What do you do if your leadership style is not effective in a remote work environment?

Having worked in a global MNC, I can vouch that before initiating any changes, a meticulous self-assessment for any leader is imperative. Whether authoritative, collaborative, transactional, transformative, or a hands-free leader, identifying your predominant style is key in virtual era. Crisis situations may demand an authoritative stance for clear direction, while people-centric issues require empathy and fairness. Obtaining a fair assessment, be it through online questionnaires or candid 360 feedback from teams, peers, and managers, helps unveil your leadership SWOT. The DISC profile is also invaluable tool , offering insights into your predominant leadership type or potential blend. This can make a leader finetune accordingly.

Assessing one's leadership style is an important step in the right direction, although the team dynamics in a hybrid environment are quite different from those in an office. The main difference is the lack of pyhisical interaction, visible and invisible norms in terms of what is rewarded, expected and punished at work so it becomes rather clear what the norms are most people conform to. In a hybrid, remote environment most of those clues are missing, team members need more autonomy and skills to make it work. Understanding and flexing the leader's style is as essential as onboarding and managing the team based on the principles of fast-teaming and data-driven profiling tools designed for that specific purpose.

I believe self-assessment as a leader should be an ongoing process, not reserved for when things seem broken. And, without the necessary psychological safety, necessary messages may not be transmitted or received

Take the time to assess your current leadership style and reflect on how it may need to be adapted for remote work. Identify the specific areas where your style may not be effective and consider the reasons behind it. In a remote work environment, clear and frequent communication becomes even more crucial. Emphasize the importance of having the camera on so as a leader, you can read non-verbal cues from Team members as 55% of communication is non-verbal. Utilize all communication channels and platform tools to keep your team informed, aligned, and engaged. Being aware of the need to adapt one's leadership style to meet that of the team takes time to create awareness and then practice flexing.

1. Assess the current situation 2. Seek feedback 3. Educate yourself 4.Communicate clearly and frequently 5. Embrace technology 6. Empower your team 7. Foster a positive remote culture 8. Provide support and resources 9. Adapt and iterate 10. Lead by example

You can go even further and present your findings of your individual interviews in a team meeting to co-create the norms for team effectiveness and include leadership that best serves the team.

Learn about your organization's leadership strategy, mission and reasoning for any work arrangement that's available to your employees. Research shows that it is more important for leaders to be consistently applying the decisions about work arrangements than the arrangements themselves. Be consistent by learning the reasons for the decisions made at the top.

Great leaders have a range of styles in their toolkit, so rather than experimenting randomly with their team as guinea pigs, find out what they individually need and do that!

If you're finding that your leadership style isn't quite hitting the mark in a remote work setting, it might be helpful to start by asking yourself, "What evidence supports this feeling? Are these concerns based on actual observations or are they influenced by limiting beliefs?" If there are tangible signs or feedback from others indicating room for improvement, it could be beneficial to seek input from your team. However, it's crucial to approach this feedback with an open mind and a readiness to accept it without making excuses. I firmly believe that feedback is a valuable gift—it's up to you how you choose to use it.

I'm interested in that this is positioned as 'And finally...'. If I have caught a whiff that my leadership style is not working in a remote environment, consulting with those in my team would be my first not last action. Managers and leaders often struggle with their team working remotely because they haven't shifted gears. I hope I soon stop hearing "I can't wait until things get back to normal!" This is normal - flex and adjust your leadership style accordingly.

El primer paso es aceptar que tu estilo de liderazgo actual no está funcionando en el contexto del trabajo remoto. Esto requiere autoevaluación honesta y apertura a la retroalimentación de tu equipo. Analiza qué aspectos de tu liderazgo no se adaptan al trabajo remoto. Considerar: * Comunicación: Frecuente y clara. * Confianza en tu equipo para trabajar de forma autónoma. * Motiva e inspira a tu equipo a distancia. * Haz un seguimiento adecuado del progreso y la productividad del equipo Mejorar: * Comunicación empática. * Confianza: Establece objetivos claros y proporciona autonomía a tu equipo. * Motivación: Reconoce y celebra los logros del equipo. * Seguimiento: Seguimiento de tareas y proyectos. Da feedback regular y constructivo.

First step - self assessment and team assessment, regarding remote work environment. Harrison Assessment is the best tool for this one, as it has very specific reports for remote work environments. Once that you get to ground zero, talk to your team. Successful remote work is shared responsibility. Leader and team both have to involve themselves in order to adjust, change and create positive ad productive work environment for themselves.

Adapting to a remote work environment may involve refining your communication methods, leveraging technology for collaboration, and fostering a sense of team cohesion through virtual interactions. Consider seeking feedback from your team to identify specific areas for improvement and adjusting your leadership approach accordingly.

Having used our Fast-teaming passport and the training designed for leaders and team members to create swift trust, shared norms and less misunderstandings, 3 patterns emerged: - people quickly notice what they dislike about someone, but they hardly notice other people's strenghts - what people dislike is often based on assumptions, not facts which are also dependant on someone's personal and cultural background - without a specific frame of referenece, vocabulary combined with the fear of making mistakes and political correctness masked as illusion of harmony, people are unlikely to have a constructive and meaningful conversation. That process needs to be facilitated, it is not based on common sense and good intention.

If your leadership style is not getting the results you want, then PAUSE, REASSES, ACK the gap become SELF-AWARE and ADDRESS the BLIND SPOTS Hybrid or otherwise, for a leader to be impactful, the leader needs to know how their strength is serving them and how it is not. Leadership journey is all about self awareness.