Manager Feedback - 65 questions
I was looking for a set of questions to include in a feedback form that I wanted to send out to my team for a 360 degree feedback. I did a little bit of research but could not find any definitive set of questions that was broad enough to thoroughly cover multiple aspects of management.
Taking inspiration from Dan Pink’s AMP framework, Paloma Medina’s BICEPS framework and this excellent blog post by Cate Huston, I created a set of 65 feedback questions.
Yes, that’s a lot of questions but I wanted to be thorough. I designed these as multiple-choice so they are easy to answer and don’t require a lot of time. I also took care to keep the language consistent and to-the-point and avoided confused phrasing as much as possible. An anonymous Google survey is a good format for gathering responses to these.
Here’s the list. Feel free to use it in your own teams and let me know how it goes.
General
- On a scale of 1-10, this is how 2020 was for me, professionally.
Psychological Safety
🧸 How safe do I feel to take risks, make mistakes or voice opinions
(multiple choice starting from “Strongly Disagree” to “Strongly Agree”)
- I feel safe to voice my opinions in the team.
- When I don’t agree with my colleagues, I feel safe to express my disagreement to them.
- When I don’t agree with my manager, I feel safe to express my disagreement to them.
- If there are aspects of work that I don’t like, I can comfortably discuss them with my team and manager.
- I feel safe to take risks.
- I feel safe when despite my best efforts, I can’t meet some expectations.
Sense of Purpose
☀️ Do I see the big picture. Do I feel valued.
(multiple choice starting from “Strongly Disagree” to “Strongly Agree”)
- I am clear about our team’s vision.
- Our work is aligned to the company’s larger objectives.
- We are working on the right stuff.
- My team values my contribution.
- My manager values my contribution.
- The company values my contribution.
- I feel recognized for my contribution.
- I feel a sense of purpose in what I am doing.
- I feel that I am learning and growing as a professional.
- I feel that I belong here.
Autonomy
🕹 Do I have control on various aspects of my work
(multiple choice starting from “Strongly Disagree” to “Strongly Agree”)
- I get to decide “how” to do my job.
- My manager DOES NOT micro-manage my work.
- My suggestions are welcomed and heard by my Manager and team.
- To the extent where it does not adversely impact our commitments to stakeholders, I can largely choose what I want to work on.
- I feel safe to take some time off to rejuvenate whenever I feel the need.
- My manager and team respect my need to maintain a healthy work-life balance.
Mastery
🏅 Am I continually improving in my job
(multiple choice starting from “Strongly Disagree” to “Strongly Agree”)
- I often think about what we, as a team, can do better.
- I am learning something new every day.
- I am moving towards my larger career objectives.
- I feel deeply interested in the work I am doing.
- I feel that I am making a difference.
- In the last 6 months, I learned something new from a team member.
- In the last 6 months, I taught something new to a team member.
- My manager is committed to my learning objectives.
- I know what I need to meet my short term career objectives by the end of next year.
- I know what I need to meet my long term career objectives.
- My manager helps me push my boundaries and get out of my comfort zone.
Communication
👄 Do we communicate freely and openly as a team
(multiple choice starting from “Strongly Disagree” to “Strongly Agree”)
- As a team, we communicate enough with each other.
- As a team, we sometimes communicate TOO MUCH. (alert: negative framing)
- We sometimes disagree with each other but that’s ok.
- My manager explains whenever there is any ambiguity.
- In the last one year, I gave some constructive feedback to my peers.
- In the last one year, I gave some constructive feedback to my manager.
- When I ask a question or seek some information from my manager, they usually provide an answer to my satisfaction.
- My manager consults me whenever I think I should be consulted for a decision.
Delivery/Execution
🚢 Are we moving ahead in the right way as a team
(multiple choice starting from “Strongly Disagree” to “Strongly Agree”)
- My manager sets clear objectives for me.
- I know exactly what is expected of me.
- My manager sets high bars for delivery quality.
- We have an efficient engineering/delivery process.
- For all assigned tasks, I get sufficient time and other resources to fulfill my commitments.
- My work life balance is always respected.
- My achievements are celebrated.
Fairness and Respect
🙇 Do I feel respected and fairly treated
(multiple choice starting from “Strongly Disagree” to “Strongly Agree”)
- My manager treats everyone equally and has no favorites.
- I feel comfortable based on my age, religion, race, color, ethnicity, national origin, disability, parental-status, sex, sexual orientation, gender expression or gender identity.
- As a team, we are committed to diversity.
- As a team, we celebrate diversity and take pride in it.
- My manager respects me as a human.
- My manager respects my coworkers as humans.
- If a coworker made me uncomfortable, I would not hesitate to talk to my manager, irrespective of who that coworker was.
- If my manager made me uncomfortable, I would not hesitate to escalate this to their manager.
Management
🦸 Is my manager doing their best
(various types - Linear scale, Yes/No/Maybe and Text)
- On a scale of 1-10, this is how I would rate my manager compared to my idea of an ideal manager.
- On a scale of 1-10, this is how my manager performs when things are going smoothly.
- On a scale of 1-10, this is how my manager performs during crisis or when things are shaky.
- My manager adjusted their management style (work-process, communication, empathy, motivation, managing stakeholders etc.) to better support me during Covid situation.
- My manager improved their management skills in the last year.
- If my manager left the team suddenly, this is how badly it would impact the team’s functioning¹.
- If I was leading the team instead of my manager, this is what I would do differently from them.
- If I could give one suggestion for how my manager could go from good to great, or from awesome to awesomer, it would be…
- Fill in the blank - My ideal Manager is someone who…
- Fill in the blank - I wish this questionnaire had also asked me my thoughts/opinions on…