Leading remote employees well

“When the music changes, so must the dance”

One of the many changes that the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has initiated for knowledge workers is the ability to adapt effectively to the new rhythm of remote work. As the trend towards remote work grows, however, so does the need for effective virtual leadership. To grow the engagement, collaboration and productivity of their teams, leaders need an outcome-driven strategy to set their virtual teams up for success.

One of the most profoundly practical and effective approaches that I have discovered to assist leaders with the skills needed to lead others and respond to the challenges of team members working from remote locations is an approach called LeadConnect — a virtual learning journey developed by Free To Grow that equips leaders with the mind-set, skillset and toolset to navigate the virtual landscape with greater effectiveness and enhanced team performance. With the option of a self-paced journey on a learning management system or presenter-led webinars, leaders can select their desired level of interaction and pace. An overview of the Free To Grow journey, detailing the topics, tools and outcomes, includes the following:

Whilst LeadConnect is not a quick-fix, it nevertheless provides a practical framework for learning application. Free To Grow has bolstered the process through a range of complementary tools to assist leaders with continuous improvement of their respective teams — the following tools apply:

1. Pulse Surveys — a series of practical pulse surveys to help leaders understand how their teams are feeling and to enhance team engagement for the way ahead
2. Conversation Cards — based on the key themes of the webinar topic, these cards guide leaders through meaningful discussions with their teams
3. Snap-vote Templates — “Snapvote” is an online collaboration tool that enables live audience participation.
4. Individual Coaching — highly-qualified and experienced coaches offer sessions to support leaders with any need that may arise during their leading journey

COVID-19 has changed the normal work music (how we used to work and lead before) to a remote version and application — knowledge workers spread far and wide, with none present at the office. Leading teams of remote workers is a new challenge for leaders — Free To Grow’s “LeadConnect” will help leaders in organisations build a strong remote leadership foundation based on best-practices that will help sustain effective ways of working. The music has been changed by the current pandemic — the leader’s dance, too, must change.

Originally published at https://www.stretchforgrowth.com on May 17, 2020.