Feedback for difficult manager

[MinorDelay]

Hi all, I have been asked to give feedback on my manager for her career development review. I am really struggling to know what to say.

I have reached a reasonably senior position in an industry I love, but working for her has decimated my confidence. My role is now very task driven, as opposed to solution centred - the tasks are well below my pay grade and time consuming - I'm not too proud to turn my hand to anything, but this is such a poor use of my skillset.

I'm used to managing my own projects, but now she has overall authority I have to check every little decision with her & it always becomes a drama.

She's extremely negative, she micro manages, and seeing her name pop up in my emails fills me with anxiety. Can anyone help me phrase something in terms of feedback - I don't want to destroy our working relationship, but feel this is my opportunity to raise it.

Is the feedback going directly to your manager or through a third party?

I'd go for the positive/negative/positive framing. So like 'x is extremely detail focussed. This can impede progression of projects when x moves into a mode of interrogative participation rather than managerial/strategic. X's skills would be much appreciated turned to initial evaluation of the project requirements to allow the team to work independently during implementation'
Or 'x provides frequent and detailed feedback. This feedback can be very centred on negative attributes of projects or work. Detailed feedback on what x sees as positive aspects would be helpful to further align expectations'

You're making it very clear what the issues are, offering some solutions/ alternate path, but not being totally negative

My first question would be - how asked you to give this feedback ?

If it's the manager herself I would decline the offer.

If it's a request from HR / her manager then I might consider this if it could be truly anonymous, which of course it can't be.

If you feel you have to respond, could you take the "we're not a good fit as a team" approach, so rather than directly criticising her management style, say how you would like to be managed, eg working to pre-agreed parameters rather than checking everything, increased use of positive statements.

I hate this type of situation - yes in an ideal world I can see such feedback could be a very positive experience for both parties, but in reality it can make a poor situation worse. I actually do have a positive experience, so I'm not just diss'ing from personal experience. Worked for a company who did 360 feedback annually. new manager who would just leave - we didn't know if she was away at a meeting or gone home or what. So I mentioned this in the 360 - and she then started to tell us when she was going home and to thank us too. Small change but it all helps.

Frankly life is too short to be managed so badly - any chance you can move jobs ?

I was asked for feedback on several of my colleagues at the next level, none of whom I have one good word to say about as they are not nice people and not good at their jobs.

I just declined saying I'd been asked too much and it wouldn't be fair to do some or not the other.

Unless you can be sure you will be supported having given your feedback I'd not bother.

Also she sounds awful - I'd get another job!

Normally for Executive style development programmes the feedback is fully anonymised and often in a survey/questionnaire format.

If it's standardised then use their format to score the manager down on the things they are not strong at and up on any strengths. Take the personal axe grinding out of it and be objective. If there is any opportunity for text narrative try to word it in the passive impersonal, don't make it about how they are with you, make it observational so it describes the behaviour.

if they don't explicitly say it is completely anonymous then they are stunting the opportunity for people to give real feedback that's of any constructive help to develop the manager.