How to Give Upward Feedback to Your Manager in English
Learn professional English phrases for giving constructive feedback to your manager, including how to raise concerns diplomatically and frame feedback around impact.
Giving feedback upward — to your own manager — carries a different power dynamic than peer feedback, and the English for it needs to be careful without becoming so soft it fails to land. Many engineers avoid this conversation entirely, or when they attempt it, phrase it so cautiously that the actual concern gets lost. This guide covers vocabulary and structures that let you be direct and professional at the same time.
Key Vocabulary
Impact-focused feedback — feedback framed around the concrete effect of a behavior or decision, rather than a general judgment, making it easier for the recipient to act on. “Impact-focused feedback sounds like ‘when the 1:1 got rescheduled three times, I felt deprioritized,’ not ‘you don’t make time for me.’”
Ask for permission — a technique of requesting the other person’s openness to feedback before delivering it, which increases the likelihood they’ll receive it well rather than defensively. “Would it be okay if I shared some feedback about how the last sprint planning went?”
Specific example — a concrete instance used to ground feedback in something observable, rather than a vague pattern the recipient can’t easily recall or verify. “Rather than saying ‘communication has been unclear lately,’ I gave a specific example: the scope change on Tuesday that wasn’t communicated to the team until Thursday.”
Frame as a request — presenting feedback with a clear, actionable ask attached, rather than leaving the recipient to guess what change would actually help. “I’d like to frame this as a request: could we agree on a standard time for 1:1s that doesn’t get moved without notice?”
Timing — the deliberate choice of when to deliver feedback, generally privately, calmly, and reasonably close to the relevant event, rather than in the heat of the moment or in front of others. “I waited until our next scheduled 1:1 rather than raising it in the team meeting — the timing mattered for how it would land.”
Common Phrases
- “Would it be okay if I shared some feedback about [topic]?”
- “When [specific situation happened], the impact on me/the team was [effect].”
- “I wanted to raise this because I think it would help both of us if [outcome].”
- “Here’s what would make a difference for me: [specific, actionable request].”
- “I recognize this might be a hard thing to hear, but I think it’s worth raising.”
Example Sentences
Opening the conversation: “Do you have a few minutes? I wanted to share some feedback about how deadline changes have been communicated recently — I think raising it now, rather than letting it build up, is more useful for both of us.”
Giving impact-focused feedback with a specific example: “When the priority shifted on Tuesday but the team wasn’t told until the standup on Thursday, we lost almost two days planning around the old priority. I think a quick heads-up message as soon as the decision is made would prevent that gap in the future.”
Framing as a request rather than a complaint: “Rather than just flagging the issue, I wanted to propose something concrete: could we agree that any scope change gets communicated to the team within the same day it’s decided, even if the details are still being worked out?”
Professional Tips
- Always ask for openness before delivering feedback, especially upward — it’s a small courtesy that meaningfully changes how the feedback is received.
- Ground feedback in a specific, recent example rather than a general pattern — “recently” and “sometimes” are easy to dismiss, but a dated example is harder to argue with and easier to act on.
- End with a clear, actionable request, not just a description of the problem — managers, like anyone, respond better to “here’s what would help” than to an open-ended complaint.
- Choose your timing deliberately — a private 1:1 is almost always better than a group setting for upward feedback, regardless of how constructive the framing is.
Practice Exercise
- Write a two-sentence opener asking your manager for permission to share feedback.
- Rewrite this vague complaint as impact-focused feedback with a specific example: “You’re not very responsive lately.”
- Draft a one-sentence actionable request that could follow a piece of upward feedback about missed deadlines on your manager’s part.