Feedback is crucial to career development but you need to take control. Don’t expect others to provide this to you automatically. Pick 2-3 examples each week and frame up precise questions to your key stakeholders to gain deeper insight.
Great article, Nikhyl! "Development areas are subtle as you get more senior, engrained in shadows of your superpowers, not huge gaping holes you’ve managed to cover up." This is really really enlightening! I almost always look for the huge gaps to cover but forget the subtle areas to develop and accumulate! This article reminds how important to work on those subtle areas and accumulate! I should have focused more on those areas!
Thank you for the great read Nikhyl. Will try incorporate these in my future 1:1s. Excited to have stumbled across your blog and be on this journey with you
This is very relatable and a great article. Yes, Probing specific questions has helped me get more detailed feedback.
You mentioned development feedback helps start the conversation to shift perspectives formed. Do you mean the correcting the brand an individual portrays?
Yes. Often impressions are formed based on limited or initial sets of data. First impressions are lasting impressions. You might be new on a project and learning the culture, but you're sending signals all of the time. These might be accurate or inaccurate, but asking for feedback might flag alarming observations that are inconsistent with your intentions or abilities. But the longer they go unchecked, the harder they are to correct.
What are your thoughts on which medium you choose to get feedback via - synchronic (zoom or in person) or asynchronic (slack or email)? Interested in hearing your preferred medium.
It's a matter of preference to the giver of feedback and the quality of relationship. I find that async often leads to some degree of interpretation unless the person is skilled at the medium.
An approach might be to drop a note to someone suggesting "in our next 1:1 I'd love to get feedback on a few things" and then have a live conversation. That way the person has time to compose their thoughts, but doesn't have to put the energy into a detailed response. And you can listen and ask clarification questions live. Possibly even follow up afterwards with an email note.
How do I prevent "just want to be nice" bias? That is, most coworkers don't want to give you critical feedback in the fear that it might come off as offensive.
Also, how do you deal with this if your manager is NOT involved in your day-to-day projects? Thus, asking him(her/however they identify) the question "“I presented last week a plan for [X]. My sense is this went well, yet [Y] could have been better. What’s your read? Did I assess this correctly" won't give a context-rich answer from the manager.
To avoid "just want to be nice" you have to pose the questions so you open the door. I think people generally don't want to stop you in the (virtual) hallway to give you feedback, especially if it's development oriented. But if you say "I'm sensing this didn't go great, what's your take" then people are actually being kind by answering your question and helping you along.
If your manager isn't involved, then the feedback is going to be pretty muted. I'd set your sights on other leaders that are seeing your work, and report that feedback back to your manager. It may seem backwards, but it's a way of setting expectations or giving him/her homework on sticky issues.
Such a great read!
Great article, Nikhyl! "Development areas are subtle as you get more senior, engrained in shadows of your superpowers, not huge gaping holes you’ve managed to cover up." This is really really enlightening! I almost always look for the huge gaps to cover but forget the subtle areas to develop and accumulate! This article reminds how important to work on those subtle areas and accumulate! I should have focused more on those areas!
Fantastic read, Nikhyl! Happy to have stumbled across your blog.
Thank you for the great read Nikhyl. Will try incorporate these in my future 1:1s. Excited to have stumbled across your blog and be on this journey with you
Will give it a try my next 1:1. Very insightful article, thank you.
This is very relatable and a great article. Yes, Probing specific questions has helped me get more detailed feedback.
You mentioned development feedback helps start the conversation to shift perspectives formed. Do you mean the correcting the brand an individual portrays?
Yes. Often impressions are formed based on limited or initial sets of data. First impressions are lasting impressions. You might be new on a project and learning the culture, but you're sending signals all of the time. These might be accurate or inaccurate, but asking for feedback might flag alarming observations that are inconsistent with your intentions or abilities. But the longer they go unchecked, the harder they are to correct.
What are your thoughts on which medium you choose to get feedback via - synchronic (zoom or in person) or asynchronic (slack or email)? Interested in hearing your preferred medium.
It's a matter of preference to the giver of feedback and the quality of relationship. I find that async often leads to some degree of interpretation unless the person is skilled at the medium.
An approach might be to drop a note to someone suggesting "in our next 1:1 I'd love to get feedback on a few things" and then have a live conversation. That way the person has time to compose their thoughts, but doesn't have to put the energy into a detailed response. And you can listen and ask clarification questions live. Possibly even follow up afterwards with an email note.
How do I prevent "just want to be nice" bias? That is, most coworkers don't want to give you critical feedback in the fear that it might come off as offensive.
Also, how do you deal with this if your manager is NOT involved in your day-to-day projects? Thus, asking him(her/however they identify) the question "“I presented last week a plan for [X]. My sense is this went well, yet [Y] could have been better. What’s your read? Did I assess this correctly" won't give a context-rich answer from the manager.
To avoid "just want to be nice" you have to pose the questions so you open the door. I think people generally don't want to stop you in the (virtual) hallway to give you feedback, especially if it's development oriented. But if you say "I'm sensing this didn't go great, what's your take" then people are actually being kind by answering your question and helping you along.
If your manager isn't involved, then the feedback is going to be pretty muted. I'd set your sights on other leaders that are seeing your work, and report that feedback back to your manager. It may seem backwards, but it's a way of setting expectations or giving him/her homework on sticky issues.
Thank you for the articulate response.