Does anyone actually enjoy giving feedback? Though no one might particularly enjoy the experience, it is incredibly important in a functioning workplace.
If you want to develop and nurture continuous improvement, you need to ensure that constructive feedback doesn’t just flow down from management to employees; it also needs to head upwards.
According to Gallup, only 27% of global managers are engaged at work. They deserve to be nurtured in their role just as much as other employees, and this feedback shouldn’t just come from those senior to them. Upward feedback plays a crucial role in creating a culture of 360-degree feedback. Just because someone sits among the leaders and decision-makers doesn’t mean that they don’t need feedback and advice to refine their approach. Feedback isn’t just an employee development tool—it also powers leadership performance.
So, how can we offer useful constructive feedback to our managers? A supportive culture of upward feedback is our best bet. Let’s take a look at what this entails, how you can deliver it, and the benefits it can bring to your organization.
What Is Upward Feedback?
Upward feedback is a style of critique delivered from a junior rank to a senior. Though it can be unnerving to deliver critical feedback to someone above you, everyone, and we mean everyone, needs to know where their strengths and weaknesses are.
Through honesty and a desire to create a team where everyone can thrive, no matter their position, it is vital that we don’t only look to those in the lowest positions.
Benefits of Upward Feedback
Upward feedback carries a range of benefits for the organizations that choose to use it. It can prove to be invaluable to anyone who wishes to truly nurture a culture of transparency and mutual accountability within their teams. If you choose to engage with this form of feedback as part of your team performance reviews, you may also see the following additional benefits:
Shine a spotlight on blind spots
Managers can sometimes be unaware of their weaknesses and blind spots. This can be for several reasons; maybe they’ve been promoted with no formal plan in place, or maybe they have been onboarded with few company expectations and the freedom to set up processes as they choose. Both these scenarios can result in friction and tension as they try to find their place within the company hierarchy, but it can also mean that issues slip into blind spots and stay there.
By engaging with upward feedback, managers can gain insights into how they and their performance are judged by their teams. This can include aspects of their character that they genuinely had not considered before, and working on these perceived flaws or blind spots can then lead to them becoming a stronger and better manager overall.
Strengthen interpersonal relationships and team culture
Teams that prioritize honest feedback traveling up and down through a team’s performance will have the foundation they need to strengthen interpersonal relationships and build a strong team culture. Psychological safety can be nurtured and used to empower employees, helping them feel comfortable in delivering feedback to those senior to them.
Normalizing feedback, especially positive upward feedback, fosters an honest and supportive working environment. Everyone feels comfortable sharing, whether it is positive feedback or something more constructive, and this creates a working atmosphere that teams actually want to engage with.
Reduce bias in team processes
When only one person shoulders responsibility for processes and feedback, bias can creep in. A lot of the time, this can be unintentional, as we all do carry bias, try as we might to eliminate it from our thought processes, but it can cause issues if left unchecked.
Ongoing feedback cycles bring more people into the mix. This means that there are more voices offering opinions (and hopefully diverse voices at that!), and this should point out issues. By tying in with other points listed above, such as the need for psychological safety and the addressing of blind spots, bias should hopefully be reduced throughout a team’s actions.
How to Give Upward Feedback
As with many things in team dynamics and the world of work, we simply can’t be throwing employee feedback at our managers without some sort of structure. Even positive feedback isn’t always the most welcome. Here are a few best practices to bear in mind when practicing upward feedback.
Be intentional
When offering upward feedback, you need to ensure that you are always careful and intentional with your words. Being too general or unspecific (“Sometimes you micromanage,”) could result in feedback being ignored or dismissed. Make sure you have specific examples of experiences and behaviors you can use to illustrate your feedback.
Keep to your own experiences
It might seem like a good idea to take others’ concerns to a manager if you are all experiencing the same behavior. However, it can actually dilute your intentions unless you have previously agreed with the manager to act as a spokesperson for the team as a whole. Avoid sharing perspectives that are not your own, and encourage teammates to voice their feedback in their own time.
Stay respectful
Even if you have a grievance to discuss with your manager, you need to ensure that you stay respectful throughout your discussion. Show that you expect this matter to be dealt with professionally and with a goal of improvement for the whole team, not just your manager.
Offer a solution with feedback
Where possible, suggest a solution alongside your feedback. It can be something as simple as a change in tone or clarity. Feedback should be open communication that creates a dialogue, and it is easiest to do that if you provide a path forward too. Create an opportunity for them to respond to your thoughts, whether this is in the moment or after a period of reflection and further action from them.
