Over one year on, we are starting to emerge from the pandemic but remote working is here to stay, at least in some form. There is an expectation that particularly SME’s will look to cut overheads and with evidence that productivity does not suffer when working from home, we might find many businesses offloading large, expensive central office space in favour of a more blended approach of home working and keeping some physical space for larger meetings and collaboration. All this leads to a more permanent switch to remote working. Many leaders have had to step into remote leadership blindly. Even those managing others in different locations, were probably not prepared for doing that whilst two children where jostling for their attention on a Zoom call. This unexpected thrust into remote leadership has been a challenging experiment and below I have captured areas that have been helpful in meeting this new challenge.
1. Compassion
This goes straight to the top of the list. Compassion is likely to become a more desirable leadership trait as we adapt to these new ways of working. Some companies are already looking for leaders that can demonstrate compassionate leadership as part of their recruitment process. This is not surprising given the scale of the human challenges we have all felt this last year. If your team is not feeling they are being understood on a human level, it can be very hard to keep them motivated and engaged. The way in which leaders behave and their ability to demonstrate compassion, has a huge impact on how team members themselves cope with this new set of challenges.
Make time for those who need it and adapt your style for different personality types and personal circumstances. Be flexible when needed and give people space to operate, prioritising output and not presenteeism. Team members may have unplanned interruptions and circumstances beyond their control at home which impact when they are available and most productive in their role. Being understanding of this helps team members to feel supported and trusted.
Recognition from managers is a top driver of motivation in many organisations and not only helps demonstrate compassion, but it also improves performance. Be sure to give it regularly. It does not have to be ‘positive’ recognition either, it could just be an appreciation that that a particular task or situation must have been difficult for them, regardless of how well it was executed.
Encourage compassion within the team. Ask each team member to look out for and support each another and buddy some of them up if possible, so they can check in on each other’s wellbeing.
Compassionate leadership is not about having to become counsellors and solving people’s problems. It is just about making time for people, being present and listening to them.
2. Clarity
This seems obvious but different people’s perception and comprehension of what is and is not ‘clear’ can differ vastly when you take away all of the regular team interaction, ‘corridor’ discussions and ad-hoc coffee breaks. Try to provide as much clarity as possible. This can include anything related to your expectations, tasks, and behaviours that you want to encourage. Try and be succinct and to the point. This is easier with written communications like email but can be trickier with things like video calls, especially with our senses working overtime to make up for a lack of non-verbal and non-visual cue’s. It is helpful to set clear weekly goals, outcomes, and expectations, so the team can stay focused but avoiding micro-managing. Try and find ways to bring these points to life.
If you are on a video call, ask your team to take turns to summarise their understanding of the weeks goals and objectives and allow them the opportunity to have some input. Bearing in mind that one of them likely had the Amazon delivery driver furiously banging their door when you made a key point, so be sure to follow up those discussions with written actions, owners and timescales.
With all the new distractions that remote working brings, it is important to strive for as much clarity as possible.
3. Collaboration
A great way to keep up your team’s engagement and motivation is to encourage remote collaboration, and have some fun doing it. Video calling is a great way to foster collaboration. The extraverts will enjoy the additional interaction and the introverts will appreciate doing it in a way that they feel in control of their surroundings. The technology that many of us have been forced to adopt, opens up collaboration opportunities on a truly global scale. People no longer need to be on the same site, in the same country or even in the same organisation.
Ask people to work in groups for different tasks and projects. Encourage them to collaborate with people that have different skillsets and perspectives to their own. Encouraging more diversity of thought will not only make it a more valuable experience for team members but almost always leads to better outcomes. Promote a level of competition and celebrate teams that achieve results through collaboration. Encourage team members to positively challenge each other’s thoughts and be sure they set a structure in groups, define who the ‘lead’ is and who will summarise and report back to you and by when.
Teams always perform better when collaborating and with today’s technology, the opportunities are infinite.
