Are you feeling like you’ve got the hang of managing remote teams? Are your teams communicating effectively across the organization? Is each team clear on their actionable goals and objectives?
Managing remote teams during COVID can be extremely challenging, particularly if an organization’s revenues have been adversely impacted or there have been layoffs or ongoing health issues among team members.
As a leader, I’ve learned that flexibility and openness—coupled with an ever-watchful eye toward a people-centric mission and vision—are qualities that provide an atmosphere of safety that enable three key components of a healthy culture to thrive:
- Key #1: Leadership creates and shares a clear, compelling mission and vision that is communicated effectively across the organization.
The challenge: Tension can occur when the intersection of these ideals and present realities play out day to day, and weekly over time. This is referred to as a “say/do gap,” according to Bryan Kurey, Managing Vice President of Gartner’s HR Research team. One solution is to articulate both realities in a single statement that reflects both the type of culture the company embraces and the reality of what continues to be effective for profitability. - Key #2: Individuals and their teams must be able to achieve goals that are both actionable and attainable. People need to know that their work is “hitting the mark” and having a positive impact on the company’s mission and vision.
The challenge: If a goal is too lofty or ambitious, it risks damaging team spirit. Striking a balance between goals that are both motivating and realistic requires maintaining openness with team leaders and collaborating on what strategies can be effective for different types of teams. - Key #3: Shared behaviors all team members exhibit that which reflect the mission, vision and values of the organization. Such behaviors are implemented and modeled by leadership, setting the tone and conditions by which teams can achieve their objectives and goals.
The challenge: Measuring your organization’s culture with data alone. Turnover rates, for example, can provide false comforts, according to Mr. Kurey. “Data gets aggregated and averaged and becomes a little generic.” Anonymous employee surveys that include open response questions offers both team members and management the ability to give or see raw feedback. This correlates to the atmosphere of safety mentioned earlier, where employees feel safe enough to speak up at any time without fear of reprisal.
We wish you and your teams great health and an enjoyable holiday season!
Rosanna Hayden
