Why feedback from the boss is often so pointless

How many times have you received meaningless feedback phrases from your supervisor/colleague? You imagine yourself in an empty desert with these clichés. This way of giving feedback is pointless. Your supervisor can fix it now and start giving meaningful feedback to you!

Read through the list below and tell me honestly: how many times have you heard the feedback phrases below?

I have registered the following mediocre feedback for you that I hear often myself:

1. ‘I notice that my people don’t feel responsible for the work they do.’
2. ‘There really is a lack of commitment, I don’t understand’
3. ‘This team struggles with proactive behavior, I’ve never seen it at least’
4. ‘Most have been walking around here for 30 years so, what do you want’
5. ‘Everyone does it because they’ve always done it that way and that’s how it works’

Cliché seeks platitude

And if you then ask about the causes of poor feedback, you might come across more clichés. the motto that the above top 5 are logically caused by thoughts such as:

• Between us, I feel that neglect is involved.
• There have been so many executives in the last 5 years ….
• Nothing was done with them for years.
• With us, there is a huge nine-to-five mentality.
• Yes, yes, that will be a tough job.

Bobo-talk rules

Beautiful language, isn’t it? You often hear it in the corridors, restaurant, boardroom and in weekly meetings. It seems to make a lot of impression but nothing could be further from the truth. It’s old wine in new bags or vice versa, cliché seeks platitude …. and more of that kind of words. Excusez le mot, but it’s “management bs”. Examples? words like: proactive, entrepreneurial, customer-oriented, uncooperative, self-centered, proud etc. etc.

The annoying thing about such words is that they are not understood by your employees and colleagues. What does the other person really mean by those fancy words? Why not customer-oriented? What does he base that on? What does he see? What does he hear? Managers can learn to use less bobo-talk, it’s just hot air. So becoming more concrete is the way-to-go.

Hey, wake up

When did you, as an interlocutor, ever question these kinds of general texts that might be done for the stage. How to do that? That may be the simplest part; GET CONCRETE! When you give this feedback you also help your fellow executive who brings up the bobo-talk. Can that one immediately begin to really fix the problem.

This helps to get feedback concrete.

1. So what exactly do you see?
2. What concrete examples do you have?
3. What exactly do you mean by proactive behavior, what would you like to see?
4. What would you notice if your people’s are involved
5. How do you know that people are not being listened to, where do you deduce that.
6. I’m sure you know more questions.

So next time you hear another feedback clichés, take your chance to make the cliché concrete.