4. Contact
Maintaining and even increasing contact with your team is essential when leading remotely. Some people charge their batteries directly from physical human interaction and you might notice those people are running on lower power than usual. Increasing interactions virtually, in an engaging way, can help them to re-charge and hit peak performance. Virtual team ‘huddles’ have been popular and can be really effective. Use time as much as possible to discuss non-work-related things and just check in on each other. If you used to take lunches together once a week for example, then try doing that over a video call and make sure to eat the lunch. Just remember it is difficult to be present in a conversation while constructing a seafood taco, food choice is key.
Keep regular one to one catch up time scheduled, to allow your team members to share any individual challenges they may be facing. Make yourself available for ad-hoc contact from team members, so they can reach out to you when they need support. You may even wish to make a dedicated space for this in your diary and share it with your teams, so people know when they can get hold of you to talk something through.
Maintaining and even increasing contact and being able to ‘see’ team members regularly, decreases feelings of isolation. When using video, ask everyone to turn the video on if they have that capability, be present and avoid distractions. It is easy to tell if someone is skimming an email while you are sharing something personal with them and that can really have an impact on your relationship. Make time each week to discuss something non work-related ‘fun’ with your team. At the end of each month, ask them how remote working is going for them and ask them to give you feedback on your remote leadership style, this will help you to validate your approach and to develop the skill even further.
At a time where physical contact and interaction just is not possible, we should strive to find new and innovative ways to increase contact with people.
5. Communication
This becomes amplified when leading remotely and having to deal with the physical and emotional challenges of a global pandemic. It is important to understand how the individuals in your team like to be communicated with. Many leaders today are familiar with personality types and they probably have a good idea of how different team members like to communicate but it is important to check back on that. Some people’s preferences can change given in a new environment. If you are unsure what their preferences are, you can always ask them.
If one of your team has small children at home for example, they may need time and support to create a home-working space that gives them the seclusion they need to communicate effectively.
The most extroverted members of your team might need more stimulation in your interactions to keep them engaged. Those with a passion for detail could have more questions than usual, so make sure you plan time for reflection and discussion. In meetings, make sure you invite and encourage everyone to share their views.
Develop a strategy when communicating change to a team remotely, considering all the different people and individual circumstances within it. Without being able to vent with colleagues physically, it can take longer than usual to move to acceptance and so it helps to be mindful of that when planning.
Beware of ‘video conference fatigue’. This is a recognised problem. Because we are not able to pick up on non-verbal ques, we work our remaining senses much harder on video calls. This is often why people report being more tired at the end of the day when homeworking. Before booking a video meeting always ask, can this be done on a normal phone call an email, or even an instant message. When having a phone call try and go for a walk or move around as much as possible, it’s important to keep active.
When leading teams remotely, leaders will struggle to over-communicate.
6. Challenge
Continue to strive for new and innovative ways to challenge your teams, use new technology and collaborate with other leaders in your network for ideas. But the focus here is on the Leader themselves.
With the extra pressures and demands being placed upon people’s work and home lives, it’s easy for leaders to lose focus on themselves. Challenge yourself in as many ways possible, big, and small. Try to set an example by keeping reasonable online working hours and not burning yourself out. Make sure you take time off, even if today that just means focusing on a hobby or interest at home.
In this new environment it has been easy to be consumed by tactical thinking and problem solving. Make time each week specifically for re-visiting those long-term organisational and personal goals. Look after your health, take regular exercise and maintain a work life balance as much as possible. Take care of your own well-being and make sure your own unique, evolving set of needs are met. Ask for help when you need it.
The way in which leaders behave and interact with their teams has a profound impact on how those people feel when they get up for work every morning. Challenge yourself to do something each day that might just make that person’s morning a little brighter.
Ryan Littlejohn, Senior People Development Manager (Associate & Leadership Development, Re-Training Strategy, L&D) – Honda of the UK Manufacturing Ltd.
