How to get the feedback you need from your boss

July 8, 8:28 AMEntry Level Careers ExaminerHeather Huhman

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There are a few points about bosses you should always remember: not all of them are cut out for the job and a majority of them have their own bosses to whom they report. Both of these points might detract from the amount of attention—much-needed mentoring early in your career—you receive from your supervisor.

However, there are small steps you can take to gently coach your boss into giving you the feedback you need both before starting an assignment and after you’ve completed it.

1. Ask questions—never assume. Assuming is one of the worst things you can do on the job. When you make assumptions, so does your supervisor—he or she assumes you know what to do and will come back with a satisfactory product. If there is any doubt in your mind at all about an assignment, the best thing to do is ask.

2. Request to go through changes together, at least in the beginning. Sure, it’s easier for a boss to e-mail you back a document using Word’s “tracked changes” feature, but you’re left not entirely sure why the changes were made. Did you do something wrong, or are these changes due to his or her personal preferences? If you sit down together to review your work during the first couple weeks, you should learn greatly from the feedback.

3. Get a weekly meeting on the calendar. Depending on the organization, this might involve going to an administrative assistant or your boss directly. Meetings need not be long—15 to 30 minutes tops—but they will greatly help you understand how you’re doing compared to your supervisor’s expectations, as well as give the two of you a chance to connect during a scheduled time each week, rather than on the fly.

4. Be the squeaky wheel. “The squeaky wheel gets greased.” In other words, if you know you have an impending deadline but you haven’t received the feedback you need from your boss to move forward with the assignment, become that squeaky wheel and (politely) reminder him or her until you get what you need.

5. When appropriate, ask for more responsibilities. After you feel you’ve mastered the tasks you are given on a routine basis, request a meeting to discuss taking on more challenging projects. Don’t just come at your boss with this one out of the blue. Get it on his or her calendar, and identify exactly why you’re requesting the meeting so he or she has time to prepare. Even if your supervisor feels you’re not ready for the “next steps,” this sit-down should give you plenty of feedback about your performance and what you need to do moving forward.