Remote leadership has been around for awhile but not everyone has been a believer, let alone, a practice. When the pandemic hit, most of us were not really given a choice about remote leadership. Those of use who have already led teams remotely in the past or who were already leading remotely definitely had a leg up when things went to hell fast in 2020. The pandemic has undoubtedly changed the way we do business and work forever which means it changes our management as well. In my opinion, remote leadership is not going anywhere. In fact, I know that we will see more and more of it.
I am unique in the sense that I have been leading teams and programs remotely since 2010 and I am comfortable doing so. Yes, I did it before Zoom was popular and we used a clunky blackberry to connect. And yes, a text message was not considered a proper “check-in.” As I interview some incredible leaders on MaYapinion, I find that I am not alone and there are more of us out here that have been effectively leading remotely pre-pandemic or pre-covid. However, I know a lot of you did not have that experience prior and it was and maybe still is a challenge. Trust me, I get it. I went from an environment where I saw my employees daily to almost never back in 2010 and I worked from home and an airport instead of a store. It was a shock.
So what are some of the challenges that most of us face with remote leadership? Well, according to you, my readers, these are the top challenges: You aren’t able to supervise your employees face to face, potential distractions with “work from home,” it can be isolating socially for your teams, information may fall through the cracks, and enhanced issues among the team may arise due to the remote work. Can you relate to any of this as a remote leader? Or perhaps you have experienced this over the past year on a remote team? The great news? All of these challenges are totally manageable, and I’ve gone through them as well. Although, in my opinion, navigating a pandemic AND learning to how to lead remotely is a challenge in itself so give yourself some credit.
However, it’s important that we learn how to overcome these challenges and become stronger from them. In fact, I’ve had several amazing leaders on the podcast already sharing their best practices and I will be highlighting this with my guest next week too. In my opinion, these are my best practices and tips from my experience in remote leadership, and how you can face these challenges head on. The first suggestion is a regular scheduled check-in. Now, some experts say daily check-ins but in my opinion, that’s micro-management, but it could possibly depend on the size of your team, division, company or whatever you are leading. You will need to use your judgement on this for what is most appropriate. Spending all your time “checking in” can be a distraction in itself. Create a regular, scheduled time that is organized with an agenda to check-in and get updates on progress. In my opinion, weekly is more than enough but use your judgement. In conjunction with check-ins, you absolutely cannot overcommunicate. Communicate everything clearly and effectively that is going on. You will want to share on calls, emails, texts, on your slack channel… share it everywhere. Why? Because then no one can say, “I was not aware” or feel out of the loop. I understand this might feel excessive at first but remember, everyone learns differently meaning everyone receives and retains information differently.
How can you manage the check-ins and effective communication? Thank goodness for technology. When I first began in a remote leadership role, it was my Blackberry and that was it. We are so lucky now to have so many ways to stay engaged. As the leader, you want to implement tools that increase engagement and communication. With the use of technology and remote work though, you as the leader also must set the rules for the use and when to use what. Basically, you definitely want to set ground rules for modes of communication. For example, if it’s an emergency, you will call or text me or the employee it pertains to directly. If it is something that can wait, you can use Google Hangouts for chat. If it involves a client, please always put it in an email. These ground rules ensure that not only is everyone on the team aware of how to communicate but when to use what so everything is efficient and streamlined. You set these guidelines as their leader and it’s up to you to lead by example too.
Another aspect of communication for your team that I think is important is interaction with one another. I never understand when I hear other managers, directors, business owners, or whomever is supposed to be leading the team say that they don’t want their team engaging independently. I think that’s poor culture and it definitely shows a lack of trust and security in yourself as the leader. It’s your job as their leader to encourage your team to foster relationships within the team to create bonds and eliminate the feeling of isolation that can happen with remote work. Some leaders that have joined that podcast shared that they have virtual activities or even have chats that are personal only for the teams. I believe in this because you create an environment for connection. Nothing made me happier than when I was on a one on one with one of my salespeople and he/she started to tell me about information he/she learned about a new product, way to sell, strategy, or even something about life from a colleague. I knew I was building a culture and it can be as simple as you, as the leader, setting the standard and showing your team that it’s encouraged.
Well, you might be thinking now, awesome, that definitely covers how to communicate, streamline and build comradery and even a bit of culture. But, how as a leader do I let go on needing to supervise face to face still? The components above about effective communication help, but what I find works really well is setting clear expectations for your team. Set expectations early and often! I believe in that wholeheartedly, especially now as everything changed so much for us over a year ago. But also, look at the actual outcome versus the hours worked. This can be a bit mind blowing for managers or leaders that are used to the “nine to five” grind that saw their team daily. But let me ask you this, does it really matter how long it takes Suzie Q to complete all her tasks as long as she does? In my opinion, absolutely not. Does it really matter have many hours Joe works this week if his sales are better than ever and his clients are happy? Nope, not in my opinion. Where the issues begin is when Suzie or Joe are falling short in other areas, but if they are performing well, getting everything done, and are great members of your team, why should you care if they worked thirty hours or fifty hours last week? You shouldn’t. That has been a true struggle for leaders in the past year in the shift to remote management. But, it’s about balance and understand that as leaders, we must be flexible with this new normal.
Our flexibility and empathy (yes, I am talking about empathy again) are two of the greatest factors that will bring us success as remote leaders. Why? Well, not everyone has the home life, let alone life that you do. Take Joe for example, he is single, has a roommate and two dogs. Sometimes we will hear Joe’s dogs on Zoom barking and other times we might hear his roommate at work too. That’s real life. Suzie Q is a single mother with three children who now have to be homeschooled. Sometimes, we will see her kids in the background on Zoom or maybe she will stay up late or wake up early to get work done so she can help her children with school. That’s real life. The more empathy and flexibility we show as leaders now in this environment then the brighter the future you have as well as your team. You and I as leaders know that this is the new normal and the faster we adapt; the better leaders we become.
The best part though is that our teams get better as well. It’s up to us as remote leaders to lead by example (which will be a future topic) but to give our teams the resources and tools they need to succeed. With technology, you are able to give them tools to communicate effectively, connect with each other, and hold themselves accountable to you and themselves. As a flexible and empathetic leader, you will encourage them to work (when they can) when it works for them and their lifestyle. That’s one of the great advantages of work from home and remote leadership. We know as leaders there are distractions so trust your team to identify them and work when it works for them. (Yes, they still have to attend meetings and check-ins). The overall point is that being an effective remote leader takes practice, but it also takes trust. If you implement these best practices, trust your team to do the job you hired them for and build a great culture, then you will crush it as a remote leader.
