I said it how it is at work in a meeting - is it going to hurt my career ?

[rollerblineshades]

Long story short, in a meeting where the team was asked to give feedback, I was completely honest and gave feedback that actually, management was blaming the team for all the issues we are currently experiencing- when actually it's more complex than that and there are several factors playing into it.

I also said people don't always listen to others and just make their own assumptions and it can be frustrating.

A few members direct messaged me thanking me for bringing this all up- and one other team member actually stood up and agreed with me in the meeting.

Management were a bit taken aback, but didn't gaslight me and just said they've clearly done something wrong if that's how I feel.

I'm now worried I should have just shut up and left it.

I think @Gettingittogether has it spot on.

Giving honest feedback is a brave and tough thing to do, but if you do it in a constructive and professional manner then as long as your management are decent human beings (which it sounds like they are, from the reaction you describe) then it shouldn't harm your career. Indeed, it may enhance it.

But the really key thing is to walk the walk and be part of the solution yourself. As a senior manager myself I'm happy to take feedback from the team and always try and act upon it. But what I do find frustrating is when you get feedback from somebody who expects management to solve all the problems, but takes no move to be part of the solution (when that would be appropriate - I'm not talking about situations where the onus is entirely on the management to solve). - or where that person exhibits behaviours that are far from role model themselves. It doesn't mean I wouldn't take their feedback onboard and look to address it though.

Without knowing the people involved and the way the company works it’s hard to say, but I’ll tell you something that I did years ago as a very junior member staff which could well have harmed my career for good or even worse seen me out of the door with my P45. Thankfully it did neither.
I was taking minutes at a meeting where approval was been given moreorless in the nod for various cosmetic projects that weren’t really needed in management offices etc.
There then followed an item on the agenda to approve the move of offices from one site to another that required certain modifications so that the needs of one particular long serving and loyal staff member could be accommodated. There was no discussion other than about the high cost of these modifications and approval was given for the move to take place without them, effectively meaning that the person concerned couldn’t move with her colleagues and would have to be redeployed.
I couldn’t stop myself muttering that they should all be appalled with themselves bearing in mind the previous unessential expenditure they had approved. The Chairman heard what I said and told me to repeat it for the benefit of everyone else,
The head of the department concerned (who up until that point hadn't opened his mouth) agreed that perhaps I had a point and after further discussion it was unanimously agreed that funds for the necessary adaptations would be made available.
When the meeting ended the Chairman ushered me into his office. To say he tore a strip off me was an understatement - he pulled no punches in reminding me of my lowly place in the organisation, telling me that I had no right to express an opinion etc etc . Once he’d finished he pointed to the door and as I was just about to go he said he has one more thing he had to say. I honestly thought that I was about to be sacked but it wasn’t that - he said that I had been right to say what I did and that I should get back to work and think no more about it.
Try not to worry OP I’m sure your comments will be taken in the spirit they were offered.

This is an incredibly valuable point here. I've not been in management myself directly, it can't be easy.

Our company has decided to change their entire value proposition over the last 4-6 weeks.

From one to essentially 6 different things, as well as from one sector to all sectors.

We've also changed our entire engagement process.

None of it is yet reflected in our website / literature / slide decks and systems.

However they've blamed the fact that we haven't reached our goals on the fact don't know how to follow the new processes and have been slow at learning the new propositions.

We are all completely lost and don't even really know how to do it and any time we've brought up that we are confused about things and that things aren't ready, we've been told to stop waiting around and just get on with it. I understand that thinking, we can't wait for everything to be in place, in order to get going on the new propositions. But you also can't shut people down like that when they need more clarity.

However the key thing is to come up with a solution to all this, instead of just complaining about it. I'll start making a slide deck on Monday based on my understanding of one of the new propositions and share it with the team. Management constantly complain the team don't work together and don't give each other feedback, so I guess l will make more of an effort on that front.
My manager complained we always ask him questions, rather than asking other team members first for example and he doesn't like it.

I’ve always been the one in meetings who stood up and said these kind of things, followed by other team members then private messaging me to say the agree etc. it’s actually quite exhausting and draining when they tell you they feel the same but they won’t stand up and say it?!

you did the right thing . You displayed authenticity and honesty.

I think it sounds great. If you'd been too aggressive nobody would have stood up and agreed with you, and the responses afterwards would have bee along the lines of 'OMG can't believe you said that!' rather than 'thanks for saying what we were all thinking.'

