“If you want to be a great leader, remember to treat all people with respect at all times. For one, because you never know when you’ll need their help, and two, because it’s a sign that you respect people, which all great leaders do.” - Simon Sink
Whether your team is in the office(s), hybrid or fully remote, being able to lead teams remotely, well, can make or break your success as a leader. Even if the whole team is in a single office, there could be times where you’re leading from the road. In large companies, you may not be “remote”, but you could be leading people spread out in offices across the country or the world. Years ago, I was re-org'd under a boss based in another location for six months who only ever talked to me twice - once in person - not a very human experience! Here are five ways to not be like that guy:
Get to know your team. Take a few minutes during scheduled time to get to know what their life is like, what are their working rhythms. Maybe they start early and take a break to do school pick up or drop off, or they coach baseball at 4:30 a few days a week in the spring. Or they super value hitting the gym in the morning or a mid day Peloton session or a spending the evening tending their garden. Know these things, and ask about their progress. You’re working with humans, but if you don’t make a point to keep that in mind, you may end up transacting when them like they are chatbots programmed to only talk about work.
Properly use tech tools to connect, but be flexible. Collaboration tools like Slack and Teams, well used, make remote work way better. Zoom can be almost as good as being in real life, especially with cameras on, but hours of non-stop video will shut down anyone’s brain - so hop on to wave hi then go to audio for some meetings. Take the time to setup norms for your company in how you use tech, or your team will be searching Slack channels instead of wandering the hallways looking for the right conference room - both extremely annoying “corporate” experiences that suck the energy out of anyone trying to do great work.
Assume good intent. It IS easier to be understood in person - so much of our communication is non-verbal. If something sounds way off, try not to react right away. Ask clarifying questions, share with your teammate how they are coming across, and possibly change communication channels. Endless debates over Slack or email can often be cut short if you switch to phone or video conference.
Be serious about the quality of work, but have fun. We spend a lot of time working! Dropping some random GIFs or a screen shot of a crazy ChatGPT hallucination or having everyone grab their pet for a cameo during a call can help people get out of their Zoom stupor and get the ideas flowing. It can also help encourage people to connect beyond work, which is part of what makes life worthwhile.
Make the most of in person time. If you’re traveling to a city where teammates live, take time for breakfast or dinner. Conference where multiple colleagues are flying in? Come in a day early or stay late to have some time together - book the same hotel so you can cross paths a little more. Do your normal Zoom 1:1 as a walking 1:1 and check out the city sights or a local coffee shop.
Even after being the author of the above tips, it is so easy to rush through this and not focus on relationship building. I have totally done this, not even pausing to say hi on a call before dumping way too much information on a teammate, or taking over their 1:1 with my agenda, or accidentally calling in that one window that I shouldn’t have. If you do something similar, apologize, forgive yourself and get better.
As more and more work that can be done by non-humans is shuffled to AI, the uniquely human components of leadership becomes more critical to encourage the best out of the people around us. Lead like a human!
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