Introduction

The way we work has significantly evolved over the last 50 years, from each technological advancement to the recent global pandemic.

But—has management evolved at the same speed? Have leaders adapted the way they work to meet new challenges with skills needed for sustained success?

In this article, we will explore the challenges of leading a remote team—and what skills are needed to meet those challenges. We will also provide several remote leadership training options and leadership styles that facilitate thriving remote environments.

What is remote leadership?

Remote leadership is guiding/directing a remote or partially remote workforce of employees working virtually. While this role still relies on classic leadership skills, understanding the challenges of remote leadership is critical to being able to apply them successfully.

What are the special remote leadership challenges?

Understanding the unique challenges of leading a remote team is the key to being a successful remote leader. Overcoming them is a gradual process that will ultimately allow all the benefits of remote work to be felt by the whole team.

Here are some classic challenges to leading remotely:

Rethinking Systems

• Doing things how you’ve always done them, just remotely, doesn’t work (at least not long term).
• An in-person team might thrive on daily meetings. That same team, if transitioned to remote work, might quickly dissolve into overwhelm if those meetings are simply swapped with back-to-back video calls.   
• The list of systems that need rethinking for remote teams can be daunting: onboarding, training, documentation flows, equipment, trust building, decision making, accountability, and so on. You may need help from a Global PEO to successfully hire, onboard, and manage remote teams.

Team Building

• Creating positive, team-building experiences for employees that combat loneliness and disconnection can be challenging to do remotely (but very possible).

Assessing needs and performance

• Keeping tabs on the pulse of a team is not easy to do when you don’t see them every day.
• Appraising performance will need to be approached and determined differently. The types of needs employees have will shift to include their individual remote working environments.

Preventing burnout and overwhelm

• While the flexibility of remote work can significantly ease feelings of burnout, a sense of isolation can contribute to it. For remote work to be sustainable, employees will need to feel a sense of connection, collaboration, and contribution.

What are the essential remote leadership skills?

You can apply all the classic leadership skills—vision, clear communication, active listening, creativity, problem solving, strategic thinking, empathy, delegation—to remote leadership.

Where and how you apply these skills is what will set you apart as an effective remote team leader. Draw mental lines between the challenges detailed above and the skills listed below. This will help you know how to apply your skills over time to successfully mitigate remote challenges.

Creative communication

• Obviously, communication skills are important when leading a team—but when leading a virtual or hybrid team, you aren’t working with in-person energy and body language. You are observing and facilitating online environments.
• A basic guideline is to touch base with each person reporting to you at least once a week and provide feedback a few times per month. Additionally, create options for connection that aren’t centered around productivity, like virtual lunch sessions or group chats. For more tips, read our guide for keeping remote employees motivated and engaged.

Adaptability

• This skill is necessary at every stage of remote leadership.
• For example, you need to adapt to using more asynchronous communication (information exchanged through messages (e.g., email) over synchronous (real-time, live interaction). While an office environment is naturally fueled with a lot of synchronous communication, a remote environment needs to be fueled with creative, effective asynchronous methods. 
• You will also need to adapt to using the technology that will best serve your team. Recognize what doesn’t work and change it.

Flexibility

• The goal is to create virtual practices that allow for maximum flexibility while still keeping a team connected.
• Keep a balance between cameras on and off, synchronous and asynchronous, productive and bonding. Let employees meet their deadlines in the ways that work best for them. Additionally, investing in app development can further support employee productivity and collaboration, as it will help you streamline processes, facilitate communication, and provide access to essential tools and resources all in one platform.

Cultural sensitivity

• Culture—from the individual to company level—is multifaceted (especially if employees are geographically dispersed) and absolutely critical to understand when leading remote teams.
• A simple way to break down company culture is to look at the four simple, layered components of The Results Pyramid.
• At the base of the pyramid is “Experiences”. Experiences are the core from which everything else stems. Experiences shape beliefs (the next layer), which shape actions (the next layer), which ultimately determine the results (the top of the pyramid).
• Create positive, team-building experiences for employees that shape healthy beliefs about their team and work (thus influencing positive actions and results).