Survey · Evaluation
Manager effectiveness survey template
Rates the specific things a manager does, such as setting priorities, giving feedback and making timely decisions, instead of asking for one vague grade. People who score their manager low are asked for the single change that would help most and can request a private follow-up, while those who score high are asked what the manager should keep doing.
Try it live
Try it as a respondent
Every question, and where it leads
The conversation
What a respondent is asked, in order.
This is a few minutes of honest feedback about your manager. Answer for how things usually are, not your best or worst week.
Which manager is this feedback about?
How long have you reported to this manager?
How much do you agree with each of these about your manager?
How often do you get a one-to-one with them?
How comfortable are you raising a problem or a mistake with them?
Overall, how well does your manager help you do your best work?
What is one thing they do that you'd want them to keep doing?
What one change from your manager would make the biggest difference to your work?
Would you like someone from HR to follow up with you privately?
What email should HR use to reach you?
Rank what you'd most like more of from your manager
Anything else your manager should hear?
Ends with
Thanks, your manager will hear the themes
The flow
Where each answer leads. Every route here is editable once the form is yours.
Short text
Single select
Matrix
Single select
Opinion scale
Opinion scale
Long text
Long text
Yes / No
Ranking
Long text
What this template uses
- Short text
- Single select
- Matrix
- Opinion scale
- Long text
- Yes / No
- Ranking
- 3 branches
Questions to consider
- How many people report to each manager, and is that enough to keep individual answers from being recognised?
- Which behaviours does your company actually expect from managers, and do the matrix rows match them?
- Who reads the raw written answers: HR only, or the manager's own manager too?
- Will managers see their results before a development conversation, or during it?
- How often will you repeat the survey so a manager can see whether a change landed?
How to use the responses
Look at each manager's matrix for patterns, not single low marks: a team that agrees priorities are clear but disagrees that decisions come promptly points to one specific habit. Read the one-change answers together and pull out themes before sharing anything, and reply within a week to anyone who asked HR to follow up. Give each manager a short summary with two or three behaviours to work on, then run the same survey again next cycle to see whether those rows moved.
How to customize and share it
- 1Rewrite the matrix rows to match the behaviours your manager training or competency framework already names.
- 2Swap the manager name question for a dropdown of your managers, so every answer is spelled the same and grouping in the export is exact.
- 3Tell people before you send it who will read the answers and how results are shared, then send the link by email or embed it on your intranet.
Frequently asked questions
What questions should a manager effectiveness survey include?
Ask about observable behaviours: setting priorities, giving feedback, making decisions, being available, recognising work, supporting growth and treating people fairly. Pair the ratings with at least one open question that asks for an example.
Should a manager effectiveness survey be anonymous?
Usually yes, because people rate their manager more honestly when they are not named. Only report results for groups large enough that one person's answers can't be picked out, and keep any contact details optional.
How often should you run a manager effectiveness survey?
Once or twice a year works for most teams. That is often enough to see whether a manager's changes are noticed, without asking people to repeat themselves every month.
How do you share manager feedback without it feeling like an attack?
Share themes rather than quotes, start with what the team wants kept, and agree two or three behaviours to work on. Treat the results as the start of a development conversation, not a verdict.