delegate tasks;
- The ability to objectively guide your followers;
- The wisdom to deal with crises;
- Technical and operational skills;
- Commitment to the team.
Be empathetic
If you were in the place of your boss, and you received comments from an employee: how would you react? How would you like your employee to approach you to give you feedback?
Empathy is the ability to put yourself in someone else’s shoes. The most effective way to know if delivering your comments will not sound offensive but constructive is to practice empathy.
Not just in this situation, but in any other situation that requires you to deal with other people.
Submit suggestions for improvement
If the feedback contains negative comments, present suggestions for improvement to your boss. Show him what you consider pertinent to improve a certain aspect of the administration and expose it clearly.
Remember that despite the hierarchy, you are a team and work together. Therefore, they need to find solutions together for the problems that affect the team.
Support your evaluation with examples
Pay attention to our last tip on how to give feedback to your manager.
Whenever you are asked to give feedback to your boss, be sure to describe a situation as an example of your considerations. This makes it easier for your boss to identify his assertive and less assertive behaviors.
Within this, something that you can also do, regardless of whether you have a close relationship with your boss or not, is to propose behavior changes.
These suggestions should be reflected positively at work because it does not make sense to point out to your boss all the existing problems without even presenting him with solutions that help him to continually improve.
Did you like our tips for giving feedback to your boss? We hope we have helped you! And now that you know what to do, you can give feedback with assertive comments and strengthen your leadership at work.
