Not so long ago a relatively unknown concept, and now the topic of today: virtual leadership, or managing remotely. This requires a different leadership style than when you are sitting together on the floor. Many people have already been working remotely for several weeks and do not see their colleagues. As a manager, you do not see your team and therefore have less insight into what employees are working on, whether they are getting stuck, or if there are issues at play within the team. Within the team, too, you face different challenges because people are not sitting together at the workstation, coffee breaks are gone, and you no longer run into each other at the elevator. This requires a different approach and therefore a different leadership style. Based on experiences from my circle and my own, here are the 5 V’s for Virtual Leadership.
Tip 1 Trust
Perhaps, as a manager, you like to keep a finger on the pulse to see what your employees are doing, but you find it difficult now that you have less control over it. If you become controlling in the process, it can have a counterproductive effect. I always say: if you treat people like little children, they will start behaving accordingly. Trust in your team can help with this, and then the employee feels taken seriously too! So instead of controlling too much, give the employee the confidence that they are acting professionally and are driven to do their work. Focus on motivating rather than controlling.
Tip 2 Connecting
The risk of working from home is that everyone becomes isolated and that the connection between manager and employee, and among team members themselves, diminishes. This can limit collaboration. Personal conversations help with this, checking how things are going and what challenges working from home presents. Also, encourage your team members to actively reach out to each other through personal contact rather than email. And organize fun team activities such as a virtual get-together or a pub quiz. Recording a fun vlog can also make a positive contribution to connection.
Tip 3 Expectations
Expectations provide clarity, so if the employee knows what is expected of him or her, it creates peace of mind on both sides. Your employee may experience a barrier to indicating from home if he or she gets stuck. If expectations are clear and the employee fails to meet the objectives, you can zoom in on this to see what the reason is. You can then approach the conversation openly based on the stated expectations instead of being controlling, and this ties in with tip 1.
Tip 4 Example
As a manager, you serve as a role model. So, if you panic about the situation yourself or are negative about it, that will have an impact on your team. Therefore, keeping a cool head, offering support, and being positive helps! And of course, sharing your own challenges is also important; it contributes to the connection with the people.
Tip 5 Innovation
Working remotely also offers opportunities, so you could consider how things could be done differently and be open to ideas from the team. As mentioned above, there is already a digital pub quiz, and training sessions could potentially be conducted digitally, but also consider what this might contribute to the workflow. Thinking outside the box often leads to great new initiatives. A great example of this is that people working at a different location can now very easily join meetings or knowledge sessions without having to travel.
I am curious to know what things you do differently when managing remotely, or if you have any additional ideas. You can share them under this post!
