The biggest blind spots in management and how to beat them

The most important role of any leader or manager is to meet the needs of their team as a collective and as individuals and enable them to do their best work. Great leaders and managers are often very in-tune with the evolving needs of their direct reports, taking an active approach to employee satisfaction and empowerment. With that being said, even great managers are prone to missing things and having a few blind spots where they aren’t fulfilling their team’s needs.

Researchers at Gallup dove into those blind spots in a 2024 study, which yielded some interesting takeaways. They found three significant areas where managers displayed overconfidence in their ability to do something relative to how direct reports rated them. Three key areas are as follows:

Providing weekly feedback – 50% of managers strongly agreed that they are providing weekly feedback. Only 20% of individual contributors strongly agreed that they received weekly feedback from their managers.

Employee recognition – 59% of surveyed managers strongly agreed that the are doing a good job providing recognition for a job well done. Contrastingly, 35% of individual contributors took the same position.

Building a collaborative team – 42% of managers strongly agreed that they are building collaborative teams. Meanwhile, only 30% of individual contributors said the same thing.

The largest gap is the difference between how employees and managers perceive their frequency of feedback. Half of all the managers surveyed were very confident that they were providing weekly feedback, while only 20% of employees said the same, representing a gap of 30%. Frequent feedback is a major driver of retention, as it helps employees understand the steps they should take to progress within the organization and their career. To beat the weekly feedback gap, consider the following action steps:

Establish 1-on-1 meeting cadences – 1-on-1 meetings with your team members are the best setting to provide high quality, constructive feedback to your team members on a regular basis in a way that they will remember. Establish weekly meetings with your direct reports to stay on the same page and use them as an opportunity to provide feedback or answer any questions they might have about their performance. All you need is 30 minutes per person or less.

Gather direct feedback from your team – Connect with individual members of your team and ask them whether or not they believe they are receiving enough feedback. Although the vast majority of employees prefer regular feedback, some prefer a higher degree of frequency than others. Find out where your direct reports stand and tune your feedback frequency to accommodate them.

The second largest perception gap is found in employee recognition. Managers generally believe that they are doing a great job providing recognition for good work, but most employees don’t see it the same. Employee recognition is critical for maintaining engagement. When people know that they will be directly rewarded and/or credited for a job well done, they will invest themselves deeply in what they are doing. To close the employee recognition gap, do the following:

Take opportunities to celebrate wins – If you look at your schedule throughout the day, you’ll likely find a lot of opportunities to provide recognition for teams, groups, and individuals on a frequent basis. Team meetings, 1-on-1 meetings, group lunches, and other settings are often convenient times to shout someone out for a job well done.

Be intentional and get creative – Employee recognition is one of those things that can be done in a variety of ways. There is no wrong way to go about it, but there are some that might work better for certain situations! Look into the professional, social, financial, time-based, and gift-based methods to recognize people for the work they do. The opportunities are endless! Some people are motivated by recognition in a large group setting, and others are motivated by private kudos – cater your approach to your people’s preference!

The final gap shows us that managers believe that they are doing a better job at building collaborative teams than employees do. Whether or not people are able to get along well and get things done together majorly depends on what the culture in your team looks like. Depending on how healthy it is, the culture within your team can propel you to new heights or hold everyone back. To close the collaboration gap, consider the following action step:

Host brainstorming meetings – When you have something big coming up, or something your team is going to be heavily involved in, put on a brainstorming meeting! Give your team members the opportunity to exchange perspectives, bounce ideas off one another, and share their knowledge. As a leader, you can make collaboration happen with a proactive approach.

Invest in a system for collaboration – Effective collaboration is rarely built on its own – you must be intentional about it. We get it, and that’s why we built Dignify! Dignify’s tools will provide you and your team with the tools and insights necessary to build a collaborative environment with a basis in trust, mutual respect, and understanding. Investing in a system means investing in your people.

Managers often overestimate how well they’re meeting the needs of their teams, especially in areas like feedback, recognition, and collaboration. The gaps between manager self-perception and employee experience highlight the importance of taking a closer look at how these aspects are handled. Regular, meaningful feedback can significantly improve retention and performance, while recognizing achievements helps keep employees motivated and engaged. Additionally, creating an environment where collaboration thrives requires intentional effort. By actively addressing these blind spots, leaders can create stronger connections with their teams, ensure satisfaction, and ultimately build a more effective team.