Good Leaders Guide for Successful Remote Teams

To paraphrase the U.S. Army’s definition of a leader’s role, a good manager focuses her team members on what has to be accomplished to achieve success, even when the plan and concept of operations change.

So, while the principles of good leadership remain the same, changes—like adopting a remote work policy—require that leaders adjust their approach to help their teams achieve success. Good leaders create strategies to accommodate the key differences between remote and in-person teams.

Clearly set goals and expectations. Managers of in-person teams communicate frequently, using both verbal and nonverbal cues. Leaders of remote teams, on the other hand, may communicate with individual employees once or twice in a day and likely without the benefit of nonverbal cues. For these reasons, leaders of remote teams must define goals plainly. Rather than expecting your employees to infer your expectations, clearly outline goals and deadlines. Break large projects into smaller tasks with due dates to avoid last-minute missed deadlines.

Optimize each team member’s strengths, and provide support for weaknesses. Working remotely requires slightly different skills than in-office work. An employee may be an excellent communicator on the phone but struggles to get ideas across on emails. Look for these strengths and weaknesses in each employee. Then, provide work processes that maximize strengths and support when weaknesses can’t be eliminated.

Create rules to enhance the team’s cohesiveness. A team’s success depends on its members’ ability to communicate. Set hours during which you expect employees to respond to messages. Make it clear that employees should respond to messages within minutes, rather than hours, when possible. Short phone calls are preferable to long emails. And video-conferencing should be used for projects requiring innovation and creativity.

Facilitate learning and growth. A majority of your team may be new to working remotely. Provide them with training before new software or tech solutions go live. Provide training modules on personal productivity, time management, and good remote work practices. Remember, also, that studies show employees’ careers may stagnate when working remotely. Provide career pathing opportunities tailored to remote workers.

Encourage two-way communication. Remember that working remotely creates barriers to communication. In addition to lacking the benefit of nonverbal cues, isolated employees also lack opportunities to spontaneously communicate with you. Be proactive in reaching out to your employees and encourage them to reach out to you. Ask questions and actively listen. Use mirroring techniques to be sure you understand. Confirm that employees understand you. Finally, create a culture in which employees are encouraged to ask for clarification and support.

Address employee performance issues. Just as in the office, under-performers sabotage a team’s morale. Remote team members may feel more pressure to work longer hours to offset productivity lost to non-performers. Avoid team burnout by addressing performance issues promptly. Focus on improvement over punishment. Remember to clearly communicate expectations, optimize strengths, and help employees overcome weaknesses with training and support.

Proactively resolve conflict. Remote employees are less likely than their in-office peers to actively resolve conflict. You can help by facilitating emotional bonds through team-building exercises and encouraging non-work conversations. When you do become aware of conflict within your team, proactively work to impartially resolve the issue.

Flexibility will help you lead your remote team successfully. Remote teams differ from their in-office counterparts in dozens of ways. Flexible leaders are always on the lookout for the difficulties that emerge, no matter their team’s unique situation. By being flexible and tailoring your approach in any leadership situation in which you find yourself, you will be able to focus your remote team to achieve its goals successfully.