Lead your team with a vision, while Working From Home

Many people around the globe are working from home right now, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This happened all of a sudden and people were not ready. Most companies are doing well after 3,4 weeks since the employees were already used to work remotely.

Working from home during pandemic seems more challenging than the usual work pattern. Here’s my two cents in to the whole unusual and new “working from home until God knows when” culture we are sort of forced to embrace.

Have a plan

Be prepared. Although we are in the middle of a pandemic, think ahead and plan for handling the worst. You might have to consider facts like,

• Impact on the stakeholders, business and customers in economical and financial aspects
• Infrastructure and Human Resource Management
• Communication between the team members and stakeholders
• Future of the Product or service

Active communication

Communication is crucial in the current situation. Since the team is working remotely, they need to keep an active communication between each other while working.

Encouraging team members to actively take part in the limited number of discussions that are taken remotely, is necessary. Because that is the only time that they can elaborate on their progress or impediments, unlike at office, where they have been used to raise any concerns at the very moment they were discovered.

One good thing I have experienced is, most of the non-talkative team members tend to open up to you during this period. This was a good opportunity for me to build up a better connection with low-key team members in my team.

Motivate your team

Longer working hours, Isolation and negative effects on occupational health ,well-being and Increased risk of burnout are some disadvantages of this pandemic. It is necessary to keep your team motivated.

Emphasizing the bright side of working from home will help motivate the team. Work-life balance, family engagements, cost reduction, and flexibility in work time can be used as proven facts within this process.

Always check on your team members if they have any difficulties with various things such as connectivity or even their health conditions. As a practice, I try to have casual chats with the team members more often. This will eventually come in handy when they try to adapt to an isolated work pattern.

Deal with different personalities

Recognizing the team members with special qualities is useful for you as a lead, in spite of the pandemic. When working remotely, you might be able to identify personalities of team members more than when you were working closely at the office.

This is very important because it is very helpful when you possess an energetic and a supportive team with positive attitudes.

Let’s say there is someone who is spreading negative vibes within the team. Try to find a way of dealing with that member by having a positive attitude . Remember, you will find answers easily when you consider their psychology and personality. Also, having some empathy helps to identify and resolve different problems of different people.

Lead role players and positivity spreaders

Something that helped me a lot during this pandemic is the fact that, there have been emerging leaders and Pollyannas. They have been such a blessing on the productivity of the team. They tend to keep the team bonded and on a positive warm place to work with courage during this unusual working life. Let them lead the small groups/ sub teams and shine.

Overcome problems with best possible solutions

Review the working methodology your team follows. There might be process updates you need to pay attention to. There can be newer problems that were emerged within the team while working remotely. Always identify the blockers and find the best possible solution to fix them. This can increase the productivity of the team.

All in all, the pandemic forcing the working from home culture has surely been a challenge. These were some of the ways that I could personally overcome such challenges. Yet, every other team might have a unique culture. Observe carefully, and apply these if you see a fit.

Leave a comment and let me know what your unique challenges were and how you overcame them.