Feedback is a two-way street and is critical to create a nurturing workplace environment. As Executive Assistants, this allows your Executive to guide and inspire their team, fostering a culture of open communication, humility, and understanding the impact of actions or inactions to others. Based on research conducted by the Harvard Business Review, 72% of employees rate that receiving feedback is critical to performance, however, only 5% report such feedback takes place.
Providing feedback to your Executive is just as critical. This allows your Executive to understand their blind spots and to continue refining their leadership style and approach to better meet the evolving needs of their team and organisation. Executive Assistants are in the perfect position to share this feedback. You are helping your Executive become a better leader and in turn, they will be able to support your career even further.
There are various types of feedback, and it is important to understand which form or feedback should be provided in what situation:
- Informal feedback: Spontaneous feedback which happens in the moment or during an interaction.
- Formal feedback: Planned and regularly scheduled. This includes 1-2-1s.
- Negative feedback: Critical or constructive comments on previous behaviour.
- Positive feedback: Affirming comments about previous behaviour.
- Negative feed-forward: Critical or constructive comments on future behaviour.
- Positive feed-forward: Affirming comments on future behaviour.
Giving upward feedback is no easy task. It can get emotional, even when you try and keep your emotions in check. You may feel anxious that the feedback is not received in the intended way, and you may face consequences. It is uncomfortable! However, you should always feel encouraged to provide upward feedback and to collaboratively build action plans together.
Here are our top tips on how to deliver upward feedback to your Executive:
- Be respectful and use a professional tone.
- Share the feedback in private.
- Don’t assume your Executive’s motivations.
- Address the feedback as soon as possible – waiting for your appraisal may be too late!
- Keep your feedback focused on work.
- Don’t forget to share positive feedback too!
By shedding light on ‘in-the-trenches’ issues, you are also supporting your team as your Executive’s may be unaware of the issues the team is facing. If Executives are aware that their team is feeling burnt out or that morale is low, taking real-time action can make the world of difference. When managers act on the feedback they receive, this increases the trust their employees have in them by 75%.