It’s a new era. Remote leadership roles are here to stay, whether Elon Musk likes it or not.
If you, like many others, struggle to strike the balance of your manager and leader role in this new post-pandemic working world, this article is for you.
Keep reading to find out the top three leadership tips while working from home.
1. You Need a Firm Foundation
It’s hard enough to lead a team without doing it remotely, especially if it is your first rodeo. Even if you’ve been a manager for some time, it’s good to check for cracks in your management foundations.
Make sure you’ve got the basics of good management practices and mindset down before you start managing. What are those?
- Strive for transparency where appropriate
- Share your experience freely
- Have accurate knowledge about your firm and yourself
Even the best athletes keep sharpening their most basic skills. It’s how they, and remote managers, can be at the top of their game even with remote work.
2. Build Your All-Star Team at Home
Having an all-star team doesn’t mean you need to head-hunt the best in the field from other places. Instead, grow the best of the best at home through good leadership.
Spend your energy and efforts on remote team building and making sure that remote teamwork is always at high levels. This keeps you from micro-managing and wasting your — and everyone else’s — time.
You can make every one of your teammates (yes, you’re on the team too!) an expert in their field by supporting their growth and giving them the tools they need to flourish. This doesn’t mean giving them everything they want. It means giving them appropriate challenges they need to rise to meet.
Team building isn’t only rapport-building and being friends. It’s literally building each other up and supporting one another’s efforts to do better and be better.
3. Over-Communicate (But Don’t Hover)
Closely related to transparency and to building your team, communication is key.
You all don’t need to attend a Zoom or other group conference every minute of the day. In fact, that would hinder communication, growth, and independent thought or action.
Instead, your job is to check in to see if your team has any blockers on an individual basis throughout the day. It also means making it clear that your door is always open, even if it’s only virtually.
Keep a Calendly link or another task-tracking tool available for people to get in touch with you throughout the day. Make sure that everyone knows that you’re there to listen and remove barriers from their work, instead of acting like it’s George Orwell’s 1984.
Keep in mind, above all, that management is not the same as surveillance.
Remote Leadership Is Here to Stay
Of course, with remote leadership, you have a lot to do, too. If you need help with your own tasks, this is a perfect chance to let others know about your needs. If you need help on a task due to the time needed to take care of your people, ask for it and get volunteers.
If you’re loyal to your team, your team will be loyal to you.
Something else you can be loyal to is keeping in touch with more management and business tips like these. Keep browsing our blogs for more!
