Stacey Hanke is author of the book “Influence Redefined… Be the Leader You Were Meant to Be, Monday to Monday®.”
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Is your new hybrid workplace challenging your ability to communicate with, influence and truly connect with others? Relationships are often easier to establish face-to-face but become complicated when the only thing that connects you is a computer screen. Break room chats and hallway conversations make building relationships with others organic, increasing your influence and familiarity with each in-person conversation. However, connecting with remote employees requires a concerted effort. Leaders cannot expect this to change anytime soon.
A recent study by Statista found that 44% of employees still routinely work from home, a dramatic increase from only 17% who did so before the Covid-19 pandemic. The shift to fully remote and hybrid teams presents a unique challenge for leaders and colleagues, requiring extra effort to bridge the gap.
Connecting with employees and growing your influence in a new remote work environment doesn’t have to be difficult. Here are four ways leaders can mindfully develop the employee relationships needed for organizational success:
1. Create team routines.
Have your team set aside the first 30 minutes of each workday to determine their top three priorities, review their daily calendar and prepare for upcoming meetings.
Set aside the following 30 minutes for a brief team sync. This daily, predictable video chat will ensure you and your team remain on the same page with daily priorities. It allows everyone to be back briefed on accomplishments from the day before and understand the focus for the upcoming day. The repeated exposure to teammates and leadership will also help establish working relationships despite the distance.
One hour of preparation and conversation can grow your relationship, streamline team communication efforts and help focus everyone on the goals for the day.
2. Provide options.
Give your team multiple ways to reach you during the workday. Provide them access to your calendar or offer times throughout the day when you’re easier to reach. Make yourself accessible by phone, text, email or video, whichever method best fits your employees' needs. Lastly, embrace technologies like Microsoft Teams or Slack. This allows employees to keep you informed of ongoing activities throughout the day and stay connected with other remote peers.
Providing various times and methods to communicate demonstrates your dependability and accessibility. It builds employee trust and conveys you are there to help drive daily conversations and production.
3. Be responsive (and expect responsiveness).
No one appreciates being put on hold, especially when their needs are critical to organizational progress. Avoid becoming an information bottleneck that hinders team productivity and creates frustration. Instead, commit to a reasonable timeframe to respond to employee questions or comments throughout the workday.
For example, if you decide two hours provide you with enough time to respond to remote employee questions or comments, commit to it. Then, ask your team to do the same. If your busy schedule prevents you from committing to a predictable response time, encourage employees to leverage each other for answers. Designate team leads who can act on your behalf to ensure the business continues running smoothly. Your commitment to timeliness can build trust among those who can’t interact face-to-face.
4. Personally connect and offer encouragement.
Remote workers often feel isolated, especially those who used to work face-to-face every day. They often feel lonely, disconnected or fear they are missing out on development and team-building opportunities. Leaders must make an effort to connect with remote workers personally. Start by establishing a team-building activity that encourages socialization—such as a fun game or a Friday afternoon casual recap.
You can also provide growth and development opportunities for everyone, encouraging teams to participate in online learning programs, classes and certifications. Finally, offer encouragement. If your remote employee feels disconnected, spend extra time talking and opening up about fears or frustrations. Set aside your feelings to genuinely listen to what they have to say.
Connecting in our new world of remote work doesn’t have to be difficult, but it does require effort. If you want to bridge the distance gap, implement these four techniques and develop an influential relationship with remote employees based on trust, reliability and responsiveness.
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