Five Ways To Be A Successful Remote Leader
Working remotely came out of the blue for many employees as well as leaders. For some, it was considered a special privilege, almost an incentive in the pre-pandemic days. For others, it was nothing new as remote work is part of their company DNA. And then there are the individuals who have never even thought about remote work but still had to cope with it from one day to the other.
Regardless of how prepared you were to work from home for over a year, this is the new normal. If not handled properly, leading remote teams and being part of a purely remote team can cause significant signs of overwhelm, all the way to stress and burnout. Luckily, there are ways to avoid this.
Five Ways To Be A Successful Remote Leader
When it comes to remote leadership and supporting team members, it's more common sense than rocket science. Here are five tips to get you out of the remote struggle and more into a decentralized comfort zone:
1. Exercise strong time management muscles.
Make sure you have clarity on who does what till when and where you can find finished work or work in progress. Ask for help if you find yourself under a to-do pile that is too big to handle and, by the same token, raise your hand if you have idle time and can assist others.
From a scheduling perspective, even if there is much to do, make sure you define a clear start and end time for your day and plan for sufficient breaks, especially a longer lunch break with good food. One break that's often overlooked in times of stress? Your nightly rest. For most people, stressful days require at least seven to eight hours of sleep.
2. Stay connected.
Remote work is often associated with social isolation. People feel they are not part of the team anymore, they miss interacting with co-workers and, over time, a strong feeling of loneliness creeps in. To avoid this downward spiral, make sure you schedule group chats or have a joint lunch session with some of your colleagues at work with your cameras on. For remote leaders it's essential to touch base with each of your direct reports at least once a week to keep a sense of belonging and also to maintain (or improve) the trust level with your team members.
3. Be OK with letting go.
Remote work is a challenge by itself — and then it collides with something like homeschooling. If this is the case for you, remind yourself that you can't do everything perfect and accept that you need to let go of a few things: Skip the perfect slide design if you need to be able to help your daughter upload her math homework. Have one of your team members facilitate the team meeting so you can support your son with his challenging chemistry experiment instead. And remember to prioritize yourself too. Turn off the camera and do some stretching exercises while being a listening-only participant in a live stream.
4. Spend time in nature.
The Japanese have a wonderful and impactful method for relaxing and building your resilience muscle called "shinrin yoku." This translates to "taking a bath in the woods" or the practice known as "forest bathing." Set aside time to take a daily, 30-minute stroll in the woods or a green space. Take your family with you, if possible. Make it a routine, for example right after lunch. Or have a walking call in the afternoon. You'll not only get some movement in, but also likely be inspired and calmed by your surroundings.
5. Overcommunicate.
In remote settings, it's extremely critical that you get enough opportunities to talk to other human beings, not just by writing but by literally speaking to them "face to face" even if there is a screen in between you. In tough times, we need our real social network even more, so make it a priority to interact with friends and family members via video chat.
We should also remind ourselves — and each other — to be thankful for whatever it is we have. Make it a habit to be thankful and establish a gratitude practice every night where you say out loud what you are thankful for today.
Remote work isn't going away anytime soon. Adopt these positive practices so that you can be the best leader you can be in any setting and encourage others to do the same.