The pandemic has forced much of the workforce into remote working, and for many employees, this is the first time they have tried working from home. Although the concept of hybrid or fully remote work was not created during the COVID crisis, we have seen companies adopting these two models for the first time just last year. The restrictions in place have accelerated the trend towards remote working, and now, most workers do want to benefit from a more flexible model.

The employee benefits of remote working are obvious:

• To avoid commuting every day. 
• To improve quality of life and spend more time with the family.
• To protect yourself and your family from potential illness. 

To attract and retain the best talents, it is all about offering flexibility to your team! Leaders need to find the right balance between personal circumstances and business needs. But leaders also need to consider that some employees may miss meaningful interaction about the office, like camaraderie and social networking.

Some leaders feel very comfortable in managing fully remote o hybrid teams, and others do not. The need to adapt quickly to this new reality is critical to perform well and achieve your company´s objectives.

Here are our top recommendations for virtual leaders:

• Lead with empathy: you may believe you know your coworkers well and their professional circumstances, but most of the time, we do not know what is happening in their life. Leading with empathy eliminates the sense of isolation that virtual workers can experience. Empathize with them, ask about their health and family. Let them know that you see them as a person, not just as an employee.

• Trust your team and do not micro-manage: Remember that trust is the oil in the engine. As a leader, your role is to set clear goals and help your team members to achieve them. If some struggle to organize their work, coach them, and then let them organize themselves. Also, an excellent way to build trust is to create a buddy system as part of their virtual team building to support each other.

• Be crystal clear and concise in your communication: When you manage a virtual team, there is a lot more room for misunderstandings. You do not benefit from the tone and body language to help you communicate. Provide enough details and direction to avoid being ambiguous.

• Avoid the “Zoom fatigue” syndrome: Remember that spending the whole day in video-conferencing does not mean your team is being productive. Avoid long virtual meetings and allow your team members for mini-breaks.

Please get in touch with us to find out more about our “Virtual leadership” workshop.

For more information, contact us at info@lucioles.io or follow us on LinkedIn.

About Lucioles

Lucioles is a leader using best practices and the latest innovative technology for Executive & Professional Search, Recruitment, and Corporate Training. We help bring the right talent to your organization and work with you to strengthen your team’s development. We tailor-made training, and we deploy with the highest quality to solve your needs in people and organization development. We help bring the right talent to your organization and work with you to strengthen your team’s development. We tailor-made training, and we deploy with the highest quality to solve your needs in people and organization development.