Four essential tools and five takeaways
How do you best manage from a distance? How do you best meet the needs of your employees? The short answer is: create clear direction, strong engagement and coordinate decisions, processes and priorities. But how do you do this in practice?
Benefits and pitfalls
As a remote manager, you need to be aware of pitfalls such as deterioration of task performance, under-management and a "them vs. us" culture that can arise when employees are suddenly scattered all over the place. However, there are also benefits such as increased productivity, professional sparring and improved quality of life.
There are four concrete tools you can use to successfully manage from a distance:
- Collaborative contracts: the ability to create direction, coordination and engagement across geographical and organizational boundaries.
- Recurring pit stops: Stop and renegotiate collaboration contracts - for example, on a weekly basis. This strengthens task performance and team collaboration.
- One-on-one conversations: It's important that employees don't feel controlled, but rather that they see the manager as someone who wants to support and help.
- Network support: Especially important at the moment, when you've probably become a distance leader overnight. You risk becoming a communication hub. Make sure to establish a network where you help each other:
- Establish morning meetings virtually (use e.g. Teams, Zoom or phone).
- Support the chat function in the team (use e.g. Facebook, Slack or Messenger).
- Establish virtual meetings where people discuss in smaller groups.
- Encourage people to call each other to check in - without a specific task focus.
Leading at a distance also requires personal leadership skills - how should you as a leader act in this extraordinary situation? A great tool for understanding your own leadership preferences and what you need to adjust in relation to the current situation is the Leader Versatility Index (LVI).
To do this, it's crucial to communicate clearly, openly and honestly. As a manager, it can be daunting to admit that you're not one hundred percent in control of the situation. But the point is to communicate clearly that you and your employees are working together to find a solution to this crisis that no one has the answer to yet. It takes courage as a leader, but your courage can rub off on the entire organization.
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Five takeaways
- Crisis management is about clarity, time and patience.
- Courage and personal leadership are especially important now - but you can't do without the "5Rs": direction, framework, roles, scope and relationships.
- It's a good idea to consider your leadership preferences and adjust them according to the distance situation so you don't "overplay your strengths".
- Don't hide behind systems and rules.
- Practice trust-based leadership through the four tips below:
- Trust your employees: give your employees the space to make professional decisions - even when things don't go as planned. You need to build a relationship of mutual trust. The employee should perceive you as trustworthy, accountable and fair. Remember to support your employees - even when it's difficult. And it is for many now, as they juggle multiple things at the same time.
- Be available: Set expectations with the employee about how you communicate - is it by phone, email or something else?
- Be clear about your expectations: What goals are you working towards and when should they be achieved. Follow up, both when the goal is reached and when it is not. If necessary, arrange for a back brief where the employee tells you what goals and initiatives are being worked towards in each area of responsibility.
- Delegate responsibility: When managing more than one employee remotely, you need to designate a key person to act as a liaison between you and the team.
As a manager, you are in an extraordinary situation where you need a clear framework and agreements that may not already exist. That's why it's important to focus on structure. Invest time in creating clear agreements for collaboration and virtual contact, but also remember to include the human aspect. With clear direction, strong commitment and ongoing coordination, you should succeed as a remote manager.
