Training Badge
Submitted by ShipShape on
in

Forums

My challenge:

As he was sharing "third party negative feedback" with me regarding my direct, my peer also mentioned he had already shared his perspective on my direct's "performance issues" with HIS manager (the CTO, who determines promotions/increases for everyone, including my direct, as one of two leaders of our small company.)

I don't agree it's a performance issue (he couldn't give behavior and he didn't set deadlines/expectations, give feedback, etc.). I believe it's a miscommunication issue based on all the questions I asked my peer and my relationship/conversation with my direct.I encouraged them individually to talk to each other, set deadlines, expectations, etc.

Do I ignore the garbage my peer shared with HIS direct about MY direct (to my dotted line manager?) OR
Do I mention to my dotted-line manager that I believe the challenges between peer and direct are miscommunication and NOT performance?

Thanks!

katehorstman's picture
Admin Role Badge

I would advise you to ignore this instance of third party feedback. It sounds like you have been careful to apply the rules around sharing the feedback by assessing the feedback for truthfulness. That is a great first step. Since the only behavior that you can control is your own, I would encourage you to think of it this way. If you report this to your manager, it might seem as though you are speaking in a negative way about your peer. While they may not be doing things the way that is most helpful, you can’t control that. Ask yourself- would you want them going to your manager and telling him that you weren’t communicating properly? I have included some links to casts about third party feedback, skip level feedback, ad receiving feedback about your directs that might be helpful below.

I hope this helps!

Kate

 

https://www.manager-tools.com/2010/07/third-party-negative-feedback-how-to-decide

https://www.manager-tools.com/2010/07/skip-level-feedback

https://www.manager-tools.com/2006/05/receiving-feedback-about-your-directs

ShipShape's picture
Training Badge

This is fantastic, thanks Kate!

katehorstman's picture
Admin Role Badge

You're very welcome!