Leading from a Distance
Learn how to be an effective team leader, when managing a remote team at work.
Here on the OSFL team, I have a few interns and virtual assistants that help me out with the blog’s social media, research for blog content, website data analytics reports, managing PR inquiries, a few administrative projects, expense reports, etc. There’s no hierarchical structure on the OSFL team; but I am the leader of my team, as well as the founding blogger, creative director, editor, etc. As a leader of a team, I’ve realized how important communication is for productivity now more than ever. While I once had the luxury of bi-monthly in-person meetups at co-working spaces, I’m now limited to strictly virtual interactions with my team. And to be honest, it’s kinda tough.
So I just took this LinkedIn Learning course about leading from a distance. It’s a great webcast for managers who have remote workers on their team, whether it’s just one, two, or the entire team. I also think it’s very insightful for non-managers to gain a different perspective of their remote coworkers. While this blog post doesn’t capture the entire course, these are key points of what I learned and found most relevant for managing my remote team here at the blog.
In case you want to watch the entire course, but don’t have a subscription to LinkedIn Learning, it’s embedded in the post and you can watch it for free. Your welcome!
Out of sight, but not out of mind.
The LinkedIn course mentioned the “MBWA” management model, which describes a management style of “managing by walking around.” But now that everything has changed, managers must lead by web cam. Your team needs to feel that there is a manager presence, despite a leader not physically being there to oversee all operations. But don’t virtually walk around or check in to often with your tea, otherwise they might get the feeling that you don’t trust them. Maintain solid working relationships by communicating and coaching on a regular basis.
In the team, we trust.
The act of allowing your team to work remotely demonstrates trust. But now that everyone is working remotely, leaders must connect with employees and build trust in other ways. Putting yourself in someone else’s shoes isn’t easy to do if you don’t know anything about them. Wouldn’t it be helpful if you knew that someone on your team has a newborn that keeps them from getting enough sleep? With that knowledge, you’d be better able to accommodate him or her, by allowing them to start work later or work on a schedule that better accommodates their personal life. Another example might be a parent that likes to come home in time for dinner and help the kids with homework. Or an employee caring for elderly or sick parents. Perhaps, that employee can log back on later in the evening to finish the day’s project. Plus, it helps to have a break in the middle of a day-long project. In turn, that employee will become more productive by working on their own time and feeling positive about their home life because you helped created a better work/life balance. Appreciation will be reciprocated from both parties. It’s a win-win for everyone!
Communication is key.
We have heard this piece of advice so many times! Communication is the key to a good relationship because it helps each party understand each other. And it is very true. Communication is so necessary when collaborating with a team or providing feedback as a manager.
Another thing about communicating with coworkers that may not be so obvious — Communication doesn’t always need to have a purpose behind it. You can call up a coworker just to say hello. This helps add some humanity to your personality, even as a manager. This can add to the imaginary case that you’re trying to build that argues how personable and approachable you are.
Be a leader, not a follower.
Being a leader is hard. That’s why not everyone does it. I’ve been told nine times this week, by various colleagues, that they’re so glad not to be a manager because it’s “too much of a headache” and “people are difficult.” And there is certainly some truth to these qualms. In any case, the LinkedIn Learning covered these three parts of the remote leadership model.
Leadership & Management
Tools & Technology
Skills & Impact
Questions to ask yourself - Are you using the technology well? Follow-up- If you don’t use the tools well, can you really expect your team to? (Embrace the tool and technology for desired results in skills and impact)
Managing a team is not all about sitting back, kicking your feet up on the desk, and bossing people around. While managers should be delegating tasks, it’s also important to be a respectable leader that your team will want to learn from and work for. Your attitude and behavior will set the tone for the relationship you have with your coworkers, which is why it’s important to lead by example. When leading a team, a manager must wear many hats, including being a mentor that you’re coworkers admire and look to for guidance.
In regards to the second bullet about technology, here are a few questions to ask yourself. What tools do you have? Do you know which tool to use for which job? Do you rely too much on the tools you’re comfortable with? My answers — Generally, yes. I have so many fricken tools. Yes, I do know how and when to use each tool. And yes, I do rely on the tools that I’m most comfortable with. For example, Adobe Photoshop is very challenging for me to use, so I use Canva most of the time. In my defense, I can make all of the branded content and digital media graphics I need using Canva. But in all honesty, I should also make a better effort to learn more tips and tricks for using Adobe programs like Photoshop.
Homework: Identify one tool or technology that you have and are not comfortable using. Learn how to use it! This may involve taking a class or watch a few YouTube videos. Then, share what you learned with your team. The team may also learn something new.
This homework assignment leads me to my next set of questions. Are you using the technology well? If you don’t use the tools well, can you really expect your team to? No, this is not rhetorical. Answer the question aloud, as if I were sitting right there with you and be honest with yourself. Most likely, the first answer is probably no and the second question is obviously no. And that’s okay because you can start today. Embrace the tools and technology your team has for desired results in skills and impact. Remember that as a manager, you must lead by example.
