Rethinking virtual feedback in working environments : a systematic literature review

Kurzfassung/Abstract

Purpose
Remote work has become a prominent part of the current work environment, bringing new challenges for employees and managers. This includes finding ways to provide feedback that supports the development of teams and their members, which has led to growing interest in virtual feedback. While this topic is not new to management research, a comprehensive overview of how virtual feedback affects its recipients is missing.

Design/methodology/approach
Our systematic review analyzes 114 articles published between 1986 and 2025 in peer-reviewed academic journals in Business, Management and Psychology.

Findings
Applying Ilgen et al.’s (1979) feedback process model to virtual feedback, we firstly identify the aspects of virtual feedback that influence (a) the way it is perceived, (b) its acceptance by the recipient, (c) the willingness of the recipient to respond to the feedback and (d) the recipient's response. Secondly, we identify blind spots that have not yet received sufficient scholarly attention and propose directions for future research. Thirdly, our individual- and team-level implications support practitioners in communicating feedback virtually to reduce misunderstandings, promote feedback acceptance and foster the desired effects of virtual feedback.

Originality/value
The literature review provides a comprehensive and unique picture of a feedback recipient's multifaceted behavioral reactions to virtual feedback in the working environment, as well as the underlying mechanisms (e.g. cognitive reactions) explaining the effects.