How to Create a Manager Feedback Survey (+70 Questions)

Managers matter. But they’re also spinning a lot of plates. They are on the frontline of employee performance, have to lead by example, and answer to senior leadership. They’re often the first to notice when employee morale dips or turnover increases. But sometimes, these issues are caused by managers themselves. To combat this, HR must give managers the support they need to succeed. 

Our 2025 State of People Strategy Report found that this support is a crucial indicator of success: 91% of high-performing HR teams meet most or all of managers’ needs, leaving them free to lead their teams more effectively.

Successful leadership also involves listening to everyone's opinions, using manager feedback surveys. The insights help build a strong feedback culture where everyone feels valued, heard, and supported. Below, we’ve taken a closer look at the benefits of manager feedback surveys, the types of questions to include, and a step-by-step guide to getting them right. 

How Manager Feedback Surveys Can Help HR

Feedback surveys are one of the most powerful ways for HR teams to uncover what’s impacting a wide range of workplace issues, including employee morale, wellbeing, performance, and retention. And manager feedback surveys are no exception. Here’s how they can help:

• Identifying patterns: Roksolana Stupen, HR manager at IT Monks, calls manager feedback surveys a “backstage pass to understanding what’s happening in an organization.” She added that these surveys help spot patterns, identify potential leadership challenges, and help create targeted development programs. 
• Diagnosing problems: Tetiana Hnatiuk, head of HR at Skylum, sees manager feedback surveys as a diagnostic tool. “They help us see whether leadership is working or if we’ve got managers who are great technically but struggling with people skills. Even the best managers have blind spots,” she said. 
  
  She added that without this structured feedback, issues can start to fester. “By the time we notice them, we’re already dealing with resignations, disengagement, or even full-blown conflict,” said Hnatiuk. 

• Giving employees a voice: Manager feedback surveys don’t just lift the curtain on what’s going on in individual teams, though. They can also be used to ensure employees feel heard and have a voice when it comes to the company culture and direction of the entire organization.
  
  “While the primary goal is to help individual managers develop, HR teams can use aggregated data (with appropriate confidentiality safeguards) to identify broader trends, skill gaps, and opportunities for leadership development programs,” explained Meaghan Nocella, principal consultant and founder of Preve Solutions. 

The insights from these surveys help HR, but they also help managers become better leaders. 

How Feedback Surveys Improve Managers’ Performance

Managers have a huge impact on their teams. According to a 2022 study from The Workforce Institute at UKG, managers have as much of an impact on employees’ mental health as their spouses do. When managers support their teams through accountability, goal-setting, and regular, meaningful feedback, they create the right conditions for increased employee engagement and performance. 

One of the best ways for managers to check if they’re providing this kind of support? You guessed it — employee feedback. 

When the right questions are asked, managers can get valuable, actionable feedback on their performance. “This feedback often highlights blind spots that managers may not be aware of,” said Nocella. “Even when managers disagree with certain perceptions, simply knowing about them creates an opportunity to adjust behaviors and improve how they are seen by their teams,” she added. 

Helping managers improve their performance, typically depends on how honest employees feel they can be, Hnatiuk noted: “Anonymity is usually the way to go, at least for the core survey, because let’s be real, if people are worried about backlash, they’ll either sugarcoat their answers or not fill it out at all.” 

She added that this doesn’t mean feedback should be a faceless complaint box. “We encourage structured conversations afterward so managers can hear real examples, not just ‘You need to communicate better.’”

Nocella explained that these surveys shouldn’t be used as a substitute for performance reviews or as a direct tool for HR to manage individual managers’ performance. “The focus should remain on development, rather than judgement.” Managers will also need the support of HR since this kind of feedback can challenge their self-perception. “It’s most transformative when approached with a growth mindset,” she said. 

But to achieve that kind of transformation, asking the right questions is key. “If you only ask things like ‘Do you like your manager?’ on a rating scale, you’re not going to learn much,” said Hnatiuk. Instead, she recommends mixing a blend of questions: “Likert scales for tracking trends, open-ended questions to dig deeper, and behavioral prompts to get real stories.”

Types of Questions for Your Manager Feedback Survey

Here’s a quick rundown of the most popular types of questions seen in manager feedback surveys, plus the benefits of each. 

Open-Ended Questions

These kinds of questions allow employees to give free-form answers. Because there are no limitations, open-ended questions encourage the kind of honest feedback that can uncover unexpected opinions or issues. 

Example: Is there anything else you’d like to add about your manager’s approach to feedback? 

Closed Questions

Closed questions have predefined answers, usually falling into one of these two categories:

• Yes or no 
• Multiple choice

The limited range of possible answers means closed questions are a good way to collect standardized data that can be analyzed and quantified. These questions are also quick and easy for employees to complete, which may boost response rates. 

Example: My manager gives me useful feedback regularly.

