Whether or not socializing makes part of your daily routine at work, the fact remains that it is also part of your job and one of the reasons why you are being paid for. Even though many would disagree from the fact, a Cornerstone report proves that the ones putting more effort into establishing a healthy workplace environment are the ones producing an higher return on investment for their employer.
Further investigation on what component from socialization leads to a more productive workplace highlights the importance of constant feedback between co-workers. On-going feedback sets an honesty standard within the workplace, contributes for an higher team cohesion and motivation and utmost guide people to desired actions.
Even though the importance of ongoing feedback is commonly recognized, you may be unsure on how to express it in your workplace and frightened about doing it with your manager. Therefore, this article is intended to guide you through the process of expressing your sincere opinion about the others and leveraging a positive outcome from doing it
WHY SHOULD I GIVE FEEDBACK TO MY BOSS?
There are many articles on the web referring the importance of managers giving positive feedback to their team but only a few talk about the importance of upward feedback.
First of all, taking the initiative of giving straight-forward feedback will show your manager you are not afraid to do what it takes in order to sort out things, if you do it with your boss you’ll most probably do it with customers or any other task you are entitled of.
Secondly, your boss has an human brain and therefore an ego too. Every human being, no matter the status likes to be praised. We all yarn to feel important, it’s due to our brain morphology.
Praise boosts one’s self esteem, you must have experienced it yourself. When you receive genuine praise it makes your body release energy, you get a smile on your face, your spirits soar and you have a new aura on you. Based on the fact that your manager is indeed a human being the same will happen with him. And making your boss happy is certainly something positive for your Wellbeing.
HOW DO I GIVE FEEDBACK TO MY MANAGER?
Upward feedback is arguably one of the most impactful actions when aiming for improving your career, but the way you deliver your feedback may undermine its potential. For many years corporates fostered the unapproachability image of managers difficulting two way feedback. You may still be frightened to express a sincere thought to your manager, but the tips below will help you addressing your fears and leverage the opportunity for upward feedback.
TIMING FOR UPWARD FEEDBACK
Human relationships are all about context, in an Utopian society we all would share the exact same context and therefore communication and people’s intentions would become much clearer.
A miss contexted feedback message to your manager will have the inverse impact you aim at first. If the out-of context message is positive it will sound as you are aiming to please your boss while if it is negative it may sound as an insult.
Therefore, keep in mind to express your opinion on the right occasion being it the right timing and context so that your thought is not considered wrongly. According to specialists (Harvard Business Review Staff) feedback should be given as soon as possible after an achievement, making it easier for you and your manager to recall details.
HOW TO EXPRESS YOUR FEEDBACK
The same way you mind timing you should consider the words you will use. When formulating your arguments, make sure you illustrate them with real examples and describe exactly what you found to be positive and negative on their performance. Negative opinion should never be expressed by itself, it should be molded into constructive and actionable insights.
For example, instead of saying that you do not like the way your boss strictly controls your work hours try saying that you would rather perform better with a less restrictive schedule and ask your manager if he would be willing to try experiment a different work schedule for a week. If he agrees it’s up to you to show a better performance.
WHERE TO GIVE FEEDBACK
Well, the place where you share your thoughts with your manager regarding his performance depends a lot on the emotional content of your message as well as on your boss personality. Tap My Back sorts this out offering a platform for instant recognition where you may choose to publicly (visible for the whole team) praise your boss or to send him a contextualized private message.
The fact that the platform was built solely for feedback and recognition eases the social awkwardness of the whole feedback process while using it will show your team how committed and motivated you are. If you are looking to ease recognition among your company/project so that you can all focus on driving business try Creating Your Team.
