Agata Woszczyk: “If a manager assumes that only his ideas are the best, then this is the end of management”

How to develop standards of effective communication manager assumes in a distributed team?

The manager should define his expectations and list of kuwait cell phone numbers work out the rules of the game together with the team. These are standards that we should jointly agree on. This means establishing even the simplest rules: do we provide information in the form of points in e-mail communication, do we record the meeting or rather write down a note that we later send to everyone? Standards also define the work culture. If we agree that we will not be late for a meeting, then let’s stick to it. If we assume that only people who absolutely have to be there participate in online meetings, then we do not engage the time of other employees. Above all, we should remember the golden rule of effective communication and implement it every day: if we demand standards from our team, we must first demand them from ourselves.

Keeping participants engaged in video conferences can be an even bigger challenge than in face-to-face meetings. How do you deal with it?

It is difficult to get to know each other better if all we expect is to deliver a report, send an email, or summarize a project. This does not build any bond. In the case of remote team management, unfortunately is it a cookie or a biscuit? pastime is inclusion! we do not have the opportunity to manager assumes go for morning coffee together, and our employees need to understand who they are working with and what values ​​and points of view these people have. So we need to create opportunities for this and plan it, just like other team activities. We can start an online meeting with small talk or activate a channel on the messenger that will be used exclusively to share content unrelated to work – memes or photos from the weekend. The most important thing is for these interactions to be sincere.

First of all, you should avoid so-called talking heads and answer a few questions:

• Why is a meeting held?
• What are my goals, i.e. what do I want my colleagues to leave the meeting with?
• What is the agenda for the meeting? It is worth preparing the plan well in advance so that others can check what will be discussed. If possible, it is worth publishing the agenda online so that other participants can add additional points or comments to it. A meeting note that everyone can follow on an ongoing basis is also extremely helpful.
• Who can be delegated to discuss different meeting points?  This involves different people, requiring them to focus, prepare, and be active.
• How do I want to communicate with my team? If I don’t want to lose at least half of the messages, it’s recommended that all meeting participants have their cameras turned on.

Working remotely, we have much fewer opportunities for integration. So how can we build relationships and strengthen team bonds?

It is always best to start with yourself and your story. Many managers may have a problem with this. This raises concerns about a lack of professionalism or revealing too much private information. On the one hand, the right balance is important, but on the other hand, it is important to remember that if we do not let others get to know us hong kong phone number building a team based on trust can be a really big challenge. Social psychology also draws attention to the so-called propinquity effect , or the effect of closeness. It describes the relationship in which we like people we know better.

It is also equally important to build a culture of appreciation. In remote teams, it is very important to demonstrate that we are on the same team and it is worth – even for small things – appreciating our colleagues and teaching your team to also appreciate each other.

Is an online integration meeting after work hours a good idea?

I wouldn’t suggest doing this after work. We spend many hours in front of the computer anyway and we certainly don’t want to add another one. Every manager should consciously set aside time for discussions unrelated to work. For example, we can start each meeting during the day with a 15-minute conversation on casual topics.

In addition to meetings of the entire team, one-on-one conversations should also take place. Then, you don’t only discuss what happened in the previous week or verify results, but also ask about motivations for action, job satisfaction and the perspective for the coming months. Therefore, paradoxically, listening is a very important element in motivation.

Working from home can also affect our motivation. How can we effectively support our team remotely?

This is perfectly described by the CARE model, i.e. alertness, adaptation, response and empathy. During online meetings, we are not able to read all the messages, e.g. those that flow from body language, which is why we should be more vigilant in detecting reactions. The best thing you can do is to devote time to the conversation, and the worst thing is to have – or rather “mark down on the calendar” – such a meeting and be completely unprepared for it, be late or postpone it at the last minute. As a result, instead of motivating, we will make the team lose trust in us.