Three Things You NEED to Lead Remotely
Is leading a team remotely different than leading your team in person? So many teams, both in the healthcare industry and many others, have transitioned to remote work-from-home situations within the past month. Workplaces have new protocols in place and employees are fielding new expectations from both ends. Many are holding down full-time jobs while homeschooling one or more children simultaneously. How can you, as their organization’s leader, help your team succeed remotely while allowing for the indisputable fact that everything has changed rather quickly?
The not-so-secret secret is the same as it’s always been: Put humans first. When working remotely it can be especially easy to fall into the trap of seeing only your team’s output or results and forgetting about all the other factors each individual team member may be juggling. Like previously mentioned, they may have kids at home, a spouse out of work, heightened anxiety levels or any other factors that make it more difficult for them to concentrate on their own career right now.
When leading remotely (either temporarily or permanently)…
Keep in mind that there may be many invisible factors influencing your team at any moment
Treat each team member as an individual and with compassion for their situation, whether you know the details or not
Remember that you are responsible for your team’s work environment, even if that work environment is now in everyone’s home
Let’s dive deeper. Today I want to introduce and unpack three integral elements to successfully leading a remote team.
Comfort
Encouraging your team members to take care of themselves physically is a great place to start. Lead by example by making your health a priority. Start an office-wide “remote olympics” or leaderboard to see who’s crushing their step goal despite being trapped at home. Physical health isn’t frivolous, it’s vital. As physicians and healthcare leaders, we know that everything starts with the body - including mental health. The price of not taking care of yourself physically right now, is much too great to entertain.
One of the best things you can do for your team right now is to put a high priority and value on physical health. Make it a point of conversation at the weekly check-in meeting.
Who is getting 8 hours of sleep? Enjoying the outdoors daily? Where are your favorite local places to hike or walk? Who’s finding new ways to be active at home? A free online workout that’s fun? Are there meditation apps that your team has discovered?
Encourage your team to share their routines with each other so it’s more of a round table discussion than a top-down order. You don’t want to accidentally threaten your team: Take care of yourself or else!
We know from countless research studies that a tired team performs poorly. As does a team that’s not physically active or invested in their own health. Encouraging physical care and comfort is not only an investment in your team’s productivity, but shows them that you care about them as more than “people who work for the company and need to perform well”. They’re humans you’re leading and their well being matters!
Trust
Placing your team’s comfort above all else leads naturally into trust. If your team knows that you care about them, they’ll trust you and follow you anywhere, even remotely. Trust is the hidden variable in organizational success - it’s the secret sauce of leadership. Stephen Covey, in The Speed of Trust, explains it “like a ripple in the pond, the speed of trust begins within each of us personally, continues into our relationships, expands into our organizations, extends into our marketplace relationships, and ultimately encompasses our global society at large.”
The problem is, our ability to trust as humans isn’t high and it’s worldwide. We are in a global crisis of trust. We’ve been collectively burnt too many times by too many leaders who put themselves first instead of the team. A recent Harris poll reports that only 22% of Americans trust the media, 8% trust political parties, 27% trust the government, and 12% trust big companies. While British sociologist David Halpern reports that only 34% of people believe that OTHER PEOPLE can be trusted. Yikes!
So you’ve got your work cut out for you. Gaining the trust of your team is an uphill battle to say the least. But it’s a battle worth fighting. When your team trusts you and your leadership, their speed of work increases, while the cost of doing the same work goes down. Everyone can spend less time working for high quality output! It’s like riding a bike downhill vs. panting while pedaling uphill.
Communication
The final ingredient to a high-functioning remote team is successful communication. There are too many ways to “get ahold of someone” these days. It can be overwhelming and unclear how a team is supposed to stay in touch. Pick a method of communication for your team, and stick with it. It doesn’t have to be fancy or new -- be wary of the latest trends. Instead, be consistent. It’s incredibly frustrating for a teammate to get a text, email and Slack message about the same thing from a co-worker.
Make it clear in weekly meetings that there’s one appropriate way to communicate with work-based needs so your team can streamline and be truly productive instead of busying themselves fielding messages all day. Personally, I prefer email above all else and always allow 24-48 hours for a response. Instant messaging relies on everyone being there at the same time and that’s nearly impossible with a remote team. Remember all the other balls your team are juggling at home?! Email, on the other hand, can be totally asynchronous as it fits our time zone difference and odd working hours in general.
Use a weekly check-in meeting for real time communication, outline clear expectations for everyone throughout the week, then use email as a way to follow up or clarify if needed. It doesn’t feel as urgent and helps your team stay productive without stressing each other out.
Let’s look at how these three work together to build your team up. Consider the effect of comfort and trust on your ability to communicate. And conversely, how good communication leads to trust of your teammates. Imagine you’ve exercised, slept a good 8 hours, have a nice ergonomic chair at your workstation and believe that your boss has your best interest at heart. That teammate is certainly ready to contribute and build their colleagues up. They’ll offer great ideas and know they’ll be listened to in group meetings. As opposed to someone who scarfs down a fast food burger while sitting on a folding chair in the basement after having been up all night binging Netflix while worried their boss is going to fire them. They aren’t ready to contribute in any meaningful way. It will be nearly impossible. They’ll be stressed and ready to blame their teammates for whatever goes wrong.
All three of the components go hand in hand to create a high-functioning team that works like a well-oiled machine. How can you improve just one of them this week with your team? Maybe start a wellness round table so your team can share ways they’re staying sane and healthy during their isolation. Set some boundaries on communication so your team can field fewer messages throughout the day, allowing them to work in peace and be more productive. Lead by example and always always always remember: Humans first. Be a source of support and inspiration to your team right now instead of another element of stress that leads to their eventual burnout.
Looking for more resources?
I’ve compiled some of my favorites right here to give you a head start:
NEJM Catalyst - Rapidly Converting to “Virtual Practices”
Harvard Business Review - Collaborative Overload
Business Insider - Excessive Collaboration Leads to Burnout and Hurts Productivity
Vital Smarts - Long Distance Loathing: Telecommuting Damages Morale and Productivity
Harvard Business Review - Communication Tips for Global Virtual Teams
Plus, I’m launching a brand new program for remote leaders during this time of crisis. Contact me to reserve your place!
Remote Leadership Survival
Create Virtual Communities that Deliver RESULTS
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6-Week Training Program for Remote Leaders
This program will help you:
Focus on what matters -- team performance and ability to effectively serve your clients and patients
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Optimize your mind and body to lead your team during this crisis, instead of muddling through
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