Three Strategies That Make Remote Teams Successful
By: Jennifer Apy
Tags: Remote Working, Leadership Development, Management And Leadership, Small Business, Motivation

Three Strategies That Make Remote Teams Successful

(Avoid Pitfalls when Shifting to Remote Work)

Over the past 30 years I’ve worked for global companies that adopted flexible remote working policies, and have traveled frequently and worked remotely as part of small startups and virtual teams. As a consultant, I know what it feels like to be a permanent remote worker as well as what it is like managing and mentoring teams from afar.

What I have learned is that figuring out the how — technology platform, communication norms, meeting cadences, core work hours and time zones — and fostering social interaction and relationship building, is only half the battle. The biggest hurdle in helping remote teams to achieve efficiency and effectiveness comes from establishing and maintaining a clear, collaborative process for goal setting and progress reporting, in a way that empowers team members to embrace it.

The Next Normal

Even before the coronavirus pandemic, CNBC found that 70% of professionals work remotely at least once a week. It’s not always easy to do, and few companies supported 100% work from home for all employees. However, now that most companies have gotten somewhat settled into a remote working cadence, some companies may never go back to an office regularly.

What does this mean? Fewer commercial office space leases, more video chats, fewer opportunities for informal interactions throughout the day. Team relationships are harder to foster, onboarding is more difficult, and corporate culture is harder to maintain. The popular management strategy MBWA — management by walking around — isn’t feasible and a once familial atmosphere is thwarted by the impersonal nature of a digital screen. Managers are less able to observe employee dynamics, build personal relationships, and quickly spot problems before they become issues.

While goal setting methodologies abound, they are not always implemented in a way that supports and motivates virtual workers. The following strategies can help facilitate clear and focused communication to create employee engagement and team building. These 3 core steps are often missed, causing companies to stumble as they shift to remote working.

STRATEGY 1: Make everyone’s top work priorities visible to everyone else on the team, including yours.

Visibility creates accountability, and social accountability is a powerful lever that motivates accomplishment. Not everything has to be visible, but allowing everyone to see what everyone else’s most important goals are on can be a powerful motivator. A recent Asana survey reported that 74% of employees do not know how their work impacts the bottom line. Not only can better visibility give individuals an understanding of how their efforts contribute to the overall success of the team, but constant visibility of goals and accomplishments can also help team members appreciate what each person does.

While visibility creates understanding and accountability, transparency creates trust. Trust and understanding lead to respect and can also serve to inspire individuals to go above and beyond — to do what they can to ensure that the team (and the company) succeeds. Knowing that such extraordinary efforts will be recognized and rewarded by their peers can also drive more of the desired behaviors.

The cadence of visibility also matters. With the advent of technology, people expect frequent updates, and companies require agile pivots to succeed. No longer is the annual company meeting enough to keep everyone in the loop, and team members expect more. Having a central source of truth that is readily accessible 24/7, plus a weekly/monthly/quarterly cadence for updates is important for both team leaders and members to maintain effective communication, ensure consistent ownership of goals, and allow for shifts in priorities as needed.

Goal-setting* is often everyone’s last priority, but deprioritizing it can be even more harmful when a team is remote. Without clear goals, there can be an unintentional misalignment, lack of productivity, or worse, a lot of busywork that amounts to nothing.

Some leaders may worry that making bold commitments visible may set everyone up for failure. However, undeclared goals are rarely achieved. As long as a goal is attainable it can serve as a powerful rallying cry to motivate a team to step up and deliver.

What happens if goals change? Sometimes companies have to pivot or shift focus for a myriad of reasons. Loss of a major customer or supplier, new competitor, slowing demand, or perhaps a global pandemic. When goals are visible and future changes need to be made, it’s easier to shift the team because there is a reference point for explaining what needs to happen differently and why.

Goals can also affirm cultural values (encouraging community service, or supporting personal goals). Visibility of “culture-related” goals can also be a constant reminder of what the company stands for, which can be a powerful motivator as well.

