Vague Feedback Blocking Promo?

5 Steps to deal with vague feedback.

Getting vague feedback sucks! You feel helpless, and it feels like an excuse to not promote you. Let me tell you, this is more common than it seems.

I have gotten vague feedback like - take more risks and have more empathy with partner teams. My instinct was to deny those. I thought:

• I am already taking enough risks, any more risk would be catastrophic

• The partner team needs to hear the message clearly. I can’t bend over backwards.

I had good reasons to "deny" the feedback, and a lot of you would agree with me if I shared my reasons. Though, in reality, there was something to fix underneath. I delved into that feedback using the framework below.

The Framework

1. Acknowledge

2. Reflect

3. Discuss

4. Ask for examples

5. Learn

👍 1. Acknowledge there is some problem

This is the hardest part!

Accepting that there is something to improve puts you in a problem solving mode.

In my experience, there is always something - if it isn’t a real issue then it could be a mere communication gap which should also be fixed.

I had confirmation bias so I found all reasons why the feedback didn’t make sense. It was hard to acknowledge that the “vague in-actionable feedback” had some substance to it. It felt like a personal attack. However, accepting I am not perfect and that people have good intentions changed my mind.

In fact, when I was called risk averse I just had to do a better job at highlighting all risks that I had considered. That would have helped others appreciate the complexities of the project. Poor communication was a major problem here.

🤔 2. Reflect on your performance / behaviors

Take your time to absorb the feedback. Think through the situations and potential instances where it could have been true.

May be there were some instances with a partner team where I imposed decisions instead of discussing it. May be I didn’t consider acceptable “risks” or evaluate their trade offs correctly. So, I tried to reflect on my behaviors based on the feedback to identify patterns.

💬 3. Discuss the feedback

Do this respectfully, else you will alienate the feedback giver. You need to discuss the details to get clarity to make the feedback less murky. This also tells them that you are open to feedback which goes a long way.

Note, don’t expect to get all answers in the first conversation but the intent is to kick off the discussion.

Initially I didn’t see how I could have taken any more risks. Later, when I wanted to learn more I asked “I want to hear more about the risks I should have taken or how I could have sped up the project”. I listened and didn’t cut them off to encourage a discussion. This is how I learned I had failed to communicate project nuances. So when I shared those the feedback giver appreciated my decisions. Though I still needed to fix my communication for future!

❓4. Ask for specific instances

What makes “vague feedbacks” vague is they are not always tied to a specific instance. People forget the individual instances but remember how they felt. Over time, this piles up and forms an opinion in their mind. Also your manager may have heard the feedback from multiple people but has no specific instance to share with you. So, don’t beat them up if they can’t find you a specific instance.

Get your manager to help you. Once you show genuine interest in fixing the problem they will be invested. Also your manager can be neutral while seeking clarification from the feedback giver. They are a great resource so leverage them! Also ask them to flag a future instance so that you can learn from it.

📚 5. Learn what tactical changes you can make

When the fix isn’t easy and you have no clue how to proceed then ask your manager for help. Say, "I want to improve, but I don't know what I should do next. What would you do? Can you find some success stories that I could learn from?"

If you felt your manager was only complaining and not actually helping then this will put them in a problem solving mode. That not only gives you tactical action items but also makes the feedback concrete.

Acting on vague feedback helped me unlock the doors for my hidden potential and eventually got me to Staff Engineer.

I want to point out that not every piece of vague feedback should be delved into. If it comes from multiple channels or if it is delaying your promotion or upsetting your team then consider using the framework as you may be in the wrong.

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