Don't be a micromanager. Or a laissez-faire one. Do this instead.
Two-and-a-half years down the road, it’s clear that remote work is here to stay. The burden of choreographing the performance of team members, now increasingly dispersed — at home, at the office, and in different time zones — has left many managers unsure about how to best get work done. Not surprisingly, many managers prefer their staff to return to the office, only to face resistance and even rebellion.
On the other hand, insufficient monitoring may lead to a laissez-faire leader, which is also problematic. Janine in my study remarked, “My boss disappears for weeks. He always seems busy in meetings. It is as though we are nonexistent for him. Our group imploded as each team member did their own thing without alignment from the boss!”
A present leader generates better organizational outcomes and increased employee engagement in a virtual environment. Presence here entails being approachable, visible, mindful, and having frequent individual and team check-ins, as well as being a valuable resource to employees in accomplishing their tasks.I joined my firm during the pandemic and had not met anyone in person.
Each Tuesday morning, I had all my supply-chain managers on a call. We would use a dashboard whereby we all would look at our output targets together and work through any reds or yellows on the dashboard, checking what support the folks needed to get it to green. Where there were glaring issues, we would follow up with one-on-one calls. This discipline enabled me to know exactly where everyone was in meeting their targets.