3 O’s of Leadership
Outcomes - All leaders’ goal is to move people toward a desired result.
Others - We bring others along to join us on our mission, by helping them to choose to follow in the service of those outcomes.
Ourselves - Who we are as a leader plays an important part of how we achieve outcomes.
This is the most important O, in my opinion.
3 Types of Outcomes
Organizational - This is where the organization is going and how they are connected to that.
Team - They must make sure there’s no lack or miscommunications.
Personal - People are usually highly effective in reaching their individual goals, but not pull through in an organization.
But this is ok because it’s not intentional. Always assume positive intent.
Goal Setting
Setting goals is so important for achieving success because it helps break up a major achievement into levels of small successes, which makes it slightly less daunting. The small wins are a good way to build your way up to the big achievement. You can launch a brand or business and grow your following over night, right? No! It’s take lots of time and effort to work towards being successful. I set daily, weekly, monthly, and annual goals. The little things I strive to achieve everyday are what lead me into achieving my weekly goals and so on and so forth.
I’ll keep it short an sweet with one of my own goal strategies for Oh So Fashionably Late. For example, my overall goal is to build my blog’s online presence and monetize my social media, which starts with growing a following that comprises of both email subscribers and social media followers. So everyday, I make it a point to mindfully post content and engage with other users’ content on social media, helping to build my brand awareness through social engagement. This then leads to driving traffic from my social media to the website, which is where users can subscribe to my email newsletter. This helps motivate me to create more content and continue my efforts to build awareness. I analyze the data behind all of these platforms and continue to do better every week and reassess every month, which is how I create my year in review. My year in review highlight goals, success, short comings, and new ideas to try for the upcoming year. That’s what success is all about — GOALS!!!
You should try to lead your team with these different types of goals in mind. The first and most important is “Results Goals” which takes a greater team collaboration. It’s going to take lots of team interaction to make sales quotas, quality goals, etc. Teach your team how to achieve their goals by showing them how it’s done. And this leads me to the next type of goal, which is a “Process Goal.” It’s going to take lots of processes (new and current) to help your team meat their results goals. Leaders will need to schedule more team meetings, encourage one-on-one interactions amongst the group, increase project collaborations, and track progress. Remember that saying “team work makes the dream work”? Well, this is what that statement is referring to.
Learning at a Distance
Distance learning remotely involves consistent coaching and frequent feedback, preferably through weekly one-on-one meetings. And have monthly touch base meetings to keep everyone in the loop. Don’t just call someone when he or she has made a mistake. Make it a one-on-one face-to-face conversation. Try to coach your team mate to be more successful, by making it a two way conversation. Don’t just tell them what they need to do differently; have a conversation about these changes. And have that conversation either in-person or via web cam.
Assume positive intent. Start with a positive assumption. Your team needs to know that you have faith/confidence in them, so that they feel confident. And vice versa. If your team has feedback or harsh criticism for you, just take a step back and look at it from their perspective.
We’ve all heard of “The Golden Rule” — Treat others the way you want to be treated. Well, here’s “The Golden Suggestion” that I learned from this LinkedIn Learning course — Treat others the way they want to be treated. See the difference? Understand and utilize the perspective of others to help every individual on the team succeed.
Teaching someone means you need to learn how they learn. And it should never be assumed that he or she is a visual or hands-on learner. Just ask what works for them. — What type learner are you? Work better on teams or individually? — And remind them that there is no wrong answer. And whatever their answer or needs are, be flexible. Everyone on the team needs to bend a little bit because even work processes among the group may differ.
Some more notes to review…
Workplace Politics
Here’s how to make those “work politics” work for you and your team.
Understand your team’s need to be seen.
Give kudos for achievements and hard work.
Provide ego strokes, when deserved.
Understand your need for visibility.
Don’t think of politics as a dirty word.
Take action today to improve one of your working relationships.
Building Trust at a Distance
The “Trust Triangle” requires transparency and communication.
Common Purpose - Everyone has the same purpose and is working towards the same goals.
Competence - When you feel confident in your team, they’ll feel confident in the work they’re doing. Insecurity can sometimes lead to lots of mistakes because a teammate may start second guessing all of their work or overthinking everything, creating a stressful work environment.
Motives - Where are peoples hearts? What are their intentions? That’s where communication and transparency comes in.
And here are some extra tips for leading near, far, or where ever you are.
Know your tendencies (don’t micromanage)
Be flexible (meeting times)
Be equitable (treat everyone the same, by always thinking of the entire team)
Keep the conversation going.
Find out what’s working for people and what’s not. And follow-up and continue to make sure everyone feels taken care of.
Be intentional.
Model by example, in the way that you communicate with others and handle stress. Tone and body language is really important.