As a leader, the transition to managing a remote team can be difficult. After all, employees are working from home. Therefore, leading successfully with at home workers requires patience, effective communication and a strategic plan to develop employees. The reality of working from home is not easy for some employees. To maintain a successful team it requires a leader with the skill to work with people of diverse backgrounds and effective communication skills to nurture a team.
Before you decide to apply for a leadership role for a remote job opportunity, apply these tips to lead a successful team.
COMMON REMOTE LEADERSHIP MISTAKES
Distance in Managing Teams
According to an Upwork article, “Despite the perks of telecommuting, there are still mental health pitfalls that can stack up — leading to frustration, depression, and burnout.”
As a leader, it is essential to engage with employees that work from home. A one-time conversation on a quarterly basis can make team members feel isolated. The concept of offering an FAQ page or providing a 1-800 line to ask a supervisor questions is one part of the remote work experience. Employees need to connect with you via phone or a webinar meeting to discuss their progress.
A Lack of Career Development
It can be challenging for remote employees to receive guidance on how to receive a promotion or climb the corporate ladder. Most managers place work productivity and employees achieving stats over helping to develop their professional skills. As a leader, think of your team members as customers. If you can make them happy by providing advice to help them pursue an upcoming opportunity, it can result in job satisfaction. Here is a list of ways to help develop an employees career:
Searching Online Presence
When an employee is ready to apply for an internal job posting, first ask the employee to search for their online presence. Human resources can easily discover social media posts that are derogatory, controversial or disrespectful. It can prevent the employee from achieving career results if they are unable to remove or discover what shows up when their name is in a Google Search.
Career Map
A career map includes the beginning steps to a person achieving results. It is essential to be realistic in assisting an employee with their skills and work productivity results reviewed. You need to be honest with employees to provide advice on the skills they need to develop or consistent mistakes that are resulting in an individual not being selected after multiple interviews. A career map will keep the employee accountable to continue to take next steps to succeed.
Job satisfaction includes being open with employees about their progress and helping them to move in a lateral direction to a promotion or new job.
HOW TO LEAD REMOTE TEAMS
Resolve Issues Among Employees
If you discover that two employees do not get along at work, speak with the individuals first before involving human resources to resolve the issue. It can be a minor situation that includes a person being disrespectful to a colleague in the presence of other team members. It is difficult to discern people’s intent when you cannot see the persons facial expression or body language. Here is how to resolve this issue:
Set up a webinar and ask both employees to describe the issue
Do not take sides unless witnesses validate who was in the wrong
Discuss and notate next steps to resolving the issue
Always remain neutral when faced with disputes between employees. Once a resolution is established between both employees, monitor the situation to ensure it is resolved.
Respect Employees Individuality
In the workforce, there are extrovert and introverts that work well in teams or independently work alone. Professionals have different cultures and ways of approaching work. Allow each team member to work in their way if results js produced. For example, if an employee lives in Asia, study the workplace culture in that location to improve how you connect with them.
Surprise the Team with Visits
As a remote leader, your position might include being on call for the team. Surprise the team by logging into the team group chat without notice. Ask them how the call volumes are or if the workload is manageable. It will make the team feel engaged as if you care about their well being.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Remote employees work successfully when the manager or supervisor cares about the best interest of their career. The ultimate goal is to develop a team that exceeds expectations, but this happens when leaders make themselves available. International at home workers has different cultures based on their location. Study the culture of each team member if you are unfamiliar to connect with them and respect their culture.
We hope this article helps you succeed as a remote leader. As the experience continues, there will be strategies that will work best for the team and the overall organization. Feel free to share your tips to help remote leaders succeed.