Submitted by dk871984 on
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When providing feedback, does the feedback have to be in-person, or can it be over instant messaging? For example, our office uses instant messaging a lot. Can I write someone, “Can I give you feedback,” and when they respond “yes,” write on instant messaging “when you’re on time, I appreciate it”? Or is feedback more effective face-to-face?
How would you feel?
Well your directs my not be like you I think the first question you can ask yourself is how would you want your boss to communicate with you. For me getting feedback through an IM or text just does not carry the same weight as face-to-face or a phone call. Going that little extra step to go to someone's office or give them a call shows you put some value in the relationship. Just because your office uses IM a lot does not mean it is the appropriate way to communicate.
s
Noooooo
Simple answer. No. Feedback is only effective face to face.
it can be effective on chat
Some of my team are in other countries and for them, English is a second language. For them, giving them feedback in writing is often more effective as they can read English better than they can listen to it. I use phone, email, chat and our HR recognition system to give positive feedback in writing and it works just fine.
I prefer to give negative feedback over the phone as it seems to be more effective than written negative feedback. In part, I think this is because of the fact that negative feedback is delicate and requires the right tone, etc. Email is too easy to be misinterpreted. For me also, I think it is easier for me to check their understanding.
I know this is not standard MT practice and I know it works for me due to my circumstances.
Hope this helps.
Kevin
Only in person
We recommend only giving Feedback in person (face to face or over the phone), never in writing which includes IM, text or email. It's very difficult to convey the casual tone we want to have when delivering Feedback in writing. Think about a time you've sent an email (or text or IM) and in your mind there was absolutely no "edge" to the message or you even wrote it with a happy tone in your mind, but the receipient "heard" a tone that you didn't intend. It's incredibly easy to miscontrue the intention of the writer! Because of your boss sign, you're directs will almost always hear a negative or "you're in trouble" tone when you deliver negative feedback in writing.
And we don't recommend delivering positive feedback in writing because if you only deliver negative in person but positive in writing and in person both, it sends a message that negative is somehow "different" than positive, or in other words, that there are different rules governing how we deliver postive vs. negative. Again, this is interpreted by directs as "negative means I'm in trouble" or that negative feedback is more serious or a bigger deal because "my boss only gives it to me in person."
Hope that helps!
Best,
Dani