How to Get Clear Direction From Your Manager
Clarity is one of the most valuable things a manager can give their team. When expectations are vague, work tends to slow down. Engineers second-guess priorities, redo tasks, or wait on answers that should have been clear from the start.
Priorities will shift. That's the nature of software. But a manager's job is to translate those shifting priorities into goals, trade-offs, and next steps the team can act on. When that translation is missing, the team spends more energy interpreting the work than delivering it. Over time, trust and momentum fade.
You're not powerless here. With the right approach, you can give feedback that helps your manager sharpen their communication and makes the whole team more effective.
Signs Your Manager Isn't Being Clear
A single vague request isn't the issue. What matters are the patterns. When direction is consistently unclear, it shows up in ways that are hard to ignore:
- Rework becomes routine. A feature is built, but upon review, it's discovered that expectations were never agreed upon. The team has to circle back—not because the engineering was wrong, but because the goal wasn't clear from the start.
- Priorities change without context. Business needs will shift. The problem arises when those changes arrive without an explanation of why they occur or what consequences follow. The team ends up reacting instead of planning.
- No shared definition of done. Engineering says complete, QA finds gaps, and product has a different view altogether. Without a standard definition, every handoff exposes a new interpretation.
- Momentum stalls. People hesitate to move forward because they don't trust that they have the whole picture. Small pauses add up until delivery slows to a crawl.
If you're seeing these patterns, the issue may be how direction is being communicated and reinforced.
How to Give Feedback Without Backlash
Upward feedback is delicate. Done poorly, it feels like an attack. Done well, it builds alignment.
Be concrete. Point to a real example and name the gap. "Last sprint, we rebuilt Feature X because we never aligned on what finished looked like." It keeps the focus on the work, not the person.
Connect it to outcomes. Your manager can't stop product from changing priorities, but they can help the team adapt. Framing feedback around delivery makes that clear: "When changes land late without context, QA is blocked and our release slips."
Offer a next step. Feedback sticks when it comes with a path forward. "Could we do a two-minute recap at the end of planning to confirm acceptance criteria?” You're not just pointing out a problem—you're making it easier to fix.
|
|
Where can AI save you time?
My friends at Big Creek Growth put together a quick survey to spot the repetitive work you can hand off to automation.
|
|
Making Feedback Work For You
Even good feedback can fall flat if the delivery is off. A few habits make it easier for your manager to hear you and act:
Use one-on-ones. Calling out unclear direction in a standup puts your manager on the defensive. Save it for a private conversation where you can be candid without the spotlight.
Frame it as collaboration. "Could we try a quick recap at the end of sprint planning so I can post a summary for the team?" That positions the change as a shared improvement, not a critique.
Write the record. After the conversation, send a short summary: "Here's what I understood as goals and next steps." It creates a reference point and prevents the same confusion from coming back.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
Feedback usually fails because of how it's delivered, not what is said. Bringing it up in front of others almost always backfires. Even well-intentioned managers get defensive when they're caught off guard.
Tone matters. "You’re unclear" stops the conversation. Describing what happened—"we missed the mark because the acceptance criteria weren't confirmed"—keeps the door open. Timing matters too. If you deliver feedback while frustrated, it will sound like venting rather than an attempt to solve the problem.
And don't stop at naming the issue. Without a path forward, nothing changes. Pair your observation with a suggestion that the manager can act on.
Your manager can't control every product decision or market shift. But they can control how those shifts get translated into clear goals, trade-offs, and next steps. That's the space where your feedback matters most.
Be specific. Tie it to delivery. Offer a next step. Small, respectful conversations create the clarity that keeps teams moving.
Make this a habit, and you do more than fix your own blockers. You raise the standard for how clarity is created on your team—and that's how good teams become great.