Three Tips for Giving Your Boss Feedback | No BS Management Advice
By Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter
Have you ever been in a situation where you and your boss had a different idea about how to handle something? This is how to deal with it.
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I’m Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter. I’m a career and leadership coach and the head coach for JobSearchCoachingHQ.com.
When I look for topics, I sometimes go online, and try and bounce around and find something of interest. This topic wasn’t one that I was looking for, I just kind of stumbled into it. And it’s comes from a handout from Harvard Business Review, called “15 Management Tips of the Day,” I found that on a university website, but I’m sure if you just do a search for 15 management tips of the day from Harvard Business Review, you’ll find this free giveaway.
As you know, when you’re in a management role, you’ve got a boss. And sometimes you have to, not only manage down, but you have to manage up, as well. Some of that involves giving a boss feedback on something that they’re doing or trying to handle for you. And the flyer, the brochure, the pamphlet, whatever this thing is, offers three things that you should be doing, as part of this feedback for your boss process.
I want to be clear, in particular, if you’re working in a small business, and your boss is the owner, remember one thing– managers are okay with giving people feedback down but owners believe that they hold the right hand of God. They never like to hear feedback. So you always have to, they always perceive it as another form of criticism, so, always tread cautiously when managing up.
The HBR article says the three things that you should do. Number one is wait or ask for permission. Then, don’t launch into a list of things your boss could do better. Given the nature of the relationship, it’s better to wait to be asked for feedback or to ask if your boss is open to feedback. That later one is probably the best approach because you’re never in a situation where they’re going to ask you for feedback, right? You always have to try gingerly.
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It could be in a situation where they’re trying to handle something and you can just very simply say, “Can I offer you an observation?” I’m not using “the feedback term?” I’m not a big fan of that word because it kind of makes people have “anticipatory annoyance.” But “Can I offer you an observation?”
Okay, number two is focused on helping them. Give input that will help them improve their performance. Avoid telling them what you would do if you were the boss. Yeah, right. arrogance. Yeah, you really want to be arrogant with them. I know better than you. You don’t have the texture of the situation. There’s a lot that you don’t know that you shouldn’t be telling them.
“If I were in your shoes, what I would do is . . . “
The third thing that they suggest, I think it’s the most important thing to remember is, when in doubt, hold your tongue. Don’t say a blessed thing. And as they say, if you think your boss will not be receptive, or if they have been known to lash out at constructive criticism, you’re better off just keeping your mouth shut. Find other anonymous ways, like a 360-feedback review, to give your feedback.
So, again, remember, you have a different way of relationship with your boss than a friend. It’s different than when you’re managing people. You just don’t have that relationship, even if you’re drinking buddies, or you’re hanging out buddies. You don’t want to be surprised when suddenly they go, “Okay, I got it,” and they’re annoyed with you.
So, I’m Jeff Altman and I hope you found this helpful. If you did and you’re watching on YouTube, click the like button. Share it. Please just let someone know that it was worthwhile. I also want to mention if you’re interested in one on one coaching for me, message me through my website, which is TheBigGameHunter.us. While you’re there, you can go exploring thousands of posts that you can watch, listen to or read to help you find work more quickly, be a more effective manager, hire better, and be more effective in the workplace.
So, again, that’s TheBigGameHunter.us
Hope you have a great day and take care
ABOUT JEFF ALTMAN, THE BIG GAME HUNTER
Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter is a coach who worked as a recruiter for what seems like one hundred years. He is hired to provide No BS Career Advice globally. That can involve job search, hiring staff, management, leadership, career transition and advice about resolving workplace issues. Schedule a discovery call at my website, www.TheBigGameHunter.us
He is the host of “No BS Job Search Advice Radio,” the #1 podcast in iTunes for job search with over 2400 episodes.
I do a livestream on LinkedIn, and YouTube (on the JobSearchTV.com account) Tuesdays and Fridays at 1 PM Eastern. You can send your questions about job search, hiring better, management, leadership or to get advice about a workplace issue to me via messaging on LinkedIn or in chat during the approximately 30-minute show.
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