September 26, 2025 • 18 mins
The workplace revolution sparked by COVID has permanently transformed how we lead teams. While many employees have returned to offices, a significant portion of the workforce remains remote, challenging leaders to develop new approaches to connection, communication, and culture-building across distances.
"Remote does not mean removed" serves as our guiding principle as we dive into the six critical challenges facing today's distributed team leaders: communication gaps, trust and accountability issues, isolation and engagement concerns, performance management complexities, culture dilution risks, and the very real problems of tech fatigue and burnout. For each challenge, we offer practical strategies and proven solutions based on real-world leadership experience.
The data speaks for itself—organizations that invest in remote employee engagement see dramatic improvements: 41% reduction in absenteeism, 59% decrease in turnover costs, and 17% productivity gains. We explore how shifting from time-based oversight to outcome-based leadership builds trust while creating autonomy. You'll discover specific rituals that foster belonging across distances, from virtual coffee chats to recognition practices that strengthen team bonds despite physical separation.
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella reminds us that "empathy makes you a better innovator"—a truth that becomes even more critical when leading remote teams. When physical presence disappears, emotional presence must intensify. Through storytelling, vulnerability, and intentional connection, remote leaders can create psychologically safe environments where distributed teams thrive. Share this episode with anyone navigating the challenges of remote leadership, and connect with us at wando75.jw@gmail.com to continue the conversation about effective leadership in our changing world.
Presented by John Wandolowski and Greg Powell
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Well, hello and welcome to our podcast, success
Secrets and Stories.
I'm your host, john Wondolowski, and I'm here with my co-host
and friend, greg Powell.
Greg, hey, everybody.
And when we put together thispodcast, we wanted to put out a
helping hand and help that nextgeneration and help answer the
(00:35):
question of what does it mean tobe a leader.
Today, we want to talk about asubject that I think supports
that concept, about a subjectthat I think supports that
concept.
So today we wanted to talkabout managing remote teams, and
remote does not mean removed.
(00:56):
That's kind of an important keymessage that we want to start
with.
How do you lead in the presenceof distance?
Now, I've seen remote teamsthat are done in the state.
I've seen remote teams in termsof on the global environment,
where it's different countries.
I've also seen it whereorganizations have all their HR
(01:18):
department at home.
None of them are on the site.
So remote communication andremote teams are the wave of the
future and the present, andCOVID pushed us way ahead of
that process.
Before COVID, remote workforceteams were like 7% of the
workforce.
At the moment it's less than50% of the workforce, but still
(01:42):
a significant amount of theworkforce are still working from
home and that kind of shiftreally does push organizations
to manage differently.
And more than likely, if you'relistening to this podcast,
either you or you know someonewho might benefit from a little
bit of this background.
Please share, because that'sthe idea of what we're trying to
(02:04):
do here, is give you some ideasin terms of how to be a leader.
Let's talk about the coreleadership challenges of remote
management and the things thatyou need to try to address Now.
First is communication gaps.
Second would be trust andaccountability.
Third would be isolation andengagement.
(02:26):
When they're isolated,especially when they're overseas
, performance management,culture, dilution, tech fatigue
and burnout All these things arewhat is engagement means when
you're dealing with remote teams.
You have to have at least astrategy to these six key points
(02:50):
.
So let's start with the firstone Communication gaps.
The lack of spontaneousinteractions can lead to
misunderstandings ormisconnections, especially in
terms of context.
Misunderstandings ormisconnections, especially in
terms of context, the leader'sresponse to over-communicate
with clarity and intention tounderstand.
(03:11):
Sometimes there might be atechnical issue that affects
communication.
You need to slow down how fastyou communicate, or maybe it's
the volume of which you'recommunicating.
To establish the norms ofcheck-ins, the norms of updates,
the norms in terms of how thatinformation is brought across.
(03:31):
It helps with the tone tobridge those gaps.
Now there are other things interms of helping communication
that are tools that you shouldkeep in mind that might help
that communication, especiallywhere you're dealing with
different languages.
They have software that canactually create things like
subtitles.
(03:51):
Don't be afraid to usetechnology when it can help you
with communication.
That is a tool that's in yourquiver that you should be using.
That's an arrow you should use.
Teammates will address itemsthat are a concern in terms of
their region and there's thingsculturally that are going to
affect teams.
You have to be asking thosequestions and they have to feel
(04:15):
that they're in an environmentwhere they can share it.
If you are really disconnectingand you think that there's
really an issue in terms of notso much the words but how the
words are intended, don't beafraid to use an interpreter and
decide who gets the interpreter.
But an interpreter can helphandle those communication
(04:38):
issues, especially when it'simportant.
Not a lot of organizations canafford an interpreter, so that's
why the software sometimes isthe best