How can you get useful feedback from your supervisor and peers?

1 Set clear expectations

Before you ask for feedback, you need to set clear expectations with your supervisor and peers about what kind of feedback you want, how often you want it, and how you will use it. For example, you can ask for feedback on specific projects, tasks, or skills, or on your overall performance and development. You can also specify the frequency, format, and channel of feedback, such as weekly, monthly, quarterly, or annually, and whether you prefer written, verbal, or visual feedback. By setting clear expectations, you will make it easier for your feedback providers to give you relevant, timely, and constructive feedback.

2 Ask open-ended questions

Gaining useful feedback is made easier by asking open-ended questions that invite supervisors and peers to offer their perspectives, ideas, and recommendations. Unlike questions that can be answered with a yes or no, open-ended questions require more detail and explanation. Examples include inquiring about what was liked most about a project, areas of improvement, how to better support others, skills or competencies to develop or enhance, and how performance and impact are measured. Asking open-ended questions will likely result in more precise, comprehensive, and actionable feedback.

3 Listen actively and respectfully

When you receive feedback, you need to listen actively and respectfully to your supervisor and peers. Listening actively means that you pay attention to what they say, how they say it, and why they say it. You also show interest, curiosity, and appreciation by nodding, smiling, asking clarifying questions, and paraphrasing what you heard. Listening respectfully means that you avoid interrupting, arguing, defending, or dismissing the feedback. You also acknowledge the feedback provider's perspective, experience, and intention, even if you disagree or feel hurt by the feedback. By listening actively and respectfully, you will build trust and rapport with your feedback providers, and show them that you value their feedback.

5 Act on the feedback

The last and most important step to get useful feedback is to act on the feedback. Acting on the feedback means that you analyze, prioritize, and implement the feedback that you received from your supervisor and peers. You can analyze the feedback by identifying the key themes, patterns, or gaps that emerge from the feedback. You can prioritize the feedback by deciding which feedback is most important, urgent, or feasible to address. You can implement the feedback by creating a plan, setting goals, taking actions, and tracking your progress. By acting on the feedback, you will demonstrate your commitment, accountability, and improvement as an engineering manager.