3 Mistakes to Avoid When Leading a Team Virtually

The COVID-19 outbreak has forced millions of employees to work from home, as a result of which managers across the world are preparing to effectively lead their virtual teams. If you’ve never led a team of remote workers before, this may be a little challenging for you.

Even worse, you may unknowingly make mistakes that could cost you your employees’ overall productivity and happiness. The good news, however, is, with actionable strategies, you can successfully manage a team in the months to come.

Let’s look at the three biggest and most common mistakes that you may unintentionally make in the times of uncertainty:

Mistake#1 — Not Putting Together a Game Plan

With the sudden coronavirus outbreak, many business leaders may not have had enough time to prepare themselves or their team for the move to working from home, and therefore, they may have ended up making the mistake of leading a remote team without a game-plan in place.

In an ideal case scenario, shifting to remote work may require considerable time and a proper strategy. However, nearly all of us might not have had either of that during the past few weeks.

When holding remote-work planning sessions, you should establish crystal clear expectations about the goals and priorities that need to be focused on while working remotely. Plus, it is imperative to clearly state who will be responsible for what and what the deadlines are.  

Most employees crave routine, structure and predictability. So to avoid any uncertainty, it is also important to make sure the team members understand what is expected of them. Make sure your team has the same level of clarity as they had when they worked in the office environment.

Mistake #2 — Not Setting the Standard for Your Team

Are you one of those managers who strictly tell their team to show up on time but themselves show up 15 minutes late? Or one of those who preach work-life balance but then shoot off emails to their team all weekend? Well, if you can relate, you’re making a huge blunder.

One of the most terrible mistakes you can make when leading a team virtually is to talk the talk without walking the walk. And sending such type of mixed messages isn’t going to work if you want your remote team to thrive.

Your team is going to rely on you in terms of setting the standard for what’s acceptable and what’s not within the organization. So it is necessary that you epitomize the values that you want to inspire within your team.

Mistake #3 — Disregarding the Social Needs of Your Team

Since we are social beings, working remotely may develop feelings of loneliness or hopelessness when maintaining social distancing. As a matter of fact, the Gallup Organization revealed that 21% of remote workers say “loneliness” is the biggest struggle they face.

As a leader, the responsibility of creating a sense of community while working remotely falls upon you. If you fail to do so, your team may find their motivation faltering, which in turn results in them losing their interest in the work. Nevertheless, the efforts to address the social needs of your team members shouldn’t be based on your selfish desire to maintain productivity levels. It is just what you should be doing for those entrusted to you in a time of crisis.       

You may utilize chat apps and video conferences to keep the employees engaged with each other throughout the day. Don’t forget to express your own thoughts about working remotely and ask others what’s working for them and what’s not. And then see how you can contribute to improving the whole remote working situation.  

Learn how you can take your leadership teams through a growth model which will help them mature on a personal and professional level by following me on LinkedIn and subscribing to the Keijzer Community.

Paul Keijzer is the CEO and Founder of Engage Consulting and the co-Founder of The Talent Games, which aims to transform HR by digitising talent processes and creating more engaging and productive workplaces through gamification and mobile technology. As a global HR and Leadership Management expert, Paul knows how to combine business insights with people insights to transform organisations and put them on the path to growth.