With circumstances having forced many to unexpectedly work remotely, leaders have had to think quickly and adapt how they manage their teams. Remote work isn’t going away any time soon (and many are hoping it never will). Those who are working and leading a team remotely successfully have embraced these simple truths about leading a virtual team.
1) It’s not the same as leading a team in person
Leading a team virtually is not the same as doing so in-person. You can’t just pop-in to each other’s offices to check in on things. You may not have those daily checkpoints about what you did on the weekend, the weather, or that great deal you got on <insert thing you love here>.
The way things work in an office and in a virtual setting is different, but both can work really well if you know what will make it efficient and feel good. If you try to do the same thing you did in-person online, it may feel clunky and disjointed and like things aren’t working.
The key to figuring out what to do next is knowing that it may be very different than what you’ve done in the past, and that’s OK!
2) Creating connection helps
One of the amazing things about working in an office is the connection between employees - both when it comes to working on projects and problems together, but also just the “chit chat” in the halls. In fact, one of the things that we hear the most about why people wouldn’t want to work from home all the time/permanently is that it would be too lonely or that they don’t feel that they connect as well and understand what’s going on as well online.
That means that opportunities for two-way conversations, collaboration, and “chit chat” should be worked into the fabric of the remote work culture. As a leader, you can encourage this and create opportunities for it throughout the workday. How you do this may vary depending on your team (some will love daily “stand up” check-in meetings, playing online board games, ice breakers and “my favourite trashy TV show” forums, and others would prefer brainstorming sessions and forums for sharing useful work-related tips - find what will work best for your team and start there).
3) Finding tools and systems that work for your team in a virtual environment is imperative
There are tools and systems for almost anything you can think of. Finding those tools and figuring out the best ways for your team to use them effectively can make all the difference between feeling frustrated with how things are running on your team (I have no idea what everyone is working on, I think they all feel like I’m micromanaging them, I don’t think they know what they’re supposed to do, they’re brand new and don’t have access to the whole team any time they have a question, etc).
4) It takes practice and patience
There may be bumps as you change the way your teams work to adapt to online. Things you thought might work might not, things that will work might take time to start working, things you’ve been avoiding trying might be the best option.
And you’re going to need to create new habits and ways of being that may be uncomfortable at first. All the folks on your team that would prefer to keep the camera off at all times may need to have the camera on at least a percentage of the time because it’s important for reading body language. Meetings that used to be optional may need to be required for a while so that everyone gets in the habit of taking advantage of certain tools and of connecting and communicating online. You may need to have more meetings than you think are REALLY necessary because creating connection needs to be forced for a while.
Some of making this work may require doing things that you know are good for you even if you don’t feel like doing them. Once you know that then you’ll be in a better position to create things that really work for everyone.
Want to learn more on creating connectivity and alignment with your team? Sign up for the Leading a Remote Team online program. Hosted by myself and Jocelyne Morin-Nurse, CEO of Loxentus Inc., this online instructional course uncovers the most efficient leadership styles for remote teams, including:
Creating a team that feels cohesive and understands the core values of the business.
Getting clarity on action steps, tools and systems.
Gaining more time by learning how to best combine asynchronous and synchronous communication.
This is an implementation course that includes a downloadable worksheet, downloadable audio, downloadable transcripts, and bonus tips with downloadable audio.
For more information and to sign up, visit https://www.loxentus.com/leadingremotecourseinfo.