How can I get feedback faster from my tech lead?

Question

I'm more of an extrovert, while my tech lead is more of an introvert. I feel like our relationship isn't as open and honest as it should be, particularly around sharing feedback. They often times have major feedback for me, but it will come too late, either deep into project execution or as late as performance review.

How can I make this relationship more fluid, so I can get feedback to improve earlier?

Alex Chiou · Accepted Answer

Set up a weekly 30+ minute 1:1 with this TL if you haven't already. Make it very clear that you treat all feedback as a gift and ask for it regularly. Be specific: If there's projects you want to make sure your TL is okay with, ask about those. Avoid the generic Do you have any feedback for me? as that will often times lead to them tuning out of the question and responding No, you're doing great! for convenience. Relationship strength is primarily a function of time, so seek out opportunities to better know your tech lead. This can be over lunch, during team offsites, and even outside of work. If you keep getting blindsided by major feedback that comes way too late, especially all the way at performance review, escalate this to your manager. It's in everyone best interest for a team's senior engineers to perform.

How can I get feedback faster from my tech lead?

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