Today, the implementation of teleworking is a reality for many companies, but there are still some barriers for some organisations and leaders to embrace this working model.
The reality is that teleworking presents leaders with a very attractive challenge: creating a culture and building team loyalty from afar, attracting the best talent no matter where they are. With this in mind, I believe that the most important thing to achieve efficient remote teams is to understand the limitations of this working model and implement strategies to overcome them.
Five tips for bridging the gap
One of the main barriers to teleworking is undoubtedly communication. Fortunately, there are now tools that can help keep teams connected and, as a result, make them more productive. But in addition to technology, I believe there are a number of strategies that can help make remote leadership more effective.
- Daily follow-up: In order to know the status of the different projects the team is working on, it is very useful for a team member to be in charge of sending an update on the most important issues of the day, pending things and even the key tasks for the next day. In this way, all team members will be informed and possible oversights or mistakes will be avoided.
- Set clear objectives, tasks and deadlines: In the distance it is more important than ever to leave no room for ambiguity. And, although many companies have already moved to work by objectives, in this model this takes on a special meaning. In order to be efficient, all working members must know exactly what is expected of them and at what time, and this must be established in regular follow-up calls. Only in this way can they all operate completely independently and achieve the best results.
- Acknowledge work publicly: Physical separation often means that team members working remotely do not receive words of recognition for their work in a public way, as is often the case when we sit down together. So I think it's a good idea to make sure to acknowledge their contribution whenever we consider it, whether in meetings or via email.
- Change the pace of meetings: Video conferencing is a very useful solution for holding meetings from a distance. However, through a camera it is not always easy to interpret gestures or body expressions and it is more difficult to participate. In this sense, I think it is essential to structure meetings to include open questions, so that all team members feel open to give their opinion when necessary and contribute value to what is being discussed.
- Team building remotely: Although celebrations and informal meetings usually have a strong face-to-face component, it is not impossible to reinforce the team feeling remotely. Thus, there are options such as organising social events via videoconference with the whole team, or setting up informal one-to-one meetings in which to address issues beyond the professional ones. When we talk about managing people remotely, we must make it clear that not being physically together does not mean that the relationship, both professional and personal, is any less close. With a strong corporate culture and a strong communication effort, leaders can establish strong bonds with their team and get motivated and committed employees.
