Leading a team in a more fragmented, remote reality
Boom! One day we were in the office, next day you were leading a team from home. With lots of trial and error, some dreadful zoom meetings and trying to keep pyjama clad kids with unbrushed hair off camera we have survived remote working through lockdowns. But now all the indications are that many will not return to the office 9-5 and that we will be managing teams remotely forever.
So here we go - six challenges to ensure you lead your team remotely through the new normal.
1 Have a game plan with CSFs and KPIs
You would not undertake any major project at work without some clear critical success factors and key performance indicators to ensure you knew it was successful. I can practically hear the CFOs salivating over the facilities cost savings that can be made from shifting employees to home and reducing property footprints. But let's not lose sight that this is a big shift for any company’s way of working long term. To simply continue on with the tactical and emergency response and hope for the best would be foolish. You must put in place the controls and checks to make sure that although the costs may be realised that you are actually also getting benefit from it.
How will you measure and know that it is working?
2 Make sure you really know where your team is at
You have no doubt been checking in with your team throughout and understanding their struggles to better support them working from home. However now I would urge you to be more scientific than the “how’s it going” chat. What people say “on camera” is not always reality “off camera”. Many may prefer working at home to going back to an office so are reluctant to voice any concerns 1:1 which may jeopardise the arrangement.
Don’t wait for an annual employee engagement survey to tell you what you need to know now, short pulse surveys are a much better way now to find out where your team is really at. As with anything, if you want to move forward with momentum knowing your starting point is essential.
3 Engage with empathy and honesty
In my last role as a Director of Operations where my team had a stressful and sometimes negative job our team meetings were a key part of maintaining morale as the vibe was friendly and supportive. Introduce a video link to our Wellington office however and it became a whole lot harder.
Below is a great 10 minute video from Simon Sineck on how the US army held effective online meetings during wars. It makes really good points around:
Inviting people to join, rather than mandating attendance (the emphasis then on them being something useful people want to join)
Dropping the hierarchy to let all levels contribute
Being real and unscripted to let everyone hear the debates going on at the leadership level and involve them in the decisions rather than dictating the solutions
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q7T-4fCFSK0
4. Remember to stick with the “why”, not the “what”
Going back to Simon Sineck, you have to have been hiding under a rock if you have not seen his “Start with the Why” famous Tedex talk. (If you haven’t I have popped a link in the resources).
We all know that managing outputs at a transactional level is beyond dull both for those doing it and those on the receiving end. However it is very easy in difficult times to get so focused on the numbers and the activity required for “rescue” mode that sometimes we can forget the “why” and why our team needs to consistently hear it.
Do not be tempted into micro management mode just because you cannot “see” what people are doing.
5 Now is not the time to carry those who are too heavy
I will put my hand up to having got this wrong in the past. I pride myself on my empathy and support of others but in my early years I was not tough enough on taking action soon enough on those that were not performing. Truth be told I had always been surrounded by fairly high performing individuals and it came as a shock when I inherited a team that wasn't!
Yes we have had a tough time and yes it is hard for people to adjust but do not let this stop you from doing what you need to do when it comes to performance. You don’t need the headache of carrying people who are simply not up to it through difficult times and I have seen the impact on morale that can come when some team members become aware of others not pulling their weight
6 Stop trying to fix today’s issues with yesterday's solutions
For anyone who has sat on those overly long zoom meetings where you have switched the camera off so you can get real work done on the side you will know that trying to replicate “the way things are done around here” online is a hiding to nothing.
If you want to figure out how to do things in a remote, online world better - ask the millennials in your team! That is how they live their lives.
As with every change people will go through it at their own pace. Some will love it, some will hate it. Some will embrace it, some will try and sabotage it. This is as true coming out of lockdown as going into it. It would be easy to think people will just settle back into “normal” but I think that is naive. But also don’t be too quick to think “this is not working” and want to change back to the old ways.
I will leave you with this from Richard Branson: “We like to give people the freedom to work where they want, safe in the knowledge that they have the drive and expertise to perform excellently, whether they at their desk or in their kitchen. Yours truly has never worked out of an office, and never will.”
So there you have it - my 6 challenges to ensure you lead your team remotely through the new normal.
CLICK THE BUTTON BELOW TO ACT NOW and ensure you translate these thoughts into action. This quick worksheet will take no more than 20 minutes.
And remember don’t be upset with the results you didn’t get with the work you didn’t do.
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Good luck and stay sane!
