A common theme of 360 feedback is lack of visibility of leaders.

In a leader’s defence, multi-site working can create lengthy travelling times between locations, and time spent travelling is largely non-productive.  But, there’s a reason why people are feeding back to you that they still want to see you.

So maybe it’s time for a little creativity around visibility?  Consider these options . . .

* video-conferencing on a big screen – standard practice now in many organisations – and if it’s your first time, find someone to walk you through it to overcome any fear you have of the technogy; despite a slight time delay, the process works

* Skype – I use this regularly when working from home; recently it made the difference between me being able to have the meeting and not (and the difference between a mileage claim and none!)

* Could they travel to you? Is your door always open? Invite them for a coffee and a chat.

* How about the occasional handwritten note instead of the distant email? It lets someone know that you care and have them in your sights.

* Can you talk to them over the phone?  OK, not visible, but it gives you a great 1:1 opportunity.

* Can you encourage your managers to increase their visibility? Maybe the people who report to them would be less demanding of your presence if others were more visible?

* Could you create more opportunities to share what you do with a wider audience? A middle manager
told me that they were fully aware of what their most senior manager was up to, but realised that others in the chain might not be (reminds me of Kotter’s take on communication: “simple, heartfelt messages sent through many unclogged channels”).