Lead Your Leaders

Leading Differently in a Remote World

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Episode notes

"How do you lead well when Covid has changed the landscape of how to lead people now that they are mostly working from home?"

It has been fascinating to see how leaders and teams have risen to the challenge of being forced to do something so differently with the shift to suddenly working remotely. Listen into today’s episode with Christa Hutchins on how expectations for the way we lead have forever changed. 

Our past leadership paradigm involved managing expectations by trading time for money. You track hours or set the number of hours someone needs to be working and manage to that expectation.

In our remote world, the paradigm must shift to clarifying expectations based on the desired outcomes or the results you want to see rather than the time it takes to do it. You can ease up the tension of this transition by having conversations to clarify outcomes.

In a remote team, we’ve moved from trading time for money to trading money for outcomes.

Our teams are experiencing new kinds of stress at home and work. The more you can remove the stress of “time” and point to “outcomes” instead – the more motivation and engagement you will experience with your people. 

Clear expectations can create security in an uncertain world.

QUICK TIPS TO LEAD REMOTELY:
  • Schedule intentional “stopping points” to replace the natural check-in’s that happen in the rhythm of a day or week when you are in the same building
  • Be bold and create your version of a “water cooler” conversation remotely
  • Pay special attention to integrate new team members into the virtual social rhythms that occur naturally and can be easily missed in a virtual workplace
  • Offer reassurances when people are in transition either moving remote or moving back into the office
  • Set a block of time that becomes “core” meetings and the other time offers flexibility to get work done or address family issues and then finish tasks later in the evening
  • Talk about changes in work style expectations: video meeting etiquette, meeting structures, team interactions, personal connections, work check ins

Thank  you for joining us for ideas to help you get more savvy in leading in this rapidly changing world where remote teams will shape our leadership experience. Our special guest today, Christa Hutchins is owner of Do A New Thing, equipping busy communicators and leaders with project management and problem solving skills so they can turn their big ideas into a successful ministry or business. She is passionate about teaching women to find practical application of the Bible in their personal, professional and ministry lives. Christa lives in south Louisiana with her husband in their delightfully empty nest. 

And answering questions is our gig here . . . if you’ve got them we want to answer them, so send your question HERE – in writing or by recording 

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