After a day out of the office this week I returned to my in-box to find a cryptic message from a team member at one of the remote offices. It was a request to get in touch which signed off with the ominous phrase "it's nothing serious". A phrase which immediately implies that it probably is something that one should be concerned about.
Without any real clue as to what I should expect I dialed the individuals mobile. In essence it was an employee in an office I had visited that week providing some interesting feedback. He wanted to inform me that the discussion at their daily meetings had touched on the fact that I was conspicuous by my absence from their regular scrums. It is fair to say that I don't directly manage the team or the project that is the current source of concern; but I do have a vested interest in the delivery of the project and the overall team performance.
I struggle to cover the miles to be in each office as much as I possibly should and part of the criticism was that when I am in the office I don't get close to the detail. I say the criticism as it felt that way. My instinctive reaction was "does he know how busy I am, I can't be baby sitting developers all the time". But I didn't express my thoughts and kept listening and accepted the feedback in good spirit as it was clear that it was intended that way. I thanked them for taking the time out to let me have the feedback and said that I would see what I could do to sort the situation out. I think that made a positive contribution to my image by not reacting negatively or defensively despite the internal reaction.
I discussed with the team leader in the location and I have built up a picture of the situation and consequently I will be back on site next week. But it has highlighted to me the need for honest feedback and the clear benefit of this kind of unbidden commentary as well as not reacting emotionally but listening and taking the criticism as honestly offered feedback.
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