Three Tips for Leading Remote Teams

Let's get this straight! In a remote leadership model, keeping tabs on everything is impossible. Cultivate a strong team culture, establish robust middle management, and solidify processes.

Leading remote teams has become an increasingly common reality in the post-pandemic world. Remote teams, hybrid models, and companies hunting for the best talents wherever they may be are unavoidable realities that leaders must adapt to.

In my case, the post-pandemic "new normal" was coupled with a move to another country in September 2022. The challenge of living in the United States to oversee the operation of Noesis in the U.S., where I have the pleasure of leading a team spread across three different states. And, on the other hand, maintain the Noesis global marketing leadership, leading a group of 13 talented marketers based in Lisbon.

In this context, remote leadership, and the challenge of doing so across different time zones come together.

How to ensure efficient leadership of a team with whom we don't have daily face-to-face interactions?

Here are three ideas:

1. Trust is crucial! 

Without trust in our teams, efficient leadership, especially at a distance, isn't possible. This trust needs to be both felt and demonstrated clearly and unequivocally. Leaders must trust their team and its members.

With trust comes other crucial factors like autonomy, delegation, communication, and transparency. Delegation involves not just tasks but primarily responsibilities. To define owners with autonomy and accountability over specific projects from A to Z.

Trust needs to be bi-directional—trusting the teams but also creating a secure environment where teams can look up to their leader as someone they can rely on when needed. Recognizing and rewarding team efforts gains even more significance in remote leadership. Being able to acknowledge everyone's contribution is also an important step in building that trust relationship.

2. Strong Middle management. 

In remote teams and remote leadership, having a solid middle management layer is crucial. Middle managers should act as the bridge between team leadership and the individuals within it. This intermediate leadership ensures the strategy is implemented correctly and communication flows effectively.

Middle managers should be responsible for providing direction, support, and mentorship for their teams and highlighting and addressing any disruptions or misalignments. In remote leadership, having close middle management is fundamental in bridging that gap.

3. Macro-management and a clear governance model. 

What level of autonomy does the team and its members have? What needs leader validation, what doesn't require approval, and what's the margin of autonomy? What specific points do I want to be informed about? When and in what situations do I want to be part of the decision-making process? Implementing a macro leadership style as opposed to micromanagement allows leaders to ensure a high-level view of operations, focusing on the essentials—the strategic decisions!

On the other hand, having a clear governance model with well-defined guidelines, roles, and responsibilities for each team member will ensure consistency as well as the level of accountability within the team. This framework promotes efficiency and minimizes conflicts and misalignments.

Get it straight! In a remote leadership model, keeping track of everything is impossible. Knowing everything happening, participating in all meetings, reading every email, being part of every decision—let go of that notion. Cultivate a strong team culture, establish robust middle management, and solidify processes. The results will be astonishing.

Originally published in Portuguese for ECO Newspaper - Três dicas para liderar equipas à distância – ECO (sapo.pt)