Leadership can be overwhelming, whether you are forming a new team or taking charge of a new one. Then there are the everyday challenges of leading remotely. Everything combined, you can miserably fail if you don’t present yourself as someone capable of leading the remote team from the front. To do that, here are 4 ways from Digi Works to be a great leader in a remote team.
Be what you expect your team to be
Before you want to lead your remote team, you need to make sure everyone in your team knows and acknowledges you as the leader. What can be a better way to do it than setting an example? So, before anything, ensure you are following the rules and discipline set up for the whole team.
This way, your team will recognize you as one of their own, and it’ll be much easier for you to access and lead your teammates then. If you don’t follow the rule yourself, you can’t possibly imagine expecting your teammates to follow you and allow you to lead them.
Get to know the team
As a remote team leader, you must know how to play to your team’s strengths. But how are you supposed to know your strengths if you don’t know your team well? There are several ways you can get to know your teammates. It can be an interview, a practice task, over a coffee, or anything.
All you have to do is get to know your team members more and play them accordingly. This way, your team members will trust the leadership and be encouraged to develop themselves in their roles.
Understand the challenges of remote leadership
Remote teams are a blessing until you fail to grasp what your team wants from you. One of the key challenges of remote work is communication. It’s much easier when you are verbally having a discussion face to face. But things can get blurry when the same communication is done over the internet.
You aren’t physically present to deliver your message; your messages can often be misinterpreted easily when remote. So, before you communicate, be aware of the challenge and be precise about what message you are trying to send.
Start recognizing your teammates
Your duty as a team leader is to accomplish a goal efficiently and quickly. One of the best ways to do that is to encourage your teammates to improve their skills and work. But, to do that, you need to recognize what your team is doing and appreciate their work.
Now, this whole recognition and appreciating part is a lot different than a regular physical team where you can congratulate someone or take him to lunch. But, even though that’s not possible, an announcement to the group or a quick one-on-one call makes your team feel appreciated. So please don’t shy away from any opportunity to appreciate your teammates; they’ll help you accomplish your goal as the leader.
