Can you build trust and respect when two team members are in Cupertino, one is in Austin, three are in Japan and one is on a 747 between Seattle and Taiwan? How do you communicate with your star performer when she’s 3,000 miles away? In this global economy, managers must learn to become effective remote leaders.
An effective remote manager is one who has excellent basic management skills and specific strategies for accomplishing management fundamentals, such as communication between geographically dispersed sites. Additionally, one must have efficient and creative ways for solving logistical challenges specific to multiple locations and time zones.
Communication is an important ingredient for being a successful manager whether your team is in the same building or at multiple sites. Remote managers need specific, creative strategies for managing workers at different locations. This article will look at the following strategies and practices of successful remote managers:
- More formal planning for communication
- Scheduled, predictable conference calls
- Face-to face meetings for building trust and respect
- Increased frequency of communication to assure ‘membership’
- Training for team members to proactively communicate
A Director of International Marketing at an e-commerce company said, "I’m learning that my informal style is not going to work, and I will have to make more precise communication plans. I think that will improve my overall management style."
The key to successful "virtual" communication is using a formal way of communicating that accounts for time zone differences. If you have a casual way of talking with your team such as shouting over the cube walls then remote management will change some of your communication patterns.
At Lucent, a Vice President for Western Region Sales explained his strategy as facilitating weekly Friday morning teleconferences with his entire team scattered between Western Canada and the United States. He sets up a predictable conference call with AT & T ahead of time. Every week his staff knows the number to dial in, the time of the call and the specific conference call number to enter the "virtual" conference room. Thus, the teleconference accommodates different time zones and locations in order for his team to call from home, from the office, or the road.
Several managers have face-to-face meetings with their entire team once per quarter. The team builds trust and respect while they are together. These meetings enhance communication throughout the quarter when everyone is not face to face. An HP engineering manager whose boss is in another state said, "It takes more work" to build rapport and trust when you’re out of sight and out of mind. "When the trust ‘bank account’ goes down, my boss is on a plane to California or I fly to Boise."
An HR Manager at Sun Microsystems said, "Communicate more now!" She’s on a virtual HR team and also manages a team that resides in two different states. She knows for herself as well as for the team in Colorado that one of the biggest concerns of employees is "not wanting to be forgotten." The fear of being left out is real.
Many associates want to know how they can be promoted if they work from locations that are not visible to their boss. One way is for virtual team members to initiate the communication. Associates can organize a weekly update via email or voice mail. Managers should not have to make all the effort. Managers can teach their staff to take risks and be proactive in their communication.
