Working Remotely as a Manager: How to Run a Business During COVID-19

Almost everyone can tell a story about where they were and what they were doing when it became clear that COVID-19 wasn’t an obscure virus — that it was instead going to be a world-changing, history-altering event.

Countries closed their borders. Sports leagues cleared their schedules. And, in March 2020, many companies sent their employees to work from home.

There will be plenty of time in the future to debate whether or not we will return to the “old way” of doing business. But, for the time being, many entrepreneurs and executives are still searching for the best way to run a business in the age of COVID-19. I haven’t perfected working remotely as a manager and handling day-to-day operations during a pandemic, but I have learned a few things in the past year.

Here are the 5 things I wish I could go back and tell myself one year ago as the pandemic started to shut down workplaces.

1. Reinvent

There’s been nothing “normal” about COVID-19. In fact, the COVID-19 pandemic has created an entirely new sense of what’s normal and what’s not. That first morning when you walked down the hallway to start work rather than getting into your car for a commute, it didn’t likely feel normal. But now, 12 months later, that short walk before work might feel perfectly routine.

Everyone has reinvented themselves and reinvented what normal means during the pandemic. COVID-19 has also served as an opportunity for businesses to reinvent themselves. In fact, the past year has been the perfect time for reinvention.

When things are carrying on as normal, it’s hard to sit back, to evaluate your business, to brainstorm ways to change, and then to implement those changes. But, when something like a pandemic blows up your sense of normal, you’re given an ideal opportunity for reinvention.

During the pandemic, you might choose to do the following with your business:

●     Move toward a permanently distributed workforce to save on operational costs and to access talent pools in different countries.

●     Transition from a company that provides in-person services to a company that offers virtual services (like moving from brick-and-mortar retail to e-commerce or face-to-face consulting to online consulting).

●     Release a new product or service that directly addresses the ways life has changed in the wake of COVID-19.

The 3 bullets above are just examples. There are infinite ways to reinvent your business when presented with the opportunity. Take advantage of this time that is decidedly not normal to act on your reinvention ideas. Ultimately, you can use the pandemic to accelerate your ideas for new ways to work

2. Seek New Opportunities

In every crisis, there are countless new opportunities. Just think about the businesses that lucked into huge business opportunities when COVID-19 shut down many aspects of daily life.

Zoom went from a relatively obscure business tool to a product that households around the world have used to connect virtually.

Peloton exercise equipment has entered more and more homes as gyms and other group fitness venues close.

Gojo Industries built a new factory and warehouse just to accommodate the spike in demand for its Purell hand sanitizer.

There’s an opportunity out there for your business, too. With enough time, effort and creativity, the best path forward for you and your company will become obvious. All you need to do is be open to new opportunities and then have the confidence to follow where those new opportunities lead.

3. Embrace New Technologies

The work-from-home revolution has been coming for decades. Some companies have been faster to embrace remote work than others, but almost all companies are now forced to find ways to let their employees work remotely. In fact, some companies implemented in just weeks new technologies that might have taken months or even years to implement under normal circumstances. If you run one of the businesses that has been reluctant to embrace remote work and the new technologies that make it possible, now is the time to reevaluate.

With a laptop, an internet connection and a free Zoom account, you can manage and connect with a team that’s working anywhere in the world. And the benefits of remote work are significant, including 2 mentioned above:

1. Savings: You no longer have to pay for rent, utilities and other operating expenses at a centralized office.
2. Talent: You’re no longer limited to hiring in the immediate area or relocating someone from out of town. You can hire anyone living anywhere, which means you have fresh access to an enormous talent pool.

None of this is possible if you remain reluctant to embrace new technologies. Remote work isn’t without its challenges and expenses, of course, but companies around the world are finding ways to overcome those challenges and manage those expenses. Move quickly to secure and distribute access to whatever technologies are needed to move your business forward.

4. Development Team Unity

One of the No. 1 challenges of managing remote employees is developing a sense of unity. There’s no longer idle chit chat around coffee makers and during team outings, which means your team members may not become as close. It’s also harder to meet and to engage in deep work when you’re connecting virtually.

But unity in a remote environment can start at the top. Working remotely as a manager, you should provide total clarity around priorities and goals so that all team members know what they should be working on and where their work will take the business. Find time to connect virtually for fun diversions, like virtual escape rooms or online happy hours. You may not be able to develop the same level of unity as when working in an office, but you can get close by emphasizing clarity and intention.

5. Shorten Priority Cycles

All companies work on different productivity cycles. For many, quarterly goals push projects toward completion on 90-day timelines. But 90 days is a really long time in a virtual work environment. Consider shortening your cycles to enhance productivity. A month is perfect.

Of course, not all projects can be shortened from 90 to 30 days. So break up those larger projects into a series of smaller projects. Those shorter cycles will help your distributed workforce remain focused, and you’ll find that the work moves forward without deadlines slipping.

And, finally, make sure to celebrate a project completed and a deadline met. When working remotely, your team members may start to feel disconnected over time without validation of their work. Keep your team members engaged and keep staff turnover low by providing validation and celebrating a job well done.

Remember: There May Be No Going Back

When employees were sent to work from home in early 2020, many expected to return to the office in a matter of weeks — months in a worst-case scenario. But it’s been a full year now for many professionals, and working from home has likely started to feel like a new normal.

You should work and lead as though this new normal is permanent. For many businesses, there’s no going back to the way things used to be. If you can impart on your team that there’s a new way of doing things, they will be more open to reinvention, more open to new opportunities, more open to new technologies, more open to developing virtual unity, and more open to shorter work cycles.

In short, embracing the new normal is the best thing you can do to keep your team and your business operating productively and effectively.

How is Your Business Reinventing?

If you’re anything like most businesses during the pandemic, you’ve already reinvented the way you work in many ways. And I want to hear about your remote work best practices and the effective changes you’ve implemented by working remotely as a manager during COVID-19. Get in touch to let me know how your business is different for the better since the pandemic started sweeping around the world.