Mar 24, 2022

The art of remote management

The art of remote management

Similar to direct team leadership, a remote manager must set up effective technology, communications, and workflows for their remote employees, and many traits found in on-site managers are also found in joint team managers, although there are nuances in service, leadership, and direction When managing teams you don't see in person every day.

Remote management is very similar to in-person management, but there are certain features that are of great importance to the former.

The art of remote management

self conscious

Self-awareness is critical to building relationships and trust, especially in a remote environment. The truth is that people prefer learning, and being managed differently.

Managers who are self-aware will be open with reports about their own learning and communication preferences, enabling those who report to them to interact without ambiguity.

sympathy

Empathy and kindness are key to being a great remote manager, it can be hard to put yourself in the shoes of a live report with text and Zoom calls, and in-person interactions make it easier to read body language.

 In the remote setting, managers should instead be proactive in asking direct reports how life is going and what their learning preferences are.

humility at work

Humility is required to be an effective leader which is rare, and of great importance in workplaces especially when working remotely, and especially for reports adapting to their first role remotely, managers may need to push the boundaries of leadership by example.

In short, managers should work remotely from the perspective of wanting others to succeed, and if critical feedback must be delivered, try to highlight problems in a constructive manner.

 In many cases, real-time reports will figure out how you prefer to be managed remotely.

Maintaining the perspective in which managers excel through service is critical to building confidence in direct reporting.

Building confidence

To be a successful leader of remote teams, one must develop a level of trust in each team, and a trustworthy leader of remote teams constantly provides feedback to enable team members to feel included, appreciated, empowered and respected, making them give their best at work.

The remote leader must also be intuitive and able to adapt to his or her team's preferences. Some team members prefer more or less communication than their leader, others require constant affirmation, and others prefer independence.

Being a remote manager means building a support system for your team, while at the same time striking a balance to hold them accountable. Building trust, maintaining transparency, frequent and open communication, and ensuring a safe work environment are critical skills.

Tips to be a great remote manager

Be visible and friendly

Not everyone is able to completely go away or mentally prepare to spend days without human interaction, set up regular video chats and make sure you provide space for intentional informal communication.

Enabling team members to work

All remote settings enable team members to live and work where they achieve the most, and implementing asynchronous workflows increases efficiency and reduces dysfunction. Increasingly, working asynchronously is necessary even in corporate companies that have team members on different floors or offices, especially when sharing multiple time zones.