3 Ways to streamline your feedback loops

By Cal Adamson

In a remote working environment, feedback is essential to any organisation. Cultivating the right feedback process is key to helping remote teams continue to grow and be productive. It can be tricky to establish a streamlined feedback loop that’s clear, empowering, and productive. Here are our three ways to implement a feedback process that encourages teams to work better.

Establish a consistent structure and cadence

Make sure to structure your feedback channels and cadences from the start. That can mean group retrospectives, team stand-ups, one-on-ones, or digital check-ins. Get the channel and rhythm clarified from the beginning so your team members always know how and when to give feedback. This regularity will bring consistency to the feedback cycle without the interruption of other distractions.

Document feedback asynchronously

Making sure your feedback can be traced and saved for further digestion is critical. Many teams use Google Docs, Notion, or Slack. Being able to document asynchronously can give clear focus to areas of growth as well as areas of praise and recognition. Different team members will process feedback differently, so having a document to refer to can be helpful for teams working through feedback in real-time.

Use private and public feedback channels

For areas that might need growth, use private channels where team members can be addressed directly. While giving feedback in a public setting is sometimes unavoidable, it’s best to give constructive feedback in a safe space that helps teammates feel empowered to grow and improve.

Here at Distributed, we’re big fans of showing brazen recognition for team members that we want to celebrate every day. It can be a dedicated “kudos” channel on Slack, or a weekly practice for the whole company. Giving positive feedback on public channels also builds a healthy culture allowing team members to feel comfortable celebrating one another.