How to manage your team’s performance remotely

The coronavirus pandemic has drastically altered the way many of us work, with entire organisations having to adopt home working practices almost overnight. This sudden shift has for some us been a challenging one, as employees adjust to new routines and ways of communication and managers find themselves in the unprecedented situation of managing teams remotely.

As businesses navigate their way through this period of change and uncertainty, strong and effective leadership has never been so important. Aside from making sure the team is safe and well, how managers approach this ‘new normal’ will have a huge impact on how engaged, positive and motivated employees feel.

Reset expectations

?First and foremost, we all need to appreciate that working from home can throw up all sorts of technological and logistical limitations that can hamper our speed of delivery. Some team members will be working on shared home Wi-Fi, using laptops instead of PCs and systems that may be slower than they are used to. A lot of employees will also be juggling work with home-schooling, taking on a new and unfamiliar role as educator. It’s important that as managers, we recognise the different pressures that each employee faces and reset our expectations accordingly.

To understand how the team is feeling and whether they need help, regular communication is vital, and so is asking questions: how are they coping? What do they need from you? How can you help make what they need to do more achievable? Each person will have a different set of challenges, so taking the time to understand their tasks and responsibilities and showing empathy and support will help them to feel more motivated.

For many of us, the rush and speed of work has slowed down, giving us the rare opportunity to step off the hamster wheel and live in the moment. Managers need to be mindful that priorities will have shifted, certain tasks may not be fulfilled, and people will need greater flexibility. Simply put, we must reset, reframe and be realistic about what our teams can manage.

Set boundaries

While employees may need greater flexibility with their workload, it’s also vitally important that there are boundaries in place around working hours. With everyone now spending all their time at home, the line between work and personal time can become blurred and employees may find themselves working longer hours than they did when commuting into the office.  

However, without regular breaks and a clear end to the working day, employee productivity, motivation and ultimately wellbeing and performance will begin to suffer. Research has shown that employees who take a lunch break on a daily basis feel more valued by their employer, while four out of five employees who take regular lunch breaks feel a strong desire to be an active member of their company.[1]

As managers, we may not be trained to be mental health therapists, but we do have the ability to check in with people and communicate the benefits of taking time for ourselves, particularly with many people experiencing heightened anxiety and stress during this time.  

Managers should lead by example; refrain from emailing or contacting employees outside of traditional working hours and be seen to take regular breaks. After all, relaxed, well-rested employees will be happier and more productive.  

Give purpose

Purpose has always been a core motivator for many of us at work, and with so many unknowns right now, it is vital that managers act as an anchor for their team, helping them to connect with a greater sense of purpose.

There has been a great deal of focus on key workers recently, as we rightly celebrate their huge worth and value. However, it can make the rest of us question the role we play. Feeling valued and integral to the business is a powerful driver of employee motivation and engagement and as managers, our job is to ensure employees understand how their contribution fits into the bigger picture and overall success of the business.

According to Mercer’s 2018 Global Talent Trends Report, thriving employees – those deemed to be both professionally and personally fulfilled – were found to be three times more likely to work for a company with a strong sense of purpose.[2] In contrast, disengagement and dissatisfaction freezes our initiative and impacts our creativity.

Measure success

It’s also important to continue to provide your team with feedback on the work they submit. If they’ve done a great job, recognise and celebrate it. If there’s room for improvement, communicate this constructively and with suggestions on how to improve.

Taking the time to review people’s work and engage with them will keep them focused on their tasks and provide a sense of normality. A great deal of what is happening right now is beyond our control, so maintaining regular feedback and one-to-one catch-ups will provide employees with a sense of structure and continuity.

Now may not be the time to set six or 12 month objectives, but short-term goals can often give people a reason to stay motivated. Dedicating the time to individual progress, understanding how team members view their own personal development, and what steps can be taken next can make a huge difference to how people feel about their job.

Indeed, if there is a silver lining to be found in this new style of working, it is that managers have an opportunity to reconnect with their team. Too often we can be guilty of rushing from one meeting to another, cancelling scheduled catch ups and leaving team members to get on with the job at hand. As life slows down, this is the perfect time to nurture those relationships.  

[1] https://www.forbes.com/sites/alankohll/2018/05/29/new-study-shows-correlation-between-employee-engagement-and-the-long-lost-lunch-break/#42f0d1714efc

[2] https://www.mercer.com/our-thinking/career/voice-on-talent/people-first-mercers-2018-global-talent-trends-study.html