Anyone who has led teams knows how challenging it is to inspire a group of people around a clear purpose, get them to internalize that purpose and rally them to achieve it in spite of inevitable obstacles. Increasingly, that challenge is made harder by the amplified requirement to do the same with a remote workforce.
It was not long ago that sci-fi visionaries foresaw that a leader could run an organization by never leaving home and controlling an entire operation from an all-electronic, multi-channel, fiber-optic video console. Today, there are high-level executives who claim to do that effectively. For companies that do not have mature processes and systems, and for the vast majority of managers, it can present a significant challenge that can cripple an organization.
At Audere Partners, we are grounded by experience-tested fundamentals on how to lead and run a business. We strongly believe that these fundamentals must inform any solutions deployed to enable organizational leaders to run remote teams more effectively.
At the heart of our business performance management philosophy, we believe that leaders need to make measurable and results-based assignments to remote workers with sufficient support and clear success criteria in the shortest practical interval. Doing so drives key behaviors that are essential to building a high-performance organization.
Following the COVID-19 pandemic, we can expect that remote teams will be part of the new normal. An April study conducted by Gallup reported that as a result of COVID-19 remote work has increased from 43% (2016) to 62%. In addition, prior Gallup studies on remote work indicated that only 6 in 10 employees understand what is expected of them, and only 26% feel that their managers are good at clarifying priorities. Moving forward, these fundamentals are the critical elements that organizations will need to define priorities and drive performance.
Managing a remote workforce does not have to be much more complicated than managing an onsite team – it merely requires the right tools, training, and mindset – along with discipline and accountability.
The pressure is mounting to enable your organization to work remotely and effectively. Most organizations that do a conscious self-assessment on whether they tick all fundamentals will often still find room for improvement.
Take a look at the following information showing Audere Partners’ Six Fundamentals of Remote Leadership, and the organizational behaviors that they drive. If you don’t have a roadmap to strengthen these fundamentals, reach out to us for a practical perspective on how to do it.
