Influential leaders enhance employees’ productivity by getting them to collaborate rather than making demands. Workers are more communicative and creative when they are not micromanaged. If encouraging teamwork is difficult in an office setting, what about remotely? Remote working is one of the transformations that has been instigated by the pandemic. Therefore, there is an increased need for leaders to cultivate a culture of teamwork outside the office setting.
Here are ways to encourage teamwork remotely.
Create A Reliable Communication Channel
Thanks to technological advancement, it has made it easier for intuitive, lightning-fast, and stacked communication among remote teams.
Today, multiple communication apps allow remote workers to share ideas in a group channel. Leaders can use these apps to track documents or send reminders to remote employees.
Additionally, there are multiple apps to improve workflow. Apps like Trello allow leaders to create a project, add project members, set deadlines, and monitor the progress from the initiation to the completion stage.
Create A Digital Water Cooler
Every organization should have space to discuss non-official things such as trendy clothing, movies, sports, the newest restaurant in town, and politics. Casual communication helps workers to connect. Holding informal communication among remote teams can be quite daunting.
Leaders should create a platform where workers can share recent recipes, current shows on Netflix, and sports outcomes at the end of the week. Managers should put a video conferencing with no other purpose than hanging out.
Promote Accountability
Remote working is fueled by trust. It’s difficult for leaders to supervise remote employees since they cannot see each other. For that reason, leaders must cultivate a culture of trust to encourage remote teams to work to the best of their ability while no one is watching them.
Leaders can enhance trust by ensuring that each member knows their responsibilities and understands what they should contribute to meet company goals.
Give Feedback
Giving feedback comes naturally while in a conventional office setting. But with remote teams, leaders have to be intentional about it. Managers should prioritize giving feedback both formally and informally. Feedback can be supported by post-project commentary, performance reviews, and peer surveys. Besides, leaders should normalize appreciating their team and giving credit where due. Employees tend to be intrinsically motivated when their hard work is recognized.