New to Management? Demand more feedback!

Paul Glen writes in Nurture the New Project Manager - Computerworld that of course the first months in transition to the (project) management (and probably all new roles in new organizations) are hard and full of confusion and exhaustion. This of course is true when your surrounding fields is sub-optimal biased on you. He notes that the first months needs patient supervisors and constant mentoring by somebody that is aware of these needs - that includes the boss aswell as subordinates or new colleagues.

I guess it can become a big problem a) theres nobody mentoring (correctly) or b) the “newbie” (even an old-school Project Management can be a newbie in a new organization) is not open for feedback or not actively asks for it (if the boss is also not aware of it). I have seen project-managers telling me “what do you have to say - I am more experienced and your comments mean nothing to me”…

But in my own leader career the situations I hated most were to talk to those “charming” folks not daring or wanting to give “real” feedback instead of non-personal, anonymous chitchat. I know that feedback needs the correct setting, and so I found myself often in efforts to create these 4-eye, somewhat quiet situations for demanding concrete personal feedbacks and “safe” comments by colleagues and subordinates. I suppose not being able to be belonged for a comment helps sometimes to open mouth and mind - especially for the “big” one. Anyhow best of all situations were of course individual performance-evaluation talks I held with my subordinates and apprentices were I got most interesting and candind feedback for my person - every word counts and is safely stored in the back of my mind. I know telling the boss not only easy and positives is harder than to do so, but it helps a lot and is the basis for professional and personal development aswell as for the relationship itself.