It sounds like it really struck home with your managers as well - again if you'd been too OTT from my experience they would have started being defensive but to look a bit shocked and for one to acknowledge how things might have come across suggests you put it across very fairly.

As pps have said everyone knows who the office moaners are - it's when the good workers/quite people say something that managers are more likely to take notice.

tbh your updates don't make the workplace sound great. First they said they understood they needed multiple criteria to be successful but haven't put any of that in place and are just blaming staff. Then having to nag for feedback (anywhere with a good culture people shouldn't have any reservations about feeding back) and looking surprised/unhappy when someone did, and finally your comment about you being too scared to have said it if the big boss was there because they would have bitten your head off! I know there are hierarchies in offices but I've been lucky to work places where nobody would ever be shouted at for giving honest feedback even if it wasn't what they wanted to hear.

I’ve had this as well. It’s frustrating because it makes it easier for management to assume it’s a ‘you’ problem. However it does usually seem to come out in the wash in the end.

@Alcyoneus I find the whole ‘come to me with a solution rather than a problem’ attitude’ that some management subscribe to very annoying. That’s their job. I might have ideas about what would improve the situation but ultimately it’s not my job and if I told a manager what to do they should be paying me a consultancy fee.

@rollerblineshades hey if they did not want to know what you all felt about it then they should not have asked.

So I've found out now that it was absolutely not appreciated that I voiced my opinion.

In fact it's worked against me, seeing as I'm a senior member of the team, now others think it's OK to go along with this victim mentally / passing the blame to others ( which is apparently what I did).

I don't feel great about it. Should have shut up.

IME Managers/SMT don't like this sort of thing in 'public' e.g. in a meeting in front of others. Not all of them like what they might perceive to be smarmy terminology (actual quote from a fellow senior manager recently) either like ingredients, framework, granular etc, again especially in 'public'.

I'm always sharing my opinion in a way you have (minus words like ingredients etc, unless you actually do work in a seasoning factory 😬) but behind closed doors. Usually within 2 months my idea/feedback has been implemented or actioned, with their name on it of course 🙄

When quiet, hard-working, positive types who just get on with the job, speak up then management listen. Well done.

It depends if that was the correct forum for raising issues. It could be argued that by doing so publicly you were bringing different teams/people into disrepute, when perhaps you should have pursued issues privately and before now. We all know people who smile and nod until they have an audience, when the suddenly become rabble rousers.

That sucks OP. If they didn't want opinions they shouldn't ask for them. Hopefully it will blow over.

To be very brief, in places I have worked, it would either be forgotten, or more rarely, but possible, you will have marked your card as unwilling, difficult, not a team player etc.
Those latter things may not be true at all, but it doesn't matter, it is the perception.
I would not do it again.
And don't expect anything good to happen from it!

I think this is a test of good management. Good, confident management will take on board what you've said as constructive and work with the team to improve everyone's morale.

I think it's particularly weak of them to admit some responsibility in the meeting and then when they get out to back track and try to turn it on you.

Maybe you need to wade back in and say that you did not intend to turn it into a finger pointing exercise and that you all need to work together to resolve the issues.

Well done. As long as done well and calmly then quite the reverse actually

It’s really brave to do this and I think the worry is normal but you have the support of colleagues which is promising.

I did something similar once - years ago I worked in a job where the two most senior people were the only ones able to be on call and received a (very generous) on call rate in their wages even if they weren’t called out to work. There’d been heavy flooding in the area one weekend and a local emergency declared which meant our work and clients were deeply affected and the weekend had basically been the two on-call managers working around the clock. A suck up colleague in the team meeting on the Monday suggested that as the emergency status was still ongoing we all take it in turns to be on call outside our 9-5 hours to which many people said how kind that was and what a good idea, the on-call managers included.

I was the only one who said unless you’re gonna pay me an on-call rate absolutely not. We had to be cleared by HR and go through a whole process to be signed off as on-call staff and it wouldn’t get done that day, or even that month, so the prospect of extra pay was never gonna happen.

I know it really pissed one manager off and everyone could sense it but she realised when she took the emotions of the emergency away, that it was a totally unreasonable suggestion - and we had a chat about it a few days later which I felt cleared the air! Do you think you could do that OP in a few days time when everyone has had a bit of time to reflect?

Sometimes you can't shut up, I can completely relate similar situation that I was in recently. My manager thanked me numerous times for being honest and sharing ideas but the truth is it won't make any difference. I'm sure your feelings would have been fairly obvious and sometimes it's not what you say anyway it's how they react to competence. Some people find it threatening. I'm sure you'll be ok