Building A Stronger Feedback Culture In Remote And Hybrid Workplaces
Keli Frazier-Cox is the founder of Promote Leaders.
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The shift to remote and hybrid work has changed how we communicate with our teams. One of the greatest challenges I hear about from the leaders I work with is determining how to deliver constructive input effectively in these environments.
Providing meaningful guidance in remote and hybrid work environments requires intentional effort. You want your feedback to be heard, understood and acted upon. But you can't fast-forward through the steps that build true connection with your employees. You first need to get to know them as people, understand their unique motivations and establish trust. Then you can share your perspective—and it will be much more likely to resonate with them.
The structure of virtual meetings often prioritizes efficiency over connection. With leaders juggling 10 to 12 (or more) back-to-back meetings daily, conversations become task-driven, leaving little room for meaningful interaction. As a result, check-ins are reduced to a quick 'How are you?' before diving straight into the agenda.
This lack of relationship building creates a disconnect, making feedback feel transactional rather than supportive. Without a foundation of trust, employees may question the intent behind the criticism and wonder whether it truly serves their growth or is simply an obligation.
According to data from the Bureau of Labor and Statistics, 23.7% of the U.S. workforce worked remotely in some capacity in February 2025. With nearly a quarter of employees working from home, it's increasingly imperative that leaders master the art of providing effective feedback in remote settings.
Start by getting a feel for each team member's baseline emotions and communication style. How do they naturally express feelings such as excitement, engagement or concern?
In remote workplaces, where nonverbal cues are limited, it's even more important to be able to discern these differences. I recommend keeping your camera on during calls and encouraging your employees to do the same. You can't observe their facial expressions and demeanor if you can't see them. For example, an employee may furrow their brow when they're concentrating, but you could misinterpret their expression as a sign that they're upset. Learning to recognize these nuances leads to more meaningful communication.
Many leaders rush into task-oriented conversations without understanding what drives their team members. Instead of getting frustrated that they haven't done something you've repeatedly asked them to do, pause and get curious about the reasons behind their actions.
Why should they care? What motivates them to show up for their job every day? What are they enjoying most or least about their role? What are they hoping to learn or accomplish? Take the time to understand every team member's personal and professional development goals. When you connect a task or piece of feedback to personal motivation, your guidance strengthens your relationship.
Establishing trust with your team takes time. Show that you are trustworthy through your actions, big and small. Demonstrate follow-through in consistent ways, such as sending a promised email or following up on a request, reinforcing that you are dependable and genuinely invested in their success.
For both managers and employees, the idea of giving or receiving feedback often raises anxiety, causing a knee-jerk, 'Oh no, this is going to be terrible' reaction. But that doesn't always have to be the case.
Don't reserve feedback strictly for negative or concerning issues. Reframe it to celebrate milestones and projects that have been successful. By recognizing and acknowledging how an individual has succeeded and provided value to a project, team or organization regularly, you lay a foundation of trust you can draw on when you need to deliver critical feedback in the future.
One of my clients, a national nonprofit that serves severely ill children and their families, went fully remote during the pandemic and operates this way today. They recognized that increasing the frequency and quality of delivering feedback would be one way to accelerate leadership impact in their organization—but they needed to focus on more than just the tools.
Like many nonprofit employees, they are passionate and mission-driven, but grapple with balancing empathy and accountability, struggling to give feedback because they felt it was too negative. I helped them see that the opposite is true: Feedback is essential, especially in a remote environment. It's a way for you to coach, help and empower your team to be more effective in their individual roles—and the organization's overall mission.
My team and I worked with leaders at all levels of the organization to:
• Define clear leadership qualities and expectations, creating a common language.
• Train every 'people' leader, from the CEO to frontline managers.
• Reinforce models through quarterly check-ins, skip-level meetings and regular performance sessions.
As an example, we took a common feedback model, SBI (situation, behavior and impact) and focused on two areas: impact and questions. It's easy to identify areas of improvement, but what is the impact on them, their careers, team or deadlines? When delivering positive feedback, impact can be even more powerful. How much time you saved or the impact on your colleagues or customers can provide positive reinforcement that builds engagement and loyalty.
Then, we spent a significant amount of time asking questions. Before delivering a plan, or pushing into 'tell' or 'solutions' mode, we encouraged leaders to practice using curiosity to foster trust and understanding, setting the stage for co-creating next steps.
Participants in the training program were given pre- and post-program engagement surveys. The results showed significantly improved confidence among leaders and perceptions of feedback among employees.
Feedback should be an ongoing process, not only reserved for formal performance reviews. If you want your input to be received, understood and applied, focus on building relationships, recognizing motivations and earning trust before offering your perspective.
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