Submitted by michaelpoley on
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2 of my 6 directs are remote, and I struggle to give feedback to them, positive or negative. Because they are remote, I don't have opportunities to interact with them in-person or to see them work. For the other 4 directs it's easy! I interact with them, and people on othe teams tell me about the great things that they see them doing.
To understand where I am, I am trying to give at least 2 pieces of positive feedback, every week, to each of my direct reports. I'm using the feedback methods described in the Manager Tools podcasts on feedback.
For the 2 remote directs, I can give them feedback based on the work that I see them turn in, but some of the projects that they work on have such long timelines that it doesn't give me a lot of material to give them feedback on.
Should I ask their coworkers, who DO need to communicate with them on a more frequent basis about what these 2 coworkers are up to - or if they are doing awesome things that I'm not aware of?
How would you handle this? I don't want to 'invent' positive feedback to give to my remote team members, but I definitely want them to be engaged and have a sense of how they're doing. Unfortunately, I don't feel like I do have a sense of how they're doing - beyond the work that they produce.
Managing Virtual Teams
There are numerous podcasts on feedback available here from the Manager Tools group.
Also, there is an additional podcast available relevant to your case (virtual teams):
https://www.manager-tools.com/2005/10/virtual-teams
] "Should I ask their coworkers, who DO need to communicate with them on a more frequent basis about what these 2 coworkers are up to..."
No, that is very inefficient and likely would leave you with more questions. (Remember the telephone game?)
Giving Feedback to Remote Employees
I'm coming to this a little late but as it's something I'm wrestling with myself I thought I'd share a couple of approaches in working on.
First, I'm trying to draw on the content of the O3. The first ten /fifteen for them, plus the development section, are ripe for feedback, plus any questions or responses to your bit. They're bound to tell you good stuff they've done, they'll be meeting deadlines in front of you, and hell you can always point out they turned up on time and were prepared!
Second, I think there's something in this line: "some of the projects that they work on have such long timelines that it doesn't give me a lot of material to give them feedback on." I've been in this situation loads, but I'm realising this is to my detriment. A lot of the project management casts are helping me get better at this. Basically, they need plans with a lot more deliverables!! And they need to be passively reporting status on these to you regularly. This isn't you telling them what to do - they come up with the plan, they own it. It'll help you do your job better. And you get lots of opportunity for feedback for free :-) I'm only just starting on this journey myself mind... Two of my favourite podcasts on this: Development a Sense of Urgency, and I'm Working On... not.
Hope that is of use!
Graham