It’s day 24 of our “self quarantine.” Thankfully, I still get to work full time, as do my team. I am writing to share 5 tips on how to manage a remote team during our new covid 19 reality. Prior to this, only 2 out of 10 of my team members were remote. While the sudden change has been jarring, we have learned to adapt, stay connected, support each others and still make progress. Hope these tips can help you continue to be a great manager during this difficult time.
Tip #1: Create optional and frequent team checkins
We already had a weekly team meeting prior to this. I used it to share announcements from corporate, remind folks of training, answer questions, as well as help plan our next team building activities. With the new 100% remote set up, I proposed to the team that we do an almost daily optional checkin and via video. Seeing each of my team faces almost everyday has been amazing. Our schedule looks like this
- Monday/Wedsnesday – 8:30 am – optional virtual face to face checkin – no work topics. Just a way to share weekend highlights, share anything my team is comfortable with. Whoever wants to or have time can check in during any of the 30 min
- Thursdays 11am – this was our regular weekly meeting anyway. We now focus a bit more on how everyone is doing and also the latest corporate announcement and support programs
- Friday 11am – we had a regular “fearless curious” and “customer obsessed” 30 min rotating every other week. While we still do that to stay on top of our external trends related to work, we also use it to check in on folks
This is a trying time for everyone. Analmost daily checkin would allow the team to feel connected for those who may need it. I made it optional as everyone is likely dealing with this new ordeal differently. This means not everyone will come to all of these. I also asked someone else on my team to lead some of it. This enrolls another on my team to help the team bond and relieves some of the logistics from me.
Tip #2 – Be Gentle with Yourself and Your Team
Leading a team in this “new reality” and new arrangement is hard. Be gentle with yourself as not everything you try as a leader will work. Don’t worry about it. Just keep trying what you can. As long as you have the right intent, your team will appreciate it. Remember you are also dealing with the crisis personally.
Your team will be dealing with this differently. What you can count on however is everyone will be more stressed than before – they could be worried about their parents, their kids, or their own health, etc… So be kind to your team. For example
- Always ask how they are personally in your 1 on 1 or group meetings- you will be surprised some of the answers. Use time to listen if they need you to just be there to empathize.
- Enable folks to take time off and take care of themselves or family. For my team, I am a lot looser with the need to report PTO during this time. If they need a morning or a day or two to rest or take care of family, let them. I trust my team to not abuse this as they are all “extreme owners.” I do this for my directs and they can decide how they want to handle theirs.
Tip 3: Still Expect Everyone to be Accountable
You may say, how do you do that, if you just told me to be kind in tip 2. I would say, being kind doesn’t mean you don’t hold your team accountable. What you can say to your team instead is “Please proactively manage my expectations of what you can still accomplish or not and by when.” This means
- Expect there will be slippage as not only your team but also their partners are facing new unexpected difficulties.
- Everyone on your team needs to be proactive in communicating new timelines for what they own if they are slipping
- Everyone on your team needs to be proactive in communicating the rationale for slippage
- Everyone on your team needs to propose new timelines or plan as a result.
This enables all folks on your team to keep owning their work and plan the best they can. This also allows you as the manager to continue managing upward with your own leadership as things change. This is the way to be kind but still stay productive.
Tip 4: Remind yourself and your team to be grateful and look to the bright side.
It’s easy for checkins to turn into complaints about how hard the “new reality” is for everyone. This is bound to happen and it’s good to empathize. However it’s also important to
- Be grateful in this “new reality.” Not everyone can still work and be paid. Unemployment is can go as high as 32% in the US in the next few months. Be thankful that we all still have jobs and paychecks.
- Ask folks to share what’s been positive about this “new reality.” Just by asking the question, folks will share new unexpected good things they experienced – more time with family, more time to exercise, etc…
Tip 5: Share your own up and downs with your team
I don’t mean break down and cry in front of your team. I don’t recommend that as you, as the manager, still need to be the ROCK for your team. If you need to break down, ask a friend or your spouse to help you get through it. Your team needs stability and you being strong helps with that.
With that said, however, I am not saying you should pretend that you are not affected. It’s good to share stories of your ups and downs after the fact.
- This will help you stay connected with your team personally
- This will let them know it’s okay if they are not handling the situation well and need someone to talk to (perhaps you, their manager)
- This will let them know emotions during this time is perfectly human and normal for high achievers.
- This will also help you, as the manager, feel supported
These are just the five I have tried so far. Do you have any other tips to share on how to manage a remote team? I look forward to your comments and questions.
Your comments: Do you have an inner voice that tells you that you are not enough? Do you where it comes from and how to ignore it? I look forward to hearing from you.
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I am always in your corner.
Lei
Be safe and take care. I am always in your corner.
Lei