21 October 2026
The Manager Wants Honest Feedback
The manager says they want honest feedback. There is a pause while everyone works out how much honesty the room has budgeted for.
Someone says communication could be better. The manager asks for a specific example, a proposed solution and a brief presentation at the next team meeting. Communication immediately improves: nobody says anything else.
An anonymous survey follows. It asks for your department, reporting manager, length of service and one recent project. There are three people in the department. One is the manager. Anonymity has put on a small hat.
You type that meetings could be shorter, then change it to “opportunities to optimise collaborative touchpoints.” The sentence is now long enough to qualify as a meeting itself.
At the review, the manager thanks everyone for their honesty. The feedback has been heard. A working group will investigate whether it can be acted on without changing anything.
The next survey asks whether you feel comfortable speaking up. You select “strongly agree.” You would hate to cause concern.