Remote feedback: a critical health promotion tool!

Giving feedback is essential to increase people’s potential, because it allows them to improve, as well as to feel valued and stay motivated. In order to do this, feedback given should be constructive and continuous, aiming for the development of the employees and maximisation of their performance (Aquino, 2019).

With people working from home, giving feedback can be even more challenging, since the lack of proximity can make it more difficult to deliver the exact amount of feedback and they may need more direction than usual. Also, it’s more difficult for managers to control the context when communicating negative feedback in order to soften the news (Huston, 2021).

On the other hand, feedback can foster the wellbeing of employees, especially in the pandemic situation we now live in. If people don’t know what they are doing right and what needs to be improved, they can feel anxious and unappreciated (Marsh, 2019).

So, in order to create better conditions for mental health it’s necessary to regularly share positive and constructive feedback and to create a psychologically safe environment, through the encouragement of honest feedback between managers and employees, as well as between colleagues (Maier, 2019).

Feedback is key to change perceptions and behaviours, so we need to pay special attention to how it’s given in order to continually improve it!

How can we give constructive feedback remotely? Robins and Khanna (2020) and The Guide to Giving Feedback Remotely (n.d.) suggest a few things we can do to give effective feedback:

• Read your audience and set a foundation of trust: ensure there is trust and a safe space for the receiver of feedback. Before starting to talk about business, take a minute to connect on a human level and ask how people are feeling that day.
• Connect via video to reduce the risk of miscommunication: all feedback has more impact when it’s face-to-face, because it allows you to understand how it is being received by the other. Because it may be difficult to determine someone’s tone or intent when it’s written, it is best to have important conversations in the closest form as to a face-to-face conversation.
• State your intention and give proper context: your feedback should include a specific context, your intention in giving it, and the impact of their behaviour. Highlight specific examples, as well as its implications, to ensure the purpose of the feedback is understood. Otherwise, if the feedback is too general people don’t know where to begin to change their behaviour.
• Be prompt but don’t rush the feedback: when addressing specific situations the feedback should be shared as soon as possible, but the moment must be chosen wisely. However, it’s important to ensure you take the adequate amount of time to explain the feedback to your employee.
• Set a concrete action plan: people have to know where they need to improve in order to achieve success, so after giving them feedback you should define a concrete plan where they can track their progress.
• Check how they are feeling leaving the meeting: receiving feedback can be difficult and now it’s more difficult to understand how employees are feeling. Therefore it is important to check out properly by asking them how they feel about the feedback and if they agree with it at the end of the meeting.
• Choose your channel wisely: sharing positive feedback with the entire team is always encouraged, as it helps employees feel that their work is valued and drives further motivation. However, for negative or growth feedback, it’s better to do it in private.
• Be empathetic in your evaluation: if something doesn’t feel right, consider if there’s any potential non-work drivers for what happened. It may have nothing to do with the motivation to achieve results but with the extra demands employees have at home. It’s important to have empathy, especially during this time of adjustment, so employees feel you care about their problems and situations.

Honest and constructive feedback is essential for boosting employees performance, well-being and satisfaction levels. For instance, the recognition of employees’ strengths can help them flourish in their jobs, increase their happiness and reduce depressive symptoms (Mental Health and Wellbeing in the Workplace, n.d.). Well, this can be even more important when people are working from home due to the confinement because they can feel more isolated and lonely and in need of interaction.

Therefore leaders must implement feedback practices that reinforce a positive and healthy culture that promotes the wellbeing of all the workers, particularly while working remotely (Fischer, 2020).

References:

Aquino, M. (2019, October 15). O que é feedback construtivo?. ImpulseUP. Available at: https://blog.impulseup.com/feedback-construtivo/

Fischer, M. (2020, April 7). Feedback Practices for Employees Working Remotely. Forbes. Available at: https://www.forbes.com/sites/martifischer/2020/04/07/feedback-practices-for-employees-working-remotely/?sh=52bdf94d5709

Huston, T. (2021, January 26). Giving Critical Feedback Is Even Harder Remotely. Harvard Business Review. Available at: https://hbr.org/2021/01/giving-critical-feedback-is-even-harder-remotely

Maier, S. (2019, May 9). Why Feedback is Key for Mental Health in the Workplace. CMSWire. Available at: https://www.cmswire.com/digital-workplace/why-feedback-is-key-for-mental-health-in-the-workplace/

Marsh, E. (2019, March 12). Can a feedback rich-culture improve wellbeing at work?. T-three. Available at: https://www.t-three.com/soak/insights/can-a-feedback-rich-culture-improve-wellbeing-at-work

Mental Health in the Workplace: Feedback and Recognition. (n.d.). WorkWell. Available at: https://www.ttophs.govt.nz/vdb/document/1803

Robins, A., & Khanna, E. (2020, November 4). How to give constructive feedback remotely: 5 best practices for managers. Officevibe. Available at: https://officevibe.com/blog/five-ways-more-comfortable-giving-feedback

The guide to giving feedback remotely. (n.d.). Workplaceless. Available at: https://www.workplaceless.com/blog/guide-to-remote-feedback