How can you overcome challenges when leading remotely?

In my experience managing a remote team allows you to operate as a coach and build a high performing team by doing the following: 1. Set clear expectations and gain buy in for the vision with your team. 2. Set regular 1-1’s but be available for the random chats and check-in’s 3. Keep the team meetings, dedicate time to get to know each other (the stuff you are missing out on by not being in person for the casual chats) and most importantly 4. Trust your team, don’t micromanage and lean into building a high performing team by treating your team like adults and truly believing that you don’t need to be in an office to do great work.

While there’s a lot of tips and strategies for managing effectively in a hybrid or remote setting, the real game-changer is nailing the hiring process. I think of it as ensuring the perfect Environment/Trait fit for your remote team. Similar to the Product/Market fit concept in marketing; having a killer product won’t mean much if you don’t have the right person in the right role. So, make sure the remote folks you’re bringing on have the traits necessary for remote work—self motivated, detail oriented, and accountable etc. In my experience, these traits aren’t just nice-to-haves; they’re the critical for remote work success. Getting this right from the start sets everyone up for a smoother ride down the line.

These suggestions are sound, remote, or not. However, I add watching out for proximity bias in team development and performance management. Be conscious of not devaluing work because it is not near you. Ask team members to track accomplishments. Review them.

I'm a believer when you are remote communication is key. Actually, I think over communication is in order. You save time by allowing team members to see what you are working on and where you are on a project. Yes it may fill up a few inboxes, but when you actually meet for a call on the topic, you won't be starting from scratch.

1) Listen - a lot 2) Figure out how each member of team prefers to communicate and try to respect as much as possible: Are they zoom/teams chatters who respond well to lots of interaction? Do they have a personality and like gifs? Do they want more scheduled interaction? Do they prefer emails? Do they prefer video calls? (or even old school, camera off calls) 3) Build a relationship and connection. Get to know a little something about them personally - family, pets, hobbies and find a commonality.

To have effective communication one must have high self-awareness and self-regulation when they convey their message to other(s). It's a great value add when one knows their own communication style. One could be highly verbal, auditory or kinesthetic or combination of two. This helps to observe, absorb and express one's words, tone and body language with more clarity. Also, having a good rapport whenever a conversation is starting and being unbiased makes way for a psychological safe space for each other to trust each other, grow together as one team.

Remote leadership thrives on conversations that blend empathy and clarity. These conversations cultivate trust and understanding, essential in a world of virtual interactions. Amid a packed schedule, my go-to strategy has been always maximizing one-on-one meetings. These dialogues, especially in the virtual realm, provide the perfect platform to address critical matters. When both the leader and the team are well-prepared, even challenging topics can be discussed effectively.

One thing I highly recommend is a frequent check-in with the team and using that time to discuss mental health and wellness! This time could be used to that aim and not discuss work and progress of work. I used to do this during lockdown and the results were amazing.

To ensure your leadership supports the whole team it’s crucial to be aware of your social style. Its easy to feel comfortable and understood with people who communicate like you do. But how many people think their boss is abrupt or long winded and or to detailed, or even over familiar. And this won’t be intentional but it will reduce the rapport making listening an effort and predisposing misunderstandings.

In the remote environment, authentic leadership emphasizes legitimacy through honest relationships with followers who value the leader’s input. Such relationships are established on an ethical foundation where authentic leaders exhibit self-awareness, openly share their thoughts and beliefs, balance their values with external demands before making a decision, and maintain a moral perspective, where the leader respects a positive ethical foundation within their relationships and decisions that resist outside pressures. In the absence of in-real-life interaction, authentic leadership is critical to web-based meetings, learning and development, performance, and camaraderie.

Success of remote management depends on 3 F 3T F - frequency of interaction F- feedback effectiveness F - flexibility of working style T- Trust T- Target T -Transparency

This is one of the most important things when leading remotely! Building trust is about showing trust. It means having work communications and structures that illustrate trust & don't micro-manage. As a leadership coach & trainer, I think fostering social interactions is great, but make sure it is real opportunities for connections and not performative actions. Icebreakers & games can be fun if the team is into it, but it is about understanding your team and learning what they want to engage in. Sometimes it is better to have breakout rooms or events that open up conversations and allow team members to express themselves freely. Building trust & rapport is a long game, but makes an impact on productivity & team success.

I feel it is very important for your team members to see you as a trusted leader that is trustworthy, approachable and provides the security of psychological safety while at work. I have bi-weekly individual 1:1's with each of them to discuss their work progress, address any obstacles or blockers they are facing on their assigned projects, answer any questions that they have and to talk about their career growth and the goals they are working to achieve. We also have a bi-weekly team meeting where we share work updates, have a Q&A session for things we may have picked up while attending meetings and we actively engage in team-building activities to foster rapport and collaboration.

