Ontario is currently in the midst of another pandemic-induced lockdown and that means that a lot of businesses will be forced to make some very tough decisions regarding their future practices. Team management adaptability and strong leadership skills are at the forefront of maintaining a successful organization even while most of your employees are expected to work from home. Given the air of uncertainty and indefinite nature of the lockdown, it’s never been more important to hone your leadership skills and work to uplift, support, and empower your colleagues to maintain productivity on their own terms while still working as part of a team.
But where do team leaders turn when they need additional support to help their team members achieve success? Virtual office services in Mississauga and Ottawa can propel your remote leadership skills to the next level and ensure a successful and seamless transition from the hustle and bustle of office life to working from home. Honing the following essential leadership traits can contribute to a positive, motivational, and productive remote working attitude for your team.
Active Communication
As the team leader, the buck stops with you. Pre-pandemic, active team communication was always an important factor in successful collaborations between coworkers. Now that most or all of your team is working remotely, it’s absolutely vital to keep the lines of communication open. Luckily, there are a number of digital platforms and channels that allow you to do this such as videoconferencing, teleconferencing, email, direct messaging, private messaging, etc.
It’s important to make yourself as readily available and easily accessible to your team members as possible, so that they can reach you whenever you’re needed.
Identify High-Risk Employees
Bear in mind that some employees will have a much harder time transitioning to the new normal of working from home than others. Naturally, extroverted people crave working alongside an office full of coworkers, whereas introverts are more comfortable working in a private, quiet space by themselves.
These are two vastly different personality types that require unique methods of professional nurturing in order to yield the best possible results. As the team leader, it’s important for you to completely recognize their unique individual traits and find ways of maximizing these skills while working remotely.
Manage Expectations
The saying “we’re all in the same boat” has been thrown around a lot lately when it would actually be more accurate to say “we’re all fighting against the same storm, but in different boats”. That is to say that this pandemic is affecting everyone—including your employees and colleagues—in different ways. Some of them have family members living with them, while others live by themselves. T
he mental and physical challenges associated with this pandemic and the subsequent social and professional restrictions have varying impacts on different people. Understand that your colleagues are people too and sometimes that means there will be a little bit of a learning curve to deal with as people adapt to working from home.
Emphasize Employee Empowerment
Employee empowerment doesn’t necessarily mean completely handing over the reins to your employees and letting them do whatever they want. Instead, it means being able to delegate tasks and trusting that your employees will work hard to complete them in a timely manner with excellent results. The success of the organization as a whole rests on the backs of hardworking employees such as yourself and your team members. A team leader is only as strong as their team. Your employees reflect the type of leadership and management style that you exhibit to them.
A variety of digital project tracking platforms are available in this day and age. Make good use of them by sharing files, updating important data, and adding relevant employees to each project so they can view and make changes in real-time from home.
Show Compassion
As the manager, your employees are counting on you to prove that you’re a strong enough leader to get your division or organization through this very challenging time. Showing a little compassion, understanding, and humility isn’t a sign of weakness. It proves to your employees and colleagues that you’re human and that you’re willing to make necessary adjustments to help them be the best that they can be.
Compassion is a sign of a truly great and respectable leader. It means you’re taking the time to understand the concerns and needs of your colleagues and want to help them overcome any challenges they may be facing for the greater good of the organization.
Skillful Project Management and Planning
Effective project management and planning has always been a major cornerstone of executing successful business endeavours. The main difference now is that everything has to be done online from a distance, but that doesn’t mean it’s impossible. Using sophisticated software and online tools, you can still successfully manage projects online, setup meetings, set reminders and appointments, and even host virtual events. Secure cloud networks and file sharing platforms also allow your whole team to access important work documents so that everyone stays in the loop at all times.
Encourage Virtual Engagement and Networking
Networking and establishing concrete working relationships is another important aspect of the professional world. It’s a great way to forge meaningful connections and generate innovative ideas that can push your organization forward. Working remotely may be physically isolating for your staff, but that doesn’t mean it has to completely suppress creativity, productivity, or social aspects of their jobs.
Encourage your colleagues to become active members of their online professional communities by engaging more on social media platforms, participating in virtual forums that are centered on their field of interest, and attending professional virtual events.
Rent Virtual Office Space in Mississauga or Ottawa
Innovative Professional Offices provides comprehensive virtual office services to small- and medium-businesses in Mississauga and Ottawa. Our virtual office rentals include an assortment of business support services such as mail receiving, fully trained receptionists, a robust IT department, telephone answering services, high-tech communication equipment, and anything else you may need to successfully manage your team remotely. Contact us today to learn more about our virtual office services in Mississauga and Ottawa.
