Best Practices for Remote Team Leadership
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WWW.REPSLY.COM Best Practices for Remote Team Leadership
description
This presentation is an overview of best practices for remote team leadership.
Transcript of Best Practices for Remote Team Leadership
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Best Practices for Remote Team Leadership
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The Virtual Problem
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Remote Teams
As technology advances, many businesses are making the switch from traditional office spaces to becoming mobile field organizations. With employees in the field operating without the physical support of managers and coworkers, there exists the opportunity for gaps in leadership to occur. Taking into consideration the new challenges that mobile teams present and adapting accordingly will help organizations to avoid the inefficiencies that can potentially occur.
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Communication
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Make Sure Everyone is on the Same Page
Communication holds teams together. Making sure that teams are communicating with each other is the first step to creating a better system of field organization leadership. Things to check for when reviewing employee communication include:
Whether or not all employees share a common goal
If all team members understand their roles
If employees have the necessary tools for communication in the field
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Establish Trust
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Monitoring Accountability
Team members can very easily fly under the radar and become demotivated, leading them to underperform or use company resources ineffectively.
Establish a system of two way trust where employees can count on you for support.
Check in to offer support often, but don’t overdo it. Checking in too often can decrease productivity.
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Give the Team Decision Making Power
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Delegate
Team leaders who are more accustomed to an office setting may be hesitant to hand over the authority to make important decisions. However, for an organization with multiple employees working in the field, there is no option but to delegate power. It is impossible to micro-manage an entire team of remote employees, and giving them the power and tools to perform will make the organization that much more efficient.
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Use the Right Tools
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Field Activity Management SoftwareGiving remote employees a mobile device like a tablet or smartphone or asking them to provide their own enables constant communication and transfer of information between managers and their teams.
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Building Bonds
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Come Together
The water cooler chats and lunch-time breaks which build relationships between coworkers in a traditional office do not exist for remote workers. Build a sense of camaraderie among your remote workers by taking them out to lunch, or having them meet in person once in awhile. Some ideas for remote employee bonding include:
Sending every member of the remote team a gift card for lunch.
Creating a communal calendar
Setting up an online social media for employees only
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Set Clear Goals
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Keep it SimpleWithout a central location for a “company language” to develop, instructions can be interpreted differently by remote employees. Keep everyone on the same page by over-simplifying instructions and goals when possible.
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Lead the Individuals Not the Team
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Recognition Goes a Long Way
While team building is incredibly important, managers and team leaders should not forget to pay attention to individuals on their teams. Working without relatively quick feedback can be difficult for some employees, and can lead to them losing sight of their contribution to the overall goal of the organization. Make sure that you are doing the following with individuals:
Check in on their work and personal lives (if they are comfortable)
Analyze work and provide feedback
Try to give reminders of the long-term goals of the organization.
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Innovating and Evolving
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Don’t Get Left in the Dust
Utilizing new technologies as they become available, and looking at different ways to integrate the culture of the business with virtual employees is how effective leaders keep their competitive edge. Leaders should constantly look for feedback from virtual employees about the systems that are in place, and look to make them more efficient.
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Thank you!