Make it an everyday process
Giving feedback should be an ordinary part of business, not this big song and dance that comes with performance reviews and seasons of change. Regular, consistent feedback should be an everyday part of a business. Build it into interactions such as reverse mentoring. This is where junior coworkers are paired with senior leaders specifically for the latter to learn from the former, encouraging upward feedback and open conversations to easily become part of your organization.
10 Upward Feedback Examples
1. Upward feedback example on clarity and priorities
I’ve noticed that priorities can shift quite quickly, and sometimes it’s hard to know what needs to come first. It would really help me if we could confirm the top priority for the week at the start of each Monday, so I can focus on the right things.
2. Upward feedback example on micromanagement and trust
I really appreciate how involved you are, but at times I feel like I’m being closely monitored on tasks I’m confident handling by myself. It would help me work more independently if we could agree on check-in points, rather than reviewing every step along the way.
3. Upward feedback example on feedback being too vague
When I receive feedback like ‘make it better’ or ‘this isn’t quite what I’m looking for,’ I sometimes struggle to understand what to change. I’d find it more helpful if feedback included one or two specific examples, so I can improve more quickly.
4. Upward feedback example on being interrupted in meetings
I’ve noticed that I sometimes get talked over in meetings, and it makes it harder for me to contribute. It would mean a lot if you could help create space for everyone to finish their thoughts, especially when the conversation moves quickly.
5. Upward feedback example on responsiveness and support
When I have questions or need sign-off, I’m not always sure when I’ll get a response, and it can slow progress. Could we agree on a rough turnaround time for approvals so I can plan my work more confidently?
6. Upward feedback example on delegation and last-minute requests
I’m happy to support urgent work when needed, but last-minute tasks sometimes make it difficult to deliver everything to a high standard. If possible, I’d love a bit more notice or context so I can prioritize properly and avoid rushing.
7. Upward feedback example on being given context, not just tasks
Sometimes I’m assigned tasks without much background on the wider goal, and it makes it harder to make good decisions or prioritize effectively. It would really help if you could share a bit more context about the ‘why’ behind the request, so I can deliver work that supports the bigger picture.
8. Upward feedback example on consistency
I’ve noticed that similar work is sometimes reviewed differently depending on who’s presenting it, which can feel a bit inconsistent. It might help if we had clearer standards or a shared checklist, so expectations feel more predictable across the team.
9. Upward feedback example on recognition and positive reinforcement
I really value feedback that helps me improve, but I also find it motivating when good work is acknowledged too. It would be encouraging to hear what’s working well, so I can keep doing more of it.
10. Upward feedback example on psychological safety and raising concerns
Sometimes I hesitate to speak up when I’m unsure or disagree, because I don’t want it to come across negatively. I’d feel more confident contributing ideas if we could normalise questions and different viewpoints as part of healthy collaboration.
What Are the Challenges in Giving Upward Feedback?
Of course, there may be some challenges that come with giving upward feedback at first. If you are thinking of introducing this in your company, you should be aware of the following challenges arising.
Lack of proper channels
Upward feedback needs to be channelled through proper channels if it is to take root. This is why it is crucial to champion it through a structured program such as reverse mentoring. Give the process time and space of its own. A lack of proper channels means that feedback can fall by the wayside without being implemented.
Difficulty in reviewing feedback at scale
The nature of upward feedback means that one person could be receiving a lot of information and recommendations in one go. This amount of information can be overwhelming for anyone, and with all the responsibilities that are also heaped on a manager, it can be difficult for them to process everything.
Using a structured mentoring platform provides one singular place to collate data, such as employee feedback and communication between mentors and mentees. Don’t let feedback and recommendations slip through the cracks.
Resistance to feedback suggested
As well-intentioned as feedback might be, it doesn’t mean that the recipient is open to hearing it. One of the greatest challenges in delivering feedback of any sort is ensuring that the recipient takes it on board and is willing to listen. Ensuring psychological safety is in place for all, and providing structured feedback with actionable insights and intentions is key to producing a conducive atmosphere where people want to listen and learn.
Deliver feedback and build strong mentoring relationships with MentorcliQ
Feedback forms an important part of the workforce. We all need to know how the rest of our team perceives us and what we can do to improve. While so many of these conversations are focused on junior members of staff, it is vital that we don’t also leave senior leaders and managers out of the equation. By providing them with a structured process for collecting feedback about themselves, and avenues such as reverse mentoring to give opportunities for this feedback to be delivered.
MentorcliQ’s top-rated mentoring platform provides this space. Whether you are connecting an intern with a senior manager for reverse mentoring or setting up tomorrow’s star for success now, MentorcliQ offers you the tools and channels you need for program success—without throwing more burden on your administrators.
Get in touch and book a demo to find out more about how we can support your goals.
