Most leaders rely on personal, emotional, and respectful interactions with their teams to learn, listen, and guide. Working remotely has made leading and coordinating a diverse workforce more difficult than ever. All the technology in the world can’t replace interpersonal interactions and the day-to-day rituals that make teams effective.
Right now, there are two ways to look at the challenges of working from home or having a hybrid workplace. The first it to give up, passively sinking into whatever happens and adapting to the changes through a sense of inevitability. Real leaders, however, will take the second approach. Option two is to be proactive in examining how your company carries over old rituals and systems, abandons ineffective practices, and learns on-the-go to create the processes worth building on.
We are far enough along into these challenges to realize what works, what doesn’t, and what change looks like. So far, we’ve identified three areas that many of our clients seem to have either struggled with or, to put it more accurately, have taken a longer time to understand and implement.
He Said, She Said. Communication is so critical to any team, but it’s even more important with members working remotely. We’ve also experienced times when tasks, questions, answers, and meanings have gotten “lost in translation”. That’s especially hurtful when it comes from cutting out important people in the conversation, whether purposely or accidentally. We’ve suggested a rule that all communication be as direct as possible, with everyone involved. As leaders, stop employees any time you find them using alarm phrases like, “He said we” or “She was okay with…”. It’s important not to let anyone speak for others, answer for others, or infer for others.
The Fix: Train your team to come back with everyone on the same page. That can be something as simple as insisting on a “reply all” confirmation from the team or, if it’s a Zoom meeting, a simple thumbs up.
What Goes Unsaid. We weren’t kidding; communication has been the most consistent hurdle. Another theme that has developed is the inherent tribalism of departments not being on the same page or working closely together. This is a tough problem even with everyone in the office, but working from home tends to make islands of people, and that’s even more the case for project-specifc teams. Designers may not be aware of what project managers are doing; accounting might not be communicating to the same degree with human resources as is normal. It’s a dangerous opportunity for teams to grow resentful of what other departments may (or may not) be doing.
A quick example: one local firm has a three workers quoting print jobs. The sales team has lost a number of bids due to slow turnaround from these three workers. The sales team begins to resent the ‘lazy’ quoting team, while the quoting team has trouble doing a thorough job on their work and is tired of being hassled. The two groups are at odds; the real problem is the process. The estimates aren’t taking too long to be put together, but to be approved. Maybe you’re the hiccup!
The Fix: Delegate the head of each department to handle communication and insist on short, friendly check-ins at an interval that makes sense. Consider joining sometimes, but it’s often better to let them hash out and bring their solutions, not problems, to you for implementation.
Respect. You have a team composed of people from all walks of life. Different ages, different talents, different experiences, different goals; there’s no way every single person will get along with everyone else all the time. Your goal as a leader should never be world peace and perfect harmony. The real, attainable goal should be focused on respect. Set the tone and the expectation that every interaction between workers is respectful, professional, and solution-focused.
The Fix: Listen. You won’t have eyes and ears everywhere, but it isn’t hard to notice tension or situations where people throw each other under the bus. More importantly, as a leader, no one has more influence than you on how people treat each other. You have the ability to make or break someone’s day, but also influence to set them up to succeed. Leaders should be capable of reading, reacting, and finding the right way to instruct and motivate their team members, and that’s even more important when they’re far away.
We’re here to help. Contact us to learn more about building effective communication and a healthy workplace today!