7 Secrets to Amazing Leadership & Culture (When Your Employees Are Remote)
Updated: May 12, 2020
1) Over-Communicate
Provide a supportive culture where people always know what you expect and what is going on. Communication breeds trust!
Use tools such as:
Email
Video Chat
Slack
Personal Messaging
Whatsapp
Live video
Schedule regular one-on-one calls with team members to discuss:
Professional goals,
Workload
Work through existing roadblocks
Discuss personal goals / challenges
2) Build a Sense of Community
Teams thrive in spaces which are:
Social
Collaborative
Productive
Adding enjoyment increases worker psychological safety. Freedom to express oneself leads to more investment and willingness to contribute to innovation and new ideas
Games/Icebreakers:
2 truths and 1 lie
Share an interesting personal fact
Answer interesting questions
Build personal relationships with team members
3) Maintain Culture and Build Trust
Trust your employees
When they recognize you trust them, it makes them motivated
Gaining trust takes patience, and is earned
Make a conscious effort to walk your talk, keep your promises and align your behavior with your values.
Give honest feedback, but be supportive (praise sandwiches!)
Communicate facts while being considerate of their effort and sensitive of their feelings
Build Accountability
Encourage honest dialogue and build processes that become part of the culture, such as an evaluation of every big project
Assume positive intent
Create alignment
Create trust-building situations
(It’s more important than you think)
4) Cultivate Gratitude
Gratitude is the gift that keeps on giving for both the recipient and the giver (and it’s free!)
“The easiest, fastest, and cheapest way that managers can boost performance and employee engagement.” - Chester Elton, Leading with Gratitude
Contributes to a positive culture
Helps people feel valued
Lifts your own mood, which is contagious
Thank the unsung heroes
Quality AND quantity
Acknowledge the small wins as well as the bigger ones
Acknowledge team success
Encourage employees to practice Gratitude as well
5) Setting Mutually Clear Expectations
Be clear yourself
Make it a conversation
Be specific
Put them in context
Creating traditions
Creating a sense of accountability
Creating an open environment
Discussing, adjusting and improving
6) Maintain and Build Culture
Creating traditions
Creating a sense of accountability
Creating an open environment
Discussing, adjusting and improving
7) Use Technology Better
Match the tool for the task
Gain agreements
More might not be better
Make the webcam your friend