By Priscilla Luzader Pipho

March 25, 2021

Managing a New Team Remotely

The interview process was rigorous, the decision to leave your old job and start somewhere new during the pandemic has been exhausting. And now you have a new team to manage. It’s never easy coming into a job with a team you didn’t hire, in a leadership role where you need to learn the culture, work priorities, and the people. But now you have the added layer of a workforce that has been remote for much longer than they thought they would, often without tools they need and possibly a little frayed around the edges.   A difficult job just got harder.

But not impossible. Lots of people have learned how to take on a new team remotely with great success, and here are some strategies that have been working for our clients.

Remotely managing a new team

Getting to know people takes time. Sociologists tell us it takes a year to get to know someone; two to know them well. And a key factor in developing interpersonal relationships is proximity – being physically close. Strike two in the pandemic world. Here are a few suggestions.

• Get to know your staff. Read their files, past performance records, job descriptions. Be ready for the first conversation by learning about their personal history with the company. It’s a great way to show you are engaged in them.
• Ask specific questions in one-on-one meetings. Ask your staff about themselves, their positions, and their future. Ask each person what they think could be improved in the department and keep track of responses for future reference and follow-up. 
• Give your history. Your staff hasn’t had the luxury that your boss and possibly peers have had in interviewing you and reading your resume. The sharp ones will have looked you up on LinkedIn but it’s important to offer the version of your story that you want them to know. And it shows a willingness to be human. Great for building trust.
• Provide your list of expectations and non-negotiables. Try sharing this in a staff meeting so everyone hears what your successful team members look like. To further reinforce, send out an agenda with your points and conclude the staff meeting with a summary email. You’re setting yourself up for success and accountability by being crystal clear!
• Create structured communication touch points. Create regular meetings as appropriate around team focus and function. Try to keep remote meetings small when possible to allow for easier dialogue. Establishing a structure lets your team know what to expect which can ease the stress of getting a new boss.
• Don’t overdo the meetings. We want to make sure our teams are heard, but we also don’t want to wear them out! Be intentional, use agendas, follow-up, and don’t meet just because it’s on the calendar. And don’t forget that 50 minutes is about as long as anyone should be meeting so honor the time of your busy staff and give them back ten minutes for every hour.
• Listen. Plan one-on-one meetings where you as the leader listen for 75% of the time. Learn to count to ten before you answer your own questions. You may have the right answers but your goal is to build a relationship and to know your staff. Employ listening techniques that you would normally use in person, ask for feedback when appropriate, and truly engage. Nothing closes the gap of distance like genuineness.

Getting to know a new staff takes a deliberate approach – whether in person or working from afar.  Keep communicating your priorities and holding yourself and others accountable and you’ll develop a culture of trust in time.