How to Be a More Popular Manager: Give Feedback!

A lot of us avoid giving feedback because we think we’re inflicting pain on people when we do it.

A lot of us avoid giving feedback because our own experiences with it were not pretty and they don’t want to do it to anyone else. Like when we were rated really low on some category on a performance review or when a big problem came up on a project. We don’t want someone to be traumatized.

But those are bad examples of feedback. They were from a boss who essentially didn’t give feedback—until things were dire. That’s not feedback for learning. That’s not useful feedback that helps people grow. That’s bad management.

What’s good is to give “streaming” feedback–every day, quick, no-big-deal feedback that’s simply information that helps an employee see how to adjust.

And you’ll probably get feedback back–and you can adjust. So simple.

When you ask employees about who’s a great manager, they’ll won’t tell you about nicey-nice managers who only give praise. They’ll tell you about managers who 1) they trust AND 2) gives them helpful, honest feedback & coaching.

If you are a manager, think about your favorite managers. They challenged you and I bet they gave good feedback.

So if you want to have a great reputation and you want employees to like you, guess what you need to do?

Feedback, feedback, feedback. More and faster. And ask for it in return