For Managers: 3 Expert Tips for Managing a Remote Team (Especially Right Now)
I have to admit that I’ve been frustrated to the point of anger at the unwillingness of many managers to face up to the reality that these next three or four months will be the most challenging of the entire pandemic. I believe strongly in the power of positive thinking, but operating according to best-case scenarios in the middle of a pandemic means you’re going to get a lot of things wrong, and you’re doing your team a disservice. This winter (and probably most of the spring) will be long enough that it’s worth figuring out how to do working from home (WFH) (or telecommuting) right instead of just trying to knuckle down until we can go back to the office.
The good news is that many workers report liking WFH compared with going to the office. Without daily commutes, workers have more time for sleep and exercise, and fewer distractions have allowed for more focus, especially for creative workers. The bad news, however, is that many people hate WFH. It is especially hard on carers (including parents), and among them, it is especially hard on women, who often wind up with a disproportionate share of domestic tasks. Oh, and more bad news is that many managers say that their teams’ productivity is lower since the pandemic began. If you are a manager, how on Earth are you supposed to thrive under these conditions?
Wellness comes first
Unless your contract is up sometime this summer, you’re almost surely going to continue working with your team beyond this worst stretch of the pandemic, so it’s in your best interest to make sure all team members stay healthy this winter. This means your top priority should be mental health and wellness. Communicate this clearly to your team, and show them that you mean it by following through with concrete actions.
Start by recognizing just how unprecedented and challenging these next several months will be, and summon as much empathy as you can for people who might not be dealing with the situation as well as you or others. And be explicit that you aim to understand and accommodate the unique challenges faced by women and carers. Even if you’ve already said so much in previous communications, a new, direct message — followed up with concrete action — will further build trust with your team.
Make wellness resources available to your team. Depending on your budget (and many organizations are shifting funds earmarked for travel to wellness), this can mean everything from yoga, meditation, and exercise classes to coaching and therapy. WFH is especially challenging for people with high introversion and low emotional stability, so consider adding more time for one-on-one meetings and optional, non-work-related video calls and lunches — and make sure the visibility of these options is very high.
Lastly, ensure that all of these resources can be accessed during work hours, with no expectation of having to make up the time in evenings or on weekends — otherwise, you’re only making it more difficult to maintain proper boundaries around work.
Slow and steady wins the race for productivity
There is a general consensus, especially among managers, that employee productivity is down in the past 10 months. At the same time, workers report increased working hours, primarily as a result of work time bleeding well into the evenings. Managers, knowing that employees have no evening commitments, have taken advantage of the situation of at-home confinement by scheduling late calls and end-of-day assignments. Forcing people on the job to stay on the job longer isn’t sustainable, and employees are getting burned out.
Lower productivity is understandable. Many people (and once again, I’ll stress women and carers here) live in homes that are not well-suited to WFH. And no matter where you live, the anxiety and pain of living through a pandemic that has brought fear and loss to so many is distracting, to say the least. To make matters worse, for many people, this period hasn’t inspired much confidence in our governments. In other words, it’s harder than ever to maintain focus.
As a manager, the first thing you can do is enforce work-life boundaries. Make sure you stress to your team the importance of shutting the computer and setting aside the phone (or at least signing out of the company chat board) at the end of the day. At the same time, recognize and accommodate autonomous scheduling. A parent might relish a couple hours in the evening to work after their children are in bed — in this case, make sure they can block out time during the day for schooling or whatever other needs they have.
A study from 2012 revealed that workers with creative jobs actually become more productive when they work from home, while those with dull jobs become less productive. The explanation is that creativity requires long stretches of uninterrupted time, something that is (sometimes) easier to achieve at home than in an office environment, while rote work benefits from a busy environment. If some of your team members’ work is dull (and be honest with yourself about it), consider some ways to inject some room for creativity into their jobs. For example, tell them to set aside an hour per day or a day per week to work on a proposal for process improvements. This request for creativity could increase motivation for the rest of their job.
Level up your leadership
For many, if not most, managers, this winter will be the biggest professional challenge they’ve ever faced. A recent article in American Psychologist, authored by 29 distinguished academics and representing the conventional wisdom of the field of organizational psychology in the Covid-19 era, states, “… more authoritarian or bossy leaders may face different challenges in motivating their workers in virtual environments than more participative and empathic team leaders….”
This is as good a time as any to invest in yourself as a leader. First of all, perform an honest self-assessment: are you a clear communicator? Are you a good listener? Are you fair in your distribution of rewards and criticism? Ask for feedback, and ease your acceptance of it by keeping in mind that everyone is struggling with something these days.
If you want to really grow as a leader, take some time to reflect on your vision and to what extent you have communicated that to your team. Research shows that authenticity and charisma tend to be more effective than a simple carrot-and-stick approach to management. Now, to some, those terms might conjure up a caricature of a sports coach, but in reality, authenticity can be as simple as admitting to your team that you, too, aren’t quite sure what the future holds, and charisma can be as simple as describing your hopes for where your team will be in a year — and better if you can do it without mentioning revenues or profits.
If you work for an organization, see if there are funds available for leadership training or coaching. If it’s your own organization, make the investment in yourself.
Last words
I’ve seen a lot of leaders trying to cheer their teams along through the past ten months, and at some point, cheering isn’t what their teams want to hear. Let’s face the facts: this has been hard, and the next few months are going to be harder — the isolation, the sickness, the cold and short days (for those of us in the northern hemisphere), the uncertainty. The thing to keep in mind is that treating people well is a great way to motivate them. Be kind to them and to yourself, and you’ll emerge from this period stronger and wiser.
