Why Individual Feedback Leaves Remote Teams Struggling

Virtual teams are struggling with feedback — but not in the way we might think. While we’ve gotten better at the technology of remote work, we’re still applying in-person feedback approaches to virtual team environments, and it’s quietly undermining team performance.

What we know from research: A review of 38 different studies found something surprising. Remote teams improve most when they receive feedback about how the whole team is doing, not just individual performance reviews. 

The most effective feedback combines information about results (Did we hit our targets?) with information about how the team is working together (Are people working together in a meaningful way – if the sum is greater than the parts? Does everyone know what others are doing?), and it works best when the feedback comes from concrete data rather than personal opinions.

My POV: Think about office-based teams. When you give someone individual feedback, they can walk back to their desk and naturally share learnings with colleagues, pick up on team dynamics and adjust how they work with others.

Remote teams rarely have casual moments that occur naturally. Individual feedback in virtual settings can leave people trying to improve in isolation, without realising that their development issues might be connected to how the whole team is functioning together.

The teams that thrive remotely start with feedback on how the team is doing together first, then individual contributions second. This may be true for in-person and hybrid teams, but it is vital for remote teamwork. 

As a Leader, what can you do?

• Make team performance visible to everyone. Remote teams thrive with group awareness. In your weekly team meetings, show everyone how you’re doing collectively: e.g. ‘Here’s our client response time as a team. Here’s how often we’re collaborating. Here’s where we’re winning and where we’re struggling.’ When everyone sees the same picture, they start solving problems together.
• Transform personal challenges into shared problem-solving. When you perceive a challenge, rather than jumping straight to individual feedback conversations, consider bringing it to the team first: ‘I’m seeing delays in our project timelines. What’s getting in the way, and how can we support each other better?’ You may find the issue isn’t about individual contributions – it could be how the team is working together (or not).
• Use data instead of opinions. For example, the number and quality of generated ideas in team meetings, the amount of collaboration on specific projects and team profiles that give data-based insights. This takes the emotion out and helps people focus on constructively moving things forward, not defending themselves.

What difference will it make? Teams that receive feedback on both their processes (how they work together) and their outputs (what they deliver) see improvements across multiple dimensions. Process feedback enhances critical behaviours like time management and conflict resolution, while output feedback drives performance when focused at the team level. 

When leaders provide both types together, teams develop stronger self-management capabilities and understand not just whether they’re succeeding, but how changes to their ways of working can contribute to that success.

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