Most of us associate the term feedback with individual contributors. It is viewed as a top-down system, filtered from managers to employees. But there’s another side to this: Manager feedback.
This process creates room for bottom-up feedback, where employees get to share insights on how managers can improve their leadership.
In this blog, we’ll look at the benefits of manager feedback, its examples, and best practices to keep in mind when giving feedback to your manager.
What is Manager Feedback?
Manager feedback, known as upward feedback, is where employees provide constructive criticism and insights to their managers. It’s essential in creating a healthy work environment and driving organizational success.
Managers gain valuable perspectives on their leadership style, decision-making processes, and overall effectiveness by receiving constructive, negative, and positive feedback from other team members.
Why is Manager Feedback Important?
Manager feedback performs some critical functions for businesses. They include:
- Clear and constructive feedback helps managers understand expectations and areas for improvement, leading to better performance and career growth
- When managers act on constructive feedback, it demonstrates their respect for their team. And a manager who values their team automatically ensures the employees are happy at work
- When employees feel supported by managers through positive feedback, they’re more likely to be invested in their work and the company’s success
- Through positive and negative feedback, managers can ensure employee goals align with organizational objectives. This clarity and direction bring a sense of accomplishment and overall satisfaction
Types of Feedback for Managers
There are four primary types of manager feedback:
- Constructive feedback: Constructive feedback focuses on areas for improvement while offering actionable suggestions. It should be delivered in a respectful and solution-oriented manner
- Positive feedback: This recognizes and appreciates a manager’s strengths and accomplishments. Positive feedback helps to build confidence and reinforce positive behaviors
- Negative feedback: This type of feedback highlights areas where a manager’s behavior or actions negatively impact the team or organization. It should be delivered with tact and focus on solutions
- 360-degree feedback: This comprehensive employee feedback approach creates a feedback loop process. Employee insights can complement the manager’s perspective, leading to a more accurate assessment of strengths and development areas.
Positive feedback also provides valuable data for performance appraisals, ensuring a fair and accurate evaluation of a manager’s effectiveness.
2. Employee engagement
When employees are allowed to share honest feedback, they feel valued and invested in the organization’s success. This can significantly boost morale and increase employee engagement.
3. Organizational development
It’s important to identify areas of improvement in management practices and communication skills and practices. Constructive feedback can lead to organizational development initiatives like leadership training programs, ultimately driving long-term success.
50 Manager Feedback Examples
When giving feedback to your manager, deliver your point of view in a constructive yet respectful tone. Here are a few more feedback examples to showcase the different types of manager feedback:
Positive feedback examples
- “Your clear communication of departmental goals helped everyone stay focused and motivated throughout the project.”
- “Your efforts to promote work-life balance create a positive and healthy work environment. Thank you for prioritizing employee well-being.”
- “Being recognized for my contributions during the team meeting means a lot. Your appreciation motivates me to keep striving for excellence.”
- “Thank you for taking the time to mentor me. Your guidance has been invaluable in helping me learn new skills and navigate challenges.”
- “Your open-door policy provides a sense of trust and transparency. I feel comfortable approaching you with questions or concerns.”
- “I admire your calm and collected approach to problem-solving. You create a sense of security and inspire confidence within the team.”
- “Your ability to gather input and make well-informed decisions is commendable. It demonstrates your respect for diverse perspectives.”
- “The way you handled the recent team conflict was impressive. You maintained a professional demeanor and found a solution that satisfied everyone involved.”
- “Your ability to gather input and make well-informed decisions is commendable. It demonstrates your respect for diverse perspectives.”
- “Your efforts to organize team-building activities have a positive impact on team morale. These events strengthen relationships and encourage a sense of camaraderie.”
- “I appreciate your support in attending professional development workshops. These opportunities help me learn new skills and stay updated on industry trends.”
- “Your responsiveness to questions and concerns is commendable. I feel valued and supported, knowing my needs are addressed promptly.”
- “Your willingness to admit mistakes and learn from them inspires confidence within the team. It creates a safe environment for open communication and growth.”
Your willingness to admit mistakes and learn from them inspires confidence within the team. It creates a safe environment for open communication and growth.
Constructive feedback examples
- “While I appreciate your feedback, consistent check-ins would allow me to adjust my approach and improve more rapidly.”
- “Sometimes, the project expectations can be unclear. Providing more specific deliverables or deadlines would be helpful.”
- “While I appreciate the delegated tasks, some require skills outside my current expertise. Offering additional training or pairing me with a more experienced colleague would be beneficial.”
- “Lately, the workload has felt overwhelming. Discussing ways to prioritize tasks or delegate effectively could alleviate some stress on the team.”
- “While your feedback is always valuable, sometimes the tone can feel overly critical. Focusing on specific suggestions for improvement would be more helpful.”
- “Meetings could be more efficient with a clear agenda and time constraints. This would allow us to focus on the most critical points and avoid unnecessary discussions.”
- “Receiving performance feedback closer to the project completion would allow me to connect the feedback with specific actions and improve for future projects.”
- “While I appreciate individual recognition, acknowledging the team’s collective effort could further build team spirit and collaboration.”
- “Sharing the rationale behind decisions would help the team understand the thought process and feel more involved.”
- “Sometimes, your communication style can appear curt or dismissive. Using a more approachable tone could facilitate open communication within the team.”
- “While you provide detailed instructions, sometimes it feels like micromanagement offers a streamlined way to share constructive criticism and recognition with your manager.
Quick tips for using the template:
- Use the custom fields to create feedback categories (constructive, positive), ensuring a well-rounded assessment
- Tailor the employee feedback format to the specific area you’re addressing. This can make the feedback process more efficient and easier for you to answer
- Include questions that will help you get the information you need, such as rating scales, multiple-choice questions, and open-ended questions
- While the template provides a framework, you can customize the questions to target specific aspects of your manager’s performance or leadership style. This ensures the feedback directly addresses areas most relevant to your manager’s growth and development
2. ClickUp Employee Feedback Template
Share what you think about the top management style, corporate culture, and work environment using the ClickUp Employee Feedback Template
ClickUp’s Employee Feedback Template goes beyond basic manager feedback, offering a structured approach to gathering insights on various workplace aspects and self-evaluation .
Here’s how to customize this template for manager feedback:
- Customize the questions to specifically target feedback for managers: Consider using the ‘Start, Stop, Continue’ format today!