How to be a better boss to your remote team?

“To be a better boss means to be a noble leader, one who makes the first step to making the team feel noble too.” - Cubo Team.

Being a better boss is essential to achieving long-term success and maximizing life itself. But when it comes to remote working which holds great potential for terrific results, the role of the boss is determinant.

It may be a determinant that can build or destroy this potential. The reason why to be a better boss is clear but how can you be one?

Below are some insights from our Cubo Team to assist you in improving but also reaping other benefits that this progress can offer.

Check-in frequently but don’t micromanage

One crucial challenge of remote working is the lack of transparency which can leave leaders clueless about their virtual team’s progress. But how can remote managers solve this issue?

One great way to solve this issue is to check in frequently with your team. Organize regular team meetings to gain insight into the progress of your team, the hardships they may experience, and ways to lead them in the right direction. This way your team will feel heard and highly respectful toward other superiors.

However, be cautious to not get into the traps of micromanagement. In the course of your daily check, micromanagement can instill a negative work environment,  be damaging to both sides, make the superior lose time, and the worker not get the best out of his time. You don’t have to be a control freak and make video calls every thirty minutes. You don’t need short-term perfection, you need realistic progressive output which is guaranteed to last.

When managing remote teams, try to find a balance to not show yourself as intrusive or over-controlling towards your subordinates.

Make constructive criticism

You don’t lead by hitting people over the head—that’s assault, not leadership. – Dwight Eisenhower

There may be only one step from constructive to destructive criticisms and shifting from one attitude to the other may come about, but the consequences are so different.

In professional interactions, feedback is the best way to communicate and trigger the desired result. This feedback may be categorized as constructive criticism or destructive criticism.

Constructive criticism impacts positively and brings pleasant results. This way you give your remote workers insight into their mistakes but also set them up to learn and improve constantly. The role of constructive criticism is important to gain a new perspective and a different approach to things. This type of criticism is vital for progress and growth. According to a Harvard Business Review article, most people would prefer to get constructive feedback rather than praise.

On the other hand, destructive criticism may not fulfill the same purpose as the first one. Destructive criticism tends to transfer offensive and degrading messages to the other person. The consequences of it are acute such as low performance of the employee, damage to their mental and emotional well-being, and in extreme cases may even push them to leave their job.

An essential part of being a better superior is to maintain a good or at least neutral relationship with your team. In such a manner, trust, respect, and harmony are established for both parties.

Use the right digital tools for a remote environment

“Leaders must be close enough to relate to others, but far enough ahead to motivate them.” —John C. Maxwell

If you want to be a better boss to your remote employees you have to ensure that the common challenges of remote work are overcome.

What makes remote work beneficial and an opportunity is exactly this digital communication enabled by effective digital tools.

Therefore the leader should make sure that his employees have the right tools to work. Without the right digital tools, the leader cannot have a proper view of team progress, work done, and what the team can achieve.

These tools are effective when they provide:

• Effective communication

• Team visibility

• Strong collaborations

• Mutual trust

• Productivity boost

• Social interactions

In order to maintain a successful partnership between leaders and employees in a remote environment, the presence of these elements is essential.

Take the needed time to analyze if these elements are present or not in your team. What can you do to solve the existing issues? Are the tools you are using negatively impacting productivity and work quality? What platforms can you use to maximize your goals?

To help you a little bit in your research, we offer you a free demo to check our virtual office and the ways how it can benefit your working from the home team. https://www.cubo.to

Lead with empathy

Leading with empathy is not a new concept but it is very essential for successful and happy collaborations.

Whether you want a successful collaboration, loyal employees or to expand your company with different backgrounds, empathy is a key to connecting all of them.

Some practical ways how to lead with empathy are:

Show understanding to your team, especially in difficult situations

This way you will keep some of your good team members for a long time. And when things get uneasy for your company, your employees will “reap you good karma.”

Reward their results.

If your team is doing a good job, let them know. Ensure them that they are in the right direction and their motivation to keep going would go through the roof.

Maintain honest communication with your employees

If you maintain honest communication with them on the importance of tasks, they will reciprocate your effort and be more committed to achieving mutual goals.

Nevertheless, empathy toward your employees should not leave them space to doubt your authority. It’s a common problem for this concept to get slightly abused.

You can be empathic toward your team and still be bold to communicate your concerns and set expectations. That does not make you less empathic but rather more in control of your leadership.

"If you can impact and trigger results, then you can lead." – Cubo Team

Conclusion

In the end, there are diverse ways to be a better boss to your remote team if the will to be better exists.

You do not have to be the friendly boss, the bold boss, or the commanding boss, but rather combine some of their qualities to come up with your own.

Choose your own authentic boss type that makes you who you are and you and your team will achieve massive success.