What It Means for You
Within the broader tech industry, all this means a number of changes are afoot:- Feedback won’t be an annual thing anymore. As more companies put new performance management programs in place, employees can expect to get feedback much more frequently, maybe even in real-time. At some businesses, conversations about performance may happen as soon as a project wraps up or a meeting concludes.
- Feedback will come from people besides your manager. Many tools facilitate feedback from all parts of an organization, including your peers and managers from other teams or departments. With these tools in place, users can solicit feedback on their own, so employees won’t have to rely on another person’s whims to get comments. Lest you think you're being placed under a microscope, however, feedback from outside your chain of command is often kept private: Your manager doesn’t see it and it won’t be considered as a part of your salary review.
- There’ll be fewer excuses for everyone: One of the drivers of these changes is the idea that a professional’s work should closely align with the company’s business goals. In light of that, managers find themselves under increasing pressure to make sure you understand what you’re expected to accomplish and how it fits into the big picture. At the same time, you’ll be expected to ask more questions and provide your own feedback on the company’s business and your manager’s approach.
- Conversations still matter: No matter what tools your employer might introduce to the process, your face-to-face discussions remain hugely important. As Fong observed: “The [tools are] only about 20 percent of all this.”
How to Succeed
These are big changes, and they require you to take a different approach to managing feedback. Some tips:- Participate: Have opinions about your team, department, and company, and share them during conversations with your manager. Productive conversations aren’t one-sided.
- Take advantage of the process: Whatever program your company puts in place, use it in ways that can truly help you improve. Be proactive about asking your peers for feedback, and don’t limit yourself to those who you think will say nice things; you can learn a lot from someone who disagreed with you on some aspect of a project. On the flip side, when someone asks you to provide feedback, respond in a timely manner.
- Learn to listen: Even in the best of circumstances, listening to feedback can be awkward. Go into conversations with the assumption that your manager intends to share helpful observations, and avoid getting defensive.
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