Questions to Ask to Get the Type of Feedback You Want

Did you know that you can go get the feedback you need to grow and develop? Most people don’t realize how empowered we are to ask for what we need—including the specific type of feedback at any given point of the day or in our careers. Whether it’s appreciation, coaching or evaluation feedback you are seeking, here are some questions to help you go out and get the feedback you want.

APPRECIATION

Personally, I need a lot of appreciation to keep my tank full. And admittedly, this can be a hard type of feedback to ask for because it can feel like I’m saying, “Tell me how great I am.” However, for those who rate high on the appreciation feedback scale, it’s something we must learn to navigate. Here are some questions to ask if you are looking for appreciation feedback:

• Where am I currently adding the most value to our firm/organization/team/clients?
• Can you share with me some of the areas where you’ve seen me grow over the past 12 months?
• Is the work I am doing making a difference for our team/clients?
• What are you hearing others say about my performance that makes you proud to be my manager?
• Do I make your life easier?

COACHING

I also rank fairly high on the need for coaching feedback. I want to know (sooner rather than later) how to #beEVENbetter. These questions have proven to be very helpful in getting the coaching feedback I am looking for in a timely manner:

• What’s one thing you see me doing (or failing to do) that is getting in my own way?
• How can I be a better team member? Employee? Manager?
• What do you need from me that you’re not getting?
• Am I giving you anything you don’t need?
• Where do you think I most need to focus my growth efforts for this next year?

EVALUATION

Evaluation is the type of feedback that tells me where I stand against a set of expectations (like a job description or a career continuum). Since I am lower in my need for evaluative feedback, I have to be very intentional to include these questions in my feedback gathering. Even though I’m lower in my need for it, we need all three types of feedback to learn and grow. Here’s what I’ve learned to ask:

• Did I meet the expectations we discussed on this project?
• Am I performing below, equal to, or above my job description? How about my peers?
• How am I perceived by leaders in our firm?
• How am I performing against my potential?

With just a few intentional questions, we can go out and get the feedback we need in the form that we want. What other questions have you asked to get the feedback you want?