As more companies are moving to remote work forces, something has been left unaddressed.  That is access and meaningful access to managers.  It’s no longer possible to get instant access to information, for managers to provide on the spot coaching or feedback or provide quick answers to questions that inhibit progress.  When the team members aren’t down the hall, the opportunities for quick interactions and information flow are gone, but just as needed.

Working with executives, discussions about building high performing teams will come up at some point during our relationship.  Every leader is looking for the secret sauce.  Now they are finding that when their teams are remote it’s more difficult to be ‘connected’ and they are asking how to build a team that is connected to each other, the organization and to them as the manager.  They recognize that one challenge of remote workers is isolation, and the more isolated employees feel the greater the risk for performance problems, miscommunication and even turnover.

I’ve identified strategies to help you support your remote employees.

Create virtual office hours.

When your team works down the hall they can stop by your office to ask questions, noodle through problems or ask advice on how to handle a situation.  You can create the same scenario virtually.  Set up regular office hours where you are available by video or phone for short meetings, 15 minutes of less.  You can schedule meetings in 15 minute increments or when someone calls put DND on your phone till the end of the call.  The same can hold true with video.  These meetings are not meant to handle complex issues, but to blast through questions or issues that may hold up work.  For those more complex issues or a situation that can not be resolved in 15 minutes or less, ask your direct reports to schedule a dedicated longer meeting.  These short meetings are meant to resolve a stumbling block, provide quick information and prevent something small from becoming large.

Pick up the phone and chat.

Instead of waiting for a problem, or a dedicated meeting, pick up the phone and chat with your team members.  This isn’t about getting a progress report, it’s about connecting with them at a human leve.  Ask questions such as “What do you need from me?  What questions do you have”?  Or “I just became aware of X information and wanted you to know.”  Or “I know your son was applying to colleges, where has he decided to go”?  The idea is to be impromptu and not scripted but just to let them know you were thinking  about them, and it provides an opportunity for them to connect with you, without having to do the reach out themselves.

Develop rituals, procedures, processes.

Everyone does better when they know what to expect.  Do you want a 15 minute check in meeting every day, or 3 times a week first thing in the morning?  Perhaps a meeting on Friday, mid day to discuss progress or set goals for next week would be useful.  Maybe it’s a theme for the week or month?  Would opening every team meeting with giving each person 5 minutes to share something personal, share a feeling, ask a question…whatever, help you and the team connect?  Maybe a virtual happy hour a couple times a month helps or a virtual lunch together bi-weekly?  A good way to develop these rituals is to ask the team what would help them.  Be open to any idea that is thrown out and ask the team what they want.

Set boundaries for yourself, and honor those of the team.

When working from home it’s so easy to keep working and miss meals with family, getting to the gym, taking care of yourself.  Put structure into your day, and suggest others do the same. That could mean anything from telling others you don’t check email or take calls till after 8:30 AM because you go to the gym or play with the kids…whatever you do, to setting a fixed time for lunch and when you leave the office.  One of my clients found she was working more hours when working from home, skipping lunch and getting around to having dinner at 8:30 or later every evening.  After conversations she added structure to her day, told her team and she found they all implemented something similar for themselves.  Knowing when team members are available, and when they aren’t gave everyone a sense of relief.

Remind everyone, including yourself you don’t know the answers to everything.

New challenges come up in the workplace all the time.  As the leader you aren’t expected to have an instant answer, and just because the team works remotely doesn’t change this.  There are new challenges you will face that you can’t predict when the team works remotely, and it’s ok to say “I don’t know”, and to let them know in advance that this scenario is likely to occur. 

Set up communication channels for different time zones.

It can be frustrating when a team member has a question or needs your insights and they are hours apart from you timezone wise.  I have clients in Japan, which makes them 13 or 14 hours ahead of me.  Turnaround time to respond to an email can be lengthy due to the time difference.  They know if it’s urgent they can text me (being respectful of the time difference) but also they have permission to make the decisions that need to be made if they can’t reach me.  Can someone who is hours different than you text you at 9 PM your time, or vice versa?  Will you respond to their emails first before anything else?  How can you communicate effectively with the time zone difference?  And what decisions can they make if you aren’t available to discuss?

Building a high performing team isn’t an accident. 

It takes dedication, patience and lots and lots of communication.  Click the link below and download our Characteristics of Extraordinary and Poor Teams, and see how yours compares.