It can be stomach-churning to talk to a supervisor about problems you have with your job, especially if those problems have to do with their management style. However, since a performance review is likely one of the only times you will be directly asked about these things, it is an opportunity you will not usually want to pass up. Smart supervisors will appreciate polite criticism, they, too, have supervisors and they want to be able to demonstrate that they are doing everything they can to make their employees as happy and productive as possible.

☛ A positive performance review is an especially smart place to bring up things that are making your job harder. A supervisor who considers you a competent, valuable employee is much more likely to take your problems seriously than one who considers your work sub-par.