Leaders who are remote from staff have long been identified as a problem. They don’t delegate, preferring to do it all themselves. This subtly tells everyone, “I don’t trust you”. They keep the drip, drip, drip of information from above firmly to themselves, as a means of maintaining their position power. They are poor communicators and don’t know how to inspire the people who work for them. They have poor people skills and are generally regarded as duds, as far as the troops are concerned. They dislike mistakes and will publicly flay the perpetrators, effectively driving passivity and fear into the team.
Now, all of this was taking place in the office, where heads can easily be counted. People can simply be engaged by calling their name out and telling them to come and see you. Judgements can be made on who is working hard and who isn’t, by observing body language and activity. Meetings can be called quickly and coordination is relatively straight forward. Life gets a lot more complex when we start toiling from home and we are all now “remote” workers.
How do we keep close to staff, when we are working away from each other? Holding team meetings every day is a must. We want as many people as possible to attend and we want all cameras on. I noticed one of my staff wasn’t turning her camera on. When quizzed on this, she said the camera wasn’t working.
With today’s technology, that is highly unlikely. Either the privacy settings are not allowing the camera for that particular platform and they need to be adjusted or there is a deeper issue. As the leader, we need to be on top of these things to see whether we need to just check a box inside the software or whether we have someone having mental health problems as a result of the isolation.
Every day at 3.00pm is Coffee Time With Dale and this is designed for those who just want to catch up socially. We would usually do this in the office when we chat and sometimes it is about work and most often it isn’t. This is one of those social activities which are the glue to hold the team together and we don’t want that to unravel.
In addition we want to be calling people individually, just to see how they are doing. They may have managers they report to, but the boss needs to make those calls as well, to just check in with the team. Listening skills should be in top gear when you call, rather than allowing your “telling” penchant free rein.
Saying thank you to individuals is important. We know they are labouring under strenuous conditions and having to do unfamiliar things, because they are isolated and working from home. Tell them you appreciate them for what they are doing and how important the contribution they are making is to the whole organisation. It is very easy to feel you are pointless and what you are doing is even more pointless, when you feel you are on your own.
Being transparent about what is going on is also critical. We all read the news and know what is happening to the economy. We learn about major brands folding, workers being laid off in droves and various other unnerving events. The leader has to provide hope for the future and a clear assessment of where we are today. What is the situation with the company financially? What are the prospects ahead of us? How much longer do we have to suffer?
Not every deep secret need to be revealed because there are compliance and regulatory rules about that type of thing, but as much as possible, the team needs to hear from the boss on what is going on for real. Don’t dress it up and trot out a Pollyanna version of reality. Better to be clear, truthful and realistic. The team want to know where they need to put their efforts, what role they have to play, what will make a difference from them for the company.
Being consistent with one’s own values and the firm’s values is critical. This is definitely not the time for “do as I say, not as I do”. We have to lead from the front and model the type of commitment and behaviour we need from the team. When things get tough, it becomes clear what is real and what is agitprop from the Marketing and PR department. Live the values and communicate, communicate and communicate. In fact, look for ways to overcommunicate given we are in this Age of Distraction and Era of Cynicism.
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Today’s Japanese phrase is kakkoii (格好いい)
