Welcome back after the summer break.
In all the aspects of our life there are some that go beyond our control: the parents we were born for example, but also, in most of the cases, the people we are going to work with. Some studies indicate that from 20 to 30% had an active part in setting up a team, whether it is virtual or in presence.
Clearly the tricky part relates to the part of the effectiveness which is created by the relationship among people: the more you are leveraging existing ones or the faster you are in accelerating the development of them, the faster will be the effectiveness kicking in.
And things get even more complicated when the team is a hybrid one, because relationship are kicking in at different speeds, adding the need to keep the organisation collated.
So why spending efforts for linking people? The answer is pretty straightforward: creating a connection between virtual or remote team members helps support engagement, results and the best opportunities for synergy, alignment and communication flow between members. More or less the total of you need as a manager to work.
As said many times, in person everything is much easier and manageable. All remote, may be more difficult but at least you are aware of the traps. Hybrid is another game to play.
The approach we have is to leverage the physical part triggering the speed, while enabling remote collaborators in different ways to create virtual relationships as effective as “in person” ones.
How to do it?
Share communication
Put yourself in the shoes of your people being far from the rest of the team: communication will be critical to keep yourself in the loop and to know what’s going on.
Most of the tools will fit: from social collaboration to a dedicated area on corporate intranet for sharing everything that is needed and meaningful, from best practices to information to news and heads up notices. And most of all all the tools needed to perform the work, from knowledge bases to applications.
Inform consistently both in time and in content
Share information with a predictable cadence and with relevant content.
It doesn’t matter if it’s in the form of a newsletter, it could also be the minutes of the meetings or a presentation. What is important is that it is sent regularly.
Everybody needs somebody
Establish a “buddy program” or associate team members on a quarterly basis to support each other, get to know each other better and share resources and best practices. This is a great form of peer supporting that brings the group together and creates closeness. And accelerates relationships.
Lead by being present
You have, as a manager, the most powerful weapon: being present when needed by your people.
Make yourself feel close to people and this will generate support of these bonds you have enabled and they created. Don’t unnecessarily expose yourself: you need to be there when needed, not all times.