The trust serves as the bedrock of remote leadership. Showing genuine interest in team members' perspectives and active listening form the bonds of connection. Prioritizing emotional intelligence deepens rapport. The significance of avoiding micromanagement cannot be overstated. When leaders empower their team, not only does the work get accomplished, but innovative problem-solving emerges.

Get to know your team members on a personal level. Genuine interest and kindness are universal. Cultivate sincere curiosity about aspects of their lives outside the professional sphere. Familiarize yourself with the cultural and social holidays that hold significance for them, as well as those widely celebrated across different teams within your organization. Arrange for virtual social gatherings unrelated to work - perhaps an online gaming session, a virtual coffee catch-up, or a book club meeting. These shared experiences can bolster interpersonal bonds, fostering camaraderie and enhancing mutual trust.

As leaders we should not take it for granted that team members know how to manage work-home balance, especially those with carer roles in a home environment. Sharing strategies and tools for creating this healthy balance should form part of induction for new employees and regular touch points (reinduction) for everyone to learn from what is working for others facing similar circumstances. This will foster inclusion and belonging. Home circumstances are not homogeneous. We realised that other team members were experiencing higher internet connectivity issues influenced by where they stay. The impact of the national rolling blackouts in South Africa was compounded by stolen electricity infrastructure affecting productivity and wellbeing.

When setting team objectives it's crucial that leaders clearly share the vision and expectations of what constitutes a job well done, (nothing worse than doing a good job but the wrong job). Find out individual strengths, weaknesses, communication and motivational traits. A profile tools can assist here, I'm trained in DISC but they're all similar enabling you to match skills, communicate genuine understanding engendering trust and psychological safety. Check in regularly at first encouraging early feedback regarding resources or oversights. Be aware that some personalities are more likely to share their thoughts than others. Send out agendas prior to meetings to enable contribution from the reflective as well as the extraverts and praise.

Remote leadership presents unique challenges. It demands leaders navigate additional barriers that come with the virtual setting. Delegation becomes crucial. Experimenting with various strategies, such as revamped one-on-one sessions and streamlined meetings, can lead to effective team support. The remote landscape requires leaders to sharpen their support skills and provide the necessary resources to guide their teams to success.

Show respect for your team by adapting strategic directions, policies, and procedures to align with their invaluable recommendations and needs. Collaboration and swift adaptations are essential to remote teams, making them feel respected, valued, and empowered to tackle issues impacting their interests and productivity. Remember, nobody understands the obstacles within your operations better than those who navigate them every day. Respect their experiences and put it into action.

Employee empowerment helps each team member realize their greatest potential at work. Which, consequently, will make your team and your company also prosper. Empowered employees have what they need to make good and fast decisions. They know what decisions they can make and which ones leaders should make. It's why they can act quickly when they spot something that's out of their control. When it is, they do not have to wait for someone higher up to intervene.

I find that conflict arises when expectations between parties are not met. Assumptions, failure to communicate effectively, and expecting others to think or act as you would in a situation are common root causes among teams. What's the cure? - Understand your communication style and others. - Assume positive intent. - Focus on the mutual goal. - Commit to curiosity and constructive communication.

Constructive conflict resolution in a remote setting echoes the resonance of empathy. However, I'd underscore the importance of the company's core values as the cornerstone of any conflict resolution. When these values are internalized by leaders, they provide the compass to navigate through conflicts empathetically. Genuinely following the cultural values, leaves no place for resentment of any of the parties and reprimands that the matter was resolved unfairly.

Recognition and failure are two elements that can be operationalized at the organization level and at the team level. At the team level, it can be as simple as collaborating with the team to define the team's norms: how do folks like to be recognized? Where and how often? How will the team decide to acknowledge failures and "fail forward" together? Making these two elements explicit as working norms are critical to an inclusive, supportive and effective team!

Cultural Sensitivity Embrace cultural awareness and sensitivity, recognizing and respecting diverse backgrounds to create an inclusive and harmonious remote work environment. Wellness Initiatives Prioritize employee well-being by promoting health and wellness initiatives, including mental health support, to ensure remote team members feel cared for and valued.

I find a lot of conflict arises from perspective and agree that this can be hard to overcome virtually. However, as with most things, honesty is the best policy and back to basics of “I” statements can help. Such as, I am feeling that my viewpoint is on the attack or being attacked and wondering how others feel right now. Most time, others just need to be heard, and once we get to the root cause of their defence we can move on. It is hard to be the one to lower your defences yet if you really do have a common cause, it will become easier.

While leading remotely we need to have very crisp and clear communication by using technology,being connected frequently,have clear reporting formats,observe virtually,have frequent online trainings.We need to foster unity and build the team efficiently.Time management and timely reporting,target oriented work is of utmost important.