We should offer help before it’s asked and help each other get better with honest feedback, knowing that transparency, kindness and ownership are at our core.

You should consider cultural differences and preferences. As a remote team we have people across the world with different individual styles and ways of working. So, adapt your delivery and reaction accordingly. See below on how other cultures may perceive direct/indirect feedback among other factors to consider.

Culture Map: Dimensions & Definitions

Here’s a look at the countries that people at Alloy are in today on the Culture Map:

At a macro-level, there are obvious cultural differences in the way that we work together. For example, those in the US or Canada, tend to provide low-context when communicating whereas India or Philippines tend to have more nuanced, layered communication. Or overall tendency to prefer mildly direct to indirect feedback across the board provided diplomatically and wrapping criticisms in positive feedback.

That said, this does not capture individual preferences and styles, so when you’re beginning to work with folks for the first time, consider their:

1. Cultural differences
2. Individual working styles (if they have a manual created)
3. Preferences for giving/receiving feedback on their Slack profile (new field!)

<aside> 🙂 TLDR Adapt your feedback, delivery and reaction. Understand that while we want to be direct and honest, consider how to structure your feedback so that it’s being received and actioned. We should talk about cultural differences openly so that feedback is understood as it’s intended.

But for those in indirect cultures or preferences, try to leverage more ‘formal’ mechanisms e.g. Slackbot, or put it on the agenda more frequently during 1:1s to discuss.

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