{"id":2164,"date":"2016-01-11T16:56:30","date_gmt":"2016-01-11T21:56:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/?p=2164"},"modified":"2016-01-08T17:40:29","modified_gmt":"2016-01-08T22:40:29","slug":"leading-a-remote-team","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/leading-a-remote-team\/","title":{"rendered":"Leading a Remote Team"},"content":{"rendered":"

Editor’s Note: Jim Cucinotta is a very senior executive, with over 20+ years of experience in leading sales, marketing, and operations teams. \u00a0He is also an author on Flevy. \u00a0You can\u00a0view his firm’s business\u00a0training guides\u00a0here<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0* * * *<\/p>\n

\"Medvedev_and_Nurgaliev_TANDBERG_Tactical_MXP\"Technology has made physical location a non-factor in recruiting talented leaders.\u00a0 Companies want the right person for the job regardless of where they live.\u00a0 This creates a lot of logistical challenges for the leaders.\u00a0 They need to learn the company culture, develop relationships with their virtual team members and key internal constituents, and focus on excelling in their position- all without the benefit of being situated in their company\u2019s offices.<\/span><\/p>\n

While it is easier to \u201csee your team\u201d via conference call apps like Skype, Go to Meeting, etc., leading your team takes more personal touch than a five minute video chat.\u00a0 By taking the time to develop the repertoire with your team, you will be seen as always there- even if you are 5000 miles away.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Be Personal.\u00a0<\/strong> One of the fastest ways to build trust is to find common ground.\u00a0 Take the time to ask members about their work and personal lives.\u00a0 And be sure to share about yours.\u00a0\u00a0 People like to work with people they like.\u00a0 This is especially true when they do not have the benefit of physical interaction.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
      \n
    1. Be Honest.\u00a0<\/strong> That uncomfortable pause in a video or phone conversation yields immediate distrust.\u00a0 Instead of umming your way through a tough question until you come up with a scrubbed answered, redirect the question for more clarification.\u00a0 This gives you time to find the right answer and gives you more insight on why the question is being asked.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
        \n
      1. Be Mindful.\u00a0<\/strong> No one wants to hear from you at 5 pm on a Friday in your time zone.\u00a0 They really don\u2019t want to hear from you when it is 8 pm in theirs.\u00a0 Be respectful of your team\u2019s time and they will be respectful of yours.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
          \n
        1. Don\u2019t Gossip.\u00a0<\/strong> Trying to be \u201cdialed in\u201d on company romances and other gossip is not your position in the company.\u00a0 It is very destructive to your authority when you are probing about water cooler rumors.\u00a0 It opens you up for people talking about you- and you never having it get back to you until it is too late.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
            \n
          1. Yourself.\u00a0<\/strong> Being a successful leader always boils down to people follow someone they trust, like and respect.\u00a0 Putting up a false bravado does not instill any of the three.\u00a0 If you are struggling with dealing with a particular department, ask a colleague for help.\u00a0 Showing that you are a real person will work wonders.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
              \n
            1. Be Truthful.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/strong>It is hard enough to tell and remember a lie when you see people every day.\u00a0 It is impossible when distance is involved.\u00a0 If you only tell the truth, it is easy to remember what you told people.\u00a0 If a part of a project won\u2019t be done until Friday, tell people that.\u00a0 Telling one person Thursday and another Monday will yield unnecessary confusion for you.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

              As with most of the topics I cover, the key to being a successful leader is always the same.\u00a0 Be true to yourself and your team, and people will want to follow you- regardless if you are in the next room or on another continent.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

              Editor’s Note: Jim Cucinotta is a very senior executive, with over 20+ years of experience in leading sales, marketing, and operations teams. \u00a0He is also an author on Flevy. \u00a0You can\u00a0view his firm’s business\u00a0training guides\u00a0here. \u00a0* * * * Technology has made physical location a non-factor in recruiting talented leaders.\u00a0 Companies want the right person… Leading a Remote Team<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":78,"featured_media":2165,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"neve_meta_sidebar":"","neve_meta_container":"","neve_meta_enable_content_width":"","neve_meta_content_width":0,"neve_meta_title_alignment":"","neve_meta_author_avatar":"","neve_post_elements_order":"","neve_meta_disable_header":"","neve_meta_disable_footer":"","neve_meta_disable_title":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[408],"tags":[106,1016,1017],"class_list":["post-2164","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-management-leadership","tag-leadership","tag-remove-work","tag-virtual-team"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2164","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/78"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2164"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2164\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2194,"href":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2164\/revisions\/2194"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2165"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2164"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2164"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2164"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}