*To help companies get better at goal setting, there are many methodologies that can help support the process: OKRs, Smart Goals, EOS “Rocks”, etc.

STRATEGY 2: Creating a culture that rewards proactive updates means less micromanagement.

No one likes to be micromanaged, but without the in-person, casual interactions that used to happen in an office environment, it is difficult to see what everyone is working on, and know when they are working. The younger generations of workers prefer frictionless (no human intervention), on-demand (when they are ready), and expect software to solve problems (there’s an app for that).

Team members do not want to be asked “did you do that yet?” and managers do not want to ask, fearing that they will come across as micro-managers. Having a process that creates social accountability for completing work can help solve both problems.

In addition to a clear understanding of goals that are visible for all to see as discussed in strategy #1, what’s required to make a frictionless process work?

Regular cadence for individuals to report the progress of each goal (with temporary consequences for not being timely). A weekly meeting for sharing highlights of progress, and recognition of individuals for what they achieve. A weekly report that documents progress and recognizes achievement, that is visible to everyone.

Goal-setting methodologies require all the above to make them work. EOS recommends creating an Accountability Chart and the Weekly Pulse Meeting. Performance or goal management software tools that track the progress of OKRs and Smart Goals, automatically reminding teams to provide updates, can also easily provide visual dashboards to support weekly meetings.

Making updates visible encourages social accountability and becomes the central source of truth that all can rely on. A clearly defined process that holds everyone accountable for work yet enables them the freedom to work on their own time is the perfect structure for empowering teams to deliver while also ensuring that the reporting happens and goals are achieved.

STRATEGY 3: Motivate teams to actively participate in the cultural shift.

Intrinsic motivators are often the most powerful. Gamification advocates understand this, and earning points, badges, and prizes are often used to reward progress against a goal. Widespread use of game mechanics in education is training our next generation workforce to respond positively to streaks, leaderboards, and social praise.

Change happens when people want change to happen. Shifting the culture to maintain more transparent communication with remote teams starts with motivating individuals.

The use of gamification tactics is natural for younger generations of workers and will become even more prevalent in the future. Here are some of the ways gamification can encourage active participation in a cultural shift towards ownership, accountability, timely updates, and accomplishments.

Earning points for achieving mini-milestones and consistently demonstrating cultural values.

Group rewards based on points that individuals earn.

Encouraging appreciation for each other’s work, acknowledging support when it is given (earns points and individual recognition)

Adding gamification can be intrinsically motivating, whether it’s trying to earn as many points as possible (point scores) or consistently earning points (streaks) and the recognition that accompanies both (badges and leaderboards). In addition, rewards that are earned can be much more meaningful than rewards that are given, since thank you “gifts” are not guaranteed and might not be clearly tied to effort.

Empowering team members to articulate their own goals around work can create buy-in and accountability. Incorporating game mechanics into everyday work can encourage consistency and extra effort as team members strive to achieve the next reward.

Conclusion:

In the past 5 months, 45% of companies have had to shift their goals. To do so effectively requires a central source of truth combined with infrastructure that allows for clear consistent communication.

Creating a culture of accountability and transparency that is intrinsically motivating to people can lead to a winning formula. While 36% of companies use spreadsheets to help manage their goals, it’s hard to turn a spreadsheet update into an engaging, motivating process that requires teams to update progress regularly. Easy to use, gamified goal management software tools, designed specifically for small business leaders without an IT or HR department, can provide a simple, fun, and affordable way to align and motivate a remote working team. While technology can’t solve all of the challenges of goal management, software tools can support the shift and get new processes to stick.

These three strategies may present cultural shifts for you and your team, but in the long run, will transform your company culture and produce a collaborative team that’s better able to operate virtually. Avoid the stumbling blocks that often accompany the shift to virtual teams and you can celebrate achievements and accomplishments together.