You may be relatively new at work and you wonder how you’ve been performing for your position. Are you meeting your goals? Are your bosses happy with your performance? You are seeking feedback, one that is professional and beneficial for your work, but you are lost on how to ask for it.
Don’t stress it out too much. It’s common to ask for feedback from your superior and it also doesn’t have to be a difficult thing to request.
Asking for feedback can actually work for an advantage. It shows that you are concerned with the company and the work you’ve been contributing to it. It shows that you are proactive and that you are committed to doing your best at work so that you could be a reliable colleague to your team as well as be able to improve your skills. It also shows the dedication that you want to succeed in the workplace and be excellent at what you do.
You would need feedback so you know what areas you have to improve and what skills you have to maintain. You need an honest evaluation of your work contribution so that you are able to recognize your strengths and work on your weaknesses. You discover more about yourself when you have the courage and initiative to ask for feedback. You will also receive the advice and mentorship of the managers you look up to.
Moreover, you are able to build professional relationships that are honest and would provide you guidance in navigating through your career.
Creating a culture of open and transparent communication in the workplace is beneficial for everyone. It is much easier to work together in order to fulfill your goals as a team and be able to go through hurdles in the workplace. Note that it may be destructive to your productivity when there are opinions and thoughts that are hidden and suppressed.
What are the benefits of getting feedback in the workplace?
To grow professionally, regular feedback will help both the employer and the boss. Below are some of the benefits:
Feedback will help improve your work performance.
You could probably give a specific time period or an actual task where you can get an honest evaluation from a superior or a colleague. Know what your goal is in asking for feedback, acknowledge the good and accept the bad, and ask follow-up questions.
Tip: To be efficient at work, consider using standing desks or standing desk converters so that you could sharpen your focus at any time of the day by shifting from a sitting to a standing position and vice versa.
Feedback will cultivate a culture of openness and transparency
When you ask for feedback, you will be able to build professional relationships that are based on honesty and the willingness to improve and advance in your career path.
Regularly asking for feedback will help you be a candidate for promotion
Asking for feedback shows that you are proactive, dedicated, and committed to your work. You increase your chance of getting promoted when you show your will and yearn for growth.
Feedback will allow you to work on your mistakes as soon as possible
You might not notice some things that you are not good at when you don’t ask for feedback from your colleagues. You will be able to correct your mistakes right away when they pinpoint what you could have done differently or better.
Feedback will open the door to learning from your superiors
Your boss has a wealth of knowledge and wisdom from working in the industry before you. When you ask for feedback, they can share with you tried and tested tricks and they can also guide you in terms of how you specifically do your work. They can even give you a larger picture of how the company runs so you have an idea of how to navigate through it.
So how do you ask for feedback?
1. Set a time that is appropriate to ask for it
Have good timing in asking your boss or colleague for a feedback meeting. This time depends on the situation in your workplace. You don’t want to be asking for feedback when you are rushing a deadline or are preparing for an event.
Indeed.com suggests that a good time to ask is when you’ve recently acquired a new role or learned a new skill at work. In this way, you’ll be able to readily know what you need to develop and improve.
Note also to note ask for feedback when your boss is busy with something. If they are preoccupied, the tendency is they won’t be able to give you the clear and honest feedback that you are seeking to get. Bring up the subject of getting feedback at a slow time at work.
It’s also advisable that you give them time to prepare an evaluation for you. Do not ask for an immediate one because it wouldn’t be detailed as you may want it to be.
2. Choose what form of feedback you want and schedule it.
There are many ways in how feedback could be given. Ask specifically if you want it to be in person during a face-to-face meeting or you may request for a feedback e-mail. There are even other companies that use websites and software to give feedback to their employees.
Once you’ve chosen what form, schedule a time that is convenient for your boss or colleague who will give you the feedback. Ask them for the date and time that they are available.
3. Prepare questions for your evaluator to answer.
Maximize the meeting by having a set of questions you like to know. To get clear and direct answers, be clear with your questions as well. You may ask how you can better support your team if there are problems with your time management, what skills are needed for your position, what communication skills do you need to develop, and how you can prepare for future projects of the team.
Every situation is unique and so is every employee so make sure to ask questions that will help your performance at work. You’ll get the best answers if you are able to ask the right questions.
During the meeting, you can also ask about specific situations and issues you are encountering so that you’ll be able to address those moving forward. This is your opportunity to maximize it.
4. Write down notes.
Prepare yourself for the meeting by having a notebook and pen with you. Write down what will strike you the most in the dialogue. You show your boss that you value the information and feedback when you take notes. You may evaluate your own performance in the future when you look back at these notes.
5. Apply the feedback to your work performance.
Feedback will only be useful if you apply it. Reflect on what you talked about and prioritize the most important in the list so that you could work on it mindfully.
Develop a plan and strategies on how you can improve. Write down goals after the meeting and break them down into small, manageable action steps.
6. Do not forget to say thank you.
Formally say thank you for the feedback. Show your appreciation in whatever way you can, in person and probably in an email. This will make them more open to another meet-up in the future. Asking for feedback once a month is more or less the right amount.
