Why feedback is essential for remote workers (+3 tips to spark effective communication in your team)

One of the things every remote team needs to do is encourage consistent feedback and honest criticism, because distance can make it much easier to oversight how important it is  

By not having your colleagues around you it’s easier to forget how valuable, good, constant feedback is.  

Comments and reports on performance are essential for good, effective communication and at the same time, communication is the backbone of teamwork, so in other words: If you want to work as a team, no matter if it’s remotely or not, feedback is a must.  

How would you know what you can improve if your colleagues are not communicating? What if one of you is falling behind but doesn’t ask for help because they don’t think they would be heard?  

And what if the one who’s starting to fall behind is you, but because of a lack of effective communication you don’t feel comfortable enough to ask for help?  

And this is just one of the many reasons you and your team need to always be checking on each other:  

How is everyone doing with their current tasks? Who is ahead of schedule? Who is falling short? How can you help each other?  

At this point it is very obvious why feedback is non-negotiable, but what about how to get it and how to give it? What can you do to stimulate feedback?  

Well, here are 3 tips you can use today to give your team a boost in effective communication!  

Check-ins are an easy, effective and quick way to spark feedback

It’s the oldest and easiest way to build rapport with your colleagues but it still works just as effectively regardless of being remotely or in-person.  

Questions like “how are you doing?” “What is your main task of the day?” “How much have you progressed?” “Can I help you?” are simple and straight to the point, and this way you nurture effective communication with your teammates.  

You also get to see how open they are to potential suggestions or comments you might add after their answers.  

Video calls are key, don’t shy away from the camera 

While text and audio messages work too, video calls must be the main channel for efficient communication in a remote team. Body language is just as important in a virtual environment as it is in an in-person one.  

More importantly, if you are going to express complains or corrections you think your colleagues need to hear, showing and expressing yourself will make them more open for constructive criticism, since they’ll be able to see that you have good intentions instead of just trying to criticize their work.  

So, don’t shy away from the camera, face-to-face sessions make rapport much easier to develop.

Keep it positive  

Not all feedback needs to be corrections or adjustments, it can also just be flattering and complimentary, If you only provide feedback when it comes to things that need to change, that might affect how your colleagues feel about you, like you are only paying attention to their errors, even if that’s not the case.  

So, instead of doing that, offer positive feedback to keep a balance, this way your colleagues would also feel comfortable enough to give you a few compliments when they see you are doing a good job!