Yes / No 

Likert Scale Questions

These questions measure employee opinions on a five-option scale ranging from “strongly agree” to “strongly disagree.” They’re easy to analyze, tend to boost employee participation, and can help track changes over time. For best results, try combining them with open-ended questions that encourage employees to share the reasoning behind their responses. 

Example: My manager is a good role model. 

Strongly agree / Agree / Neutral / Disagree / Strongly disagree

Affective Questions

These questions are designed to drill deeper into an employee’s emotions, feelings, values, or attitude on specific subjects. By encouraging employees to think about how they perceive their manager, these questions can provide insights into what’s impacting employee satisfaction and engagement.  

Example: How do you feel about the way your manager leads meetings? 

Behavioral Questions

These questions assess how managers respond to specific situations. They usually begin with “Give an example of…” or “Describe a time when….” These questions can help identify patterns or habits in a manager’s behavior that may impact the performance of their direct reports. 

Example: Give an example of when your manager used their leadership skills to motivate your team. 

Rating Scale Questions

Similar to the Likert scale, these questions cover a wider numerical or verbal scale, for example, 1 to 10 or “poor” to “excellent.” They simplify data collection and analysis and make it easy to identify areas with the highest and lowest ratings. 

Example: Does your manager show respect for the opinions of everyone on their team? 

Rate your answer on a scale of 1 to 10.

Hypothetical Questions

These questions encourage employees to consider how their manager might react to an imaginary scenario. Hypothetical questions encourage employees to reflect on the dynamics between them and their manager and can offer insights into what employees value most and how they expect challenges to be handled. 

Example: If your manager had to mediate conflict within your team, how do you think they would approach the situation? 

Manager Feedback Survey Template: A Step-by-Step Guide

Knowing what kinds of questions to include in a survey is one thing, but for the best insights, feedback questions need to be combined with a consistent, standardized process. 

Here’s our step-by-step guide to getting it right.  

1. Set your objective.

This first step is crucial. Without knowing what you want to measure, a manager feedback survey may end up as a list of disconnected questions with no real direction. Setting a clear objective for each survey helps you gather feedback and actionable insights, which can then be used to help managers become better leaders. 

2. Determine what to assess.

Rather than trying to cover everything about a manager’s performance, focus each survey on one element. For example:

• Conflict management 
• Communication
• Work-life balance 
• Leadership
• Feedback 

Once you’ve identified what you want to assess, it’s easier to know which questions to include. 

3. Put together your questionnaire.

“Effective manager feedback surveys strike a balance between efficiency and depth,” said Nocella. To get this balance right, she recommends using a blend of:

• Scaled questions: To gather quick, comparable insights
• Open-ended questions: To add meaningful context

“This combination provides both measurable data and actionable insights,” Nocella said. She added that employee survey fatigue tends to set in after about three minutes, so aim to keep surveys shorter than that.  

4. Pilot test your survey.

Running a small-scale survey with a group of employees can help check that you’re on track with the clarity and length of your survey. Use their feedback to refine any issues before launching a company-wide version. 

If manager feedback surveys are completely new to your organization’s culture, Nocella recommends piloting them with senior leaders first, ideally on an opt-in basis. “This approach allows managers to view the surveys as tools for their development rather than a compliance exercise or a ‘gotcha’ moment,” she explained. 

5. Hold space for additional comments.

Managers and their teams spend a lot of time together. So it’s no surprise that employees may have a lot to say about their leaders. 

Ending surveys with an open-ended question like “Is there anything else you’d like to share about your manager’s communication style?” can uncover valuable insights that might otherwise be left unsaid. 

6. Add a provision for anonymity.

“Anonymity is essential for honest feedback,” said Nocella. She added that for feedback to be actionable, participants must feel safe sharing candid insights without fear of repercussions. By stating that survey results are anonymous, HR teams can build trust, increase participation rates, and ensure employees feel comfortable sharing their honest thoughts and feelings.  

7. Analyze the survey results.

Once your survey is complete, it’s time to analyze and interpret your results. The right HR tech can make a huge difference here, simplifying the process and saving you from spreadsheets and lengthy manual calculations.

“HR tech has been a total game-changer for us,” said Stupen. “We use tools that help us analyze survey data quickly, identify trends, and even predict potential leadership challenges before they become major issues.”

But when interpreting results, there also needs to be a degree of flexibility. “One mistake I see a lot is treating survey results like a final verdict,” said Hnatiuk. She added that numbers alone don’t always tell the full story. “Say a manager scores low on ‘approachability.’ Does that mean they’re dismissive, or do they just have a reserved personality?”

This kind of context matters, which is why Hnatiuk doesn’t just dump raw data on managers. “We go through it with them, highlight patterns, and then coach them on what to do next. Feedback without action is useless,” she explained. 

