In combat scenarios, special operators are often – to some degree – being managed by remote teams of senior leaders far removed from the battlefield, which is why a decentralized approach to authority and decision-making is critical for moving at the speed war requires. That said, as one could imagine, this can create certain levels of complexity when it comes to timely communication, collaboration, and working cross-functionally.
Thanks to new technology, changing corporate policies, and the COVID-19 pandemic, remote work is becoming more common than ever before. And there’s a good chance leaders and managers will eventually be tasked with managing remote employees either some or all of the time. In fact, most have been carrying this burden of command for a year.
While remote work offers numerous benefits for both organizations and their employees, it can present a few challenges for team leaders. To help you overcome these obstacles and ensure you and your employees are working effectively from home, here are nine tips to help you manage - and lead - remote teams.
1 - Set Clear Expectations
When external and internal challenges create new complexities for teams attempting to rapidly pivot on the battlefield – while still driving desired outcomes - it becomes even more critical to ensure every person on the team has a clear and concise understanding of the objectives. And more importantly, their exact role in mission success. This is always important. But in a remote environment, managers have to adopt an adjusted approach to how they communicate with, and engage, each person on their team. Make sure everyone knows when and how to check in, what meeting expectations are, and what the rhythm of communication needs to be.
2 - Define and Document New SOPs
Don’t just talk about it. Document the new standard operating procedures and make them available to all team members. A leader’s top priority is always ensuring the team understand the vision, purpose, and desired result. And most importantly, the “WHY”. The same applies to something as simple as new best practices regarding communication and team interaction.
3 - Engage in Proper Meeting Etiquette
This is a big one. Conducting proper meetings is a common challenge for all teams under “normal” circumstances, and now more crucial than ever before. As Zoom fatigue continues to plague remote teams, leaders and managers must set the standard for how and when meetings will be held. In a remote environment, engaging the team as much as possible is imperative, but this doesn’t necessarily mean having more meetings. Its about having the right meetings designed to achieve specific goals. Don’t stack meeting back-to-back. Start on time. End on time. Ensure people come well-prepared. Carve out time to ask people how they are doing – be social. End with accountabilities and actions. And remember, not every meeting has to be a video conference for crying out loud. But virtual face-to-face interaction is very important for combating social isolation.
4 - Encourage and Reward New Behaviors
With most organizations having been forced violently down the path of digital transformation and virtual work, embracing new behavioral norms has become imperative for teams to adapt. New actions and best practices require an adjustment in thinking and behavior. Defining and supporting new behavioral expectations often means the need for new daily rituals. Similar to setting clear communication standards, managers must lead the culture shift when it comes to working remote. As leaders, we get the behavior we tolerate. So make sure the expectations are clear and then reward the desired behavior.
5 - Focus on Outcomes, Not Tasks
Now is not the time to micromanage, as tempting as it may be when driven by the urge to keep our arms wrapped around the business and the results we are trying to achieve. Leaders need to remind themselves of the benefits of effective delegation. Define the time-bound objective, set the lane markers, provide resources, and then get out of the way. Maintaining big-picture situational awareness on an uncertain battlefield is paramount. You can’t do that with your head stuck in the weeds. Besides, you’ll drive everyone crazy.
6 - Drive Innovation and Creativity
As the Navy SEAL Ethos states, “We demand discipline. We expect innovation.” Engagement is already a challenge with most well-run organizations only having a whopping 35% (give or take) of employees truly engaged in their work. Meaning they are all in, go above and beyond, and have a passionate connection for driving mission success. The remainder of work forces being passively or actively disengaged. Well, COVID certainly doesn’t help improve these numbers. A great tool for keeping teams engaged is to encourage – if not mandate – greater degrees of collaboration and innovation. Have the team spend time working on new innovative ways to enhance performance and efficiency – during work hours. Not only will this help them break away from the monotony, but the organization will reap the benefits as well.
7 - Manage the Silos
Vertical and horizontal silos must always be managed. Completely eliminating them is near impossible. A remote environment – for teams not used to working virtually – only exacerbates these already existing structural and behavioral barriers. Put systems in place so that communication flows up and down the chain of command. Make sure teams have the opportunity to regularly share information across business units and work cross-functionally.
8 - Embrace New Technology
This is obvious but still needs to be mentioned. This has been relatively seamless for some organizations, but not most. As we say in the SEAL Teams, get comfortable being uncomfortable. But in any environment - with the right mindset, adversity breeds innovation, creativity, adaptation, and transformation. In fact, my new bestselling book, Embrace the Suck: The Navy SEAL Way to An Extraordinary Life, is all about resilience and comfort zone expansion. A mindset we’ve all needed just to remain relatively sane in this new normal. So embrace what you need to in order to keep the team moving forward.
9 - Lead More Than Manage
As you know, leadership and management are two different disciplines. Teams need to be managed, but what people really require now more than ever is leadership. True leadership will keep your team members engaged, energized, and focused on mission success. A great leader also understands that one of their primary responsibilities is to create more leaders. Despite ambiguity and uncertainty, leaders must never deprioritize developing their teams. More leaders at every level of the organization paves the way for successful decentralization, delegation, and higher degrees of overall performance and achievement.
So, keep taking point!
