Struggling to Thrive as a Large Team Working Remotely? This Exec Has the Field Guide You Need

Struggling to Thrive as a Large Team Working Remotely? This Exec Has the Field Guide You Need

Maggie Leung built out the 80-person fully remote content team that's helped NerdWallet stand out. Here are her tips for executives who are now tasked with leading large teams working remotely for the first time.

MEETING THE MOMENT: START OFF BY RECOGNIZING THIS ISN’T BUSINESS AS USUAL

“Telecommuting can work really well. We have six years of metrics on throughput, morale, engagement, talent retention and business results to prove that across our large content team,” says Leung. “But a lot of people are struggling with working remotely right now because they had to switch overnight without any prep. And there’s the stress of a worldwide pandemic on top of that. So my first pointer is that no one should judge the merits of remote work based on these kinds of conditions.”

Even with all its experience, her team is in the exact same boat. “To be fully transparent, our team has excelled at telecommuting for six years and we’re still facing significant challenges now,” says Leung. “We have people suddenly at home with young kids or trying to help college-age kids who are stranded or struggling. Folks are worried about how to help loved ones who are immunocompromised, or who are dealing with loved ones losing their jobs. All those things impact humans, so they impact our team, no matter how long or how well we’ve been working remotely.”

With this important caveat in place, Leung addresses remote work detractors more generally. “When people say that telecommuting isn’t as efficient or as effective as working co-located, it’s probably because they don’t know how to do it well, not because it’s not doable. The thing is, it’s all learnable if people want to learn it. And I’d say it’s important to learn. Even before coronavirus, I’ve always felt that knowing how to manage well remotely was a competitive advantage,” she says.

TESTED TIPS FOR LEADING LARGE TEAMS AND MAKING IT WORK (FROM HOME)

“One of the biggest risks at times like this — when there’s a lot of change or uncertainty — is for leaders to pretend to have certainty or all the answers. That can lead to inflexibility. You choose cookie-cutter solutions or attempt quick fixes that don’t evolve as circumstances change,” says Leung.

1. Create space for conversations — and try to cultivate that “we’re all in this together” feeling.

The first line-item on the newly-minted remote leader’s checklist is to make sure you’re spending enough time listening to your team and their individual concerns. “All the managers on our team normally keep an eye on morale and challenges, but that’s especially acute now, with so much turmoil going on around the world,” says Leung. “You don't want to end up with people feeling isolated or burnt out. If they’re feeling trapped or losing their sense of support, that can easily show up in their work, in how they interact with others, in their health — and none of that is good for individuals, teams or managers.”

To address this, Leung recommends creating space for such conversations:

2. Invest in relationships and set a cultural North Star.

It’s especially easy for remote relationships to fall into a trap of cutting the small talk and getting straight down to business. “That creates an unnecessary ceiling for the team and the company. Managers can never help bring out the best in people if they don’t get to know them as individuals. People with stronger relationships tend to be more willing to be candid, to give each other the benefit of the doubt and offer goodwill, and to help even when things go wrong. And people rarely run through walls for transactional leaders,” says Leung.

3. Fight fires with candor.

Candor and directness are vital for any thriving team, but they’re often overlooked when working remotely. “Don’t wait for fires to catch, because with telecommuting, they might reach the full-blown conflagration stage before you even realize it. If you’re worried about something or something’s bugging you, say so,” says Leung.

4. Shine a spotlight on what good looks like.

Leung has also noticed that managers of remote teams tend to miss opportunities to elevate role models or highlight strong examples of best practices or key wins. “ It’s not just that someone did well, it’s the explanation of how they did it that often goes missing on remote teams.” Leung’s team constantly pools know-how by sharing problems and solutions.

5. Connect the dots, relentlessly.

This is one Leung recommends underlining and returning to, especially for remote teams. “It’s a realization I wish I had a lot sooner. When you telecommute, it’s much easier for information to become siloed.”

6. Don’t unintentionally undermine your team.

It’s crucial for managers to share information consistently — and avoid doling it out randomly. “Information is power,” says Leung. “If you share it in ways that look like you're playing favorites, you’re telling the rest of your team that they can’t be fully recognized on merit alone.”

TROUBLESHOOTING TEAMS: HANDLING ISSUES REMOTELY

Of course, with even all the best practices in place and good intentions in the world, performance issues and thorny team challenges will still rear their heads virtually. “Problems crop up all the time, so you want to have shared resources whenever reasonable. If you have processes, make sure you document them so they’re self-serve,” says Leung.

1. People who aren't working well remotely.

When hiring remotely, you need to flex a muscle for sussing out someone's ability to do the job virtually. “You want to ask about initiatives they drove, how they managed time, how much guidance they needed, how self-starting they are, how they got buy-in from various stakeholders and took into account different perspectives,” says Leung.

2. Teams that were already struggling before the shift to remote work.

Even managers with inherited teams or uneven performers have the opportunity to turn things around. “If things haven’t been going well even in the office before the coronavirus outbreak, teams now have a chance to be honest with one another and to call for a ‘reset,’” says Leung.

3. Middle managers who aren’t delivering.

With large remote teams, having strong middle managers is especially important. “Most of their daily work life — good or bad — is shaped by their direct managers,” she says.

TYING IT ALL TOGETHER: QUESTIONS TO ASK BEFORE TRYING OUT A NEW REMOTE WORK TACTIC

“What works for our remote team are things that work for all humans — trust, transparency, clear communication, clear expectations, mutual respect, accountability and camaraderie,” Leung says. “ When it comes to remote work, there’s no huge secret or magic potion. To make our large remote team work, we do a lot of small things consistently and we know that every element matters. It’s like going to the gym every day — everyone knows it’s healthy, but not everyone does it consistently. We also know we’re not perfect, that we’ll screw things up along the way, that we’ll fall short. That’s okay. We know what our North Star is, and we all have a chance to do better every day.”