People platforms like Lattice can help you create custom surveys, interpret and contextualize results, identify key trends, and prioritize areas for action.  

8. Create a plan of action.

Employees want to know their feedback has been heard, so creating a plan of action is crucial. Sharing survey results with managers and respondents helps boost transparency and accountability, keeping everyone in the loop. 

Some actions, like improving communication channels, might be applicable across all teams. Others, like conflict management, might require individual initiatives or follow-ups. 

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70 Manager Feedback Survey Question Examples

To help you get started, we’ve included example questions for manager feedback surveys. Within each category, you’ll find examples of different question types. 

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Communication Style

• Are there any ways your manager could improve their communication?
• Does your manager clearly explain expectations?
• My manager adapts their communication style to individual team members’ needs.
• How do you feel when your manager shares feedback? 
• Does your manager communicate well during high-stress situations?
• Rate your manager’s communication skills on a scale of 1 to 10. 
• If your team faced a sudden challenge, how do you think your manager would communicate this to the team? 

Leadership Skills

• How would you describe your manager’s leadership style? 
• Is your manager an effective leader? 
• My manager leads by example.
• How do you feel about the way your manager approaches changes in the workplace? 
• Share a time when your manager handled setbacks.
• On a scale of 1 to 10, how would you rate your manager’s decision-making ability?
• If your team had a sudden crisis, how do you think your manager would approach the situation? 

Inclusivity and Diversity

• Can you share examples of how your manager promotes diversity within your team?
• Does your manager foster an inclusive work environment? 
• My manager ensures everyone has an equal opportunity to contribute.
• How do you feel about your manager’s approach to fostering inclusivity?
• If your team has concerns about bias or discrimination, how does your manager address these?
• On a scale of 1 to 10, how would you rate your manager’s commitment to inclusivity?
• If you had concerns about workplace diversity, how do you think your manager would respond? 

Conflict Management

• How does your manager approach conflict within the team?
• Does your manager address conflicts quickly and fairly? 
• My manager helps create a work environment where conflict can be managed constructively.
• When conflicts arise, how do you feel about your manager’s problem-solving ability? 
• Share a time when your manager effectively resolved a conflict within the team.
• Rate your manager’s ability to resolve conflict on a scale of 1 to 10.  
• If your manager had to resolve a conflict within the team, how do you think they would approach it? 

Manager Effectiveness

• How effectively does your manager support you?
• My manager makes effective decisions. 
• My manager monitors my progress without micromanaging. 
• How do you feel about the way your manager ensures the team reaches their goals?
• Can you share an example of a time your manager improved team efficiency?
• On a scale from “poor” to “excellent,” rate your manager’s ability to manage projects.
• If your manager needed to juggle multiple tight deadlines, how do you think they would react? 

Listening to and Taking Feedback

• How would you describe your manager’s approach to listening to and acting on feedback? 
• My manager asks for constructive feedback.
• My manager shows appreciation when we provide them with feedback.
• Does your manager act on your feedback? 
• Share a time when your manager responded to receiving negative feedback.
• Rate your manager’s ability to respond to feedback from their team from “poor” to “excellent.”
• If your manager received critical feedback, how do you think they would respond?

Seeking Team’s Input

• How often does your manager seek and use input from team members? 
• My manager recognizes team performance. 
• My manager actively seeks ideas from all team members. 
• How do you feel when your manager actively asks for your opinion? 
• Can you share an example of how your manager encourages diverse opinions?
• From “very closed” to “very open,” rate your manager’s openness to suggestions from all team members.
• If your team faced a major decision, how would your manager involve everyone?

Enabling Professional Development of Team Members

• How has your manager supported your career development? 
• Does your manager encourage you to pursue development opportunities?
• My manager supports my professional growth. 
• How do you feel about the performance expectations from your manager? 
• Can you share a time when your manager encouraged you to pursue a training opportunity? 
• Rate your manager’s commitment to your professional growth on a scale from 1 to 10.  
• If you expressed an interest in advancing your career, how do you think your manager would react? 

Respecting Work-Life Balance

• Does your manager support and encourage a healthy work-life balance? 
• My manager respects my time outside of work.
• My manager supports flexible work arrangements.
• How do you feel about the way your manager acknowledges personal commitments or challenges?
• Give an example of a time when your manager accommodated your work-life needs.
• On a scale of 1 to 10, rate how your manager respects your work-life balance.
• If you needed to adjust your schedule for personal reasons, how do you think your manager would respond to this request? 

Providing Mentorship

• How has your manager supported your growth through mentorship? 
• My manager helps me develop new skills.
• My manager is happy to mentor me or connect me with someone who can.
• How do you feel about the level of mentorship provided by your manager? 
• Describe a time your manager provided you with mentorship.
• My manager recognizes the value of mentorship and guidance.  
• If a junior team member expressed an interest in being mentored, how do you think your manager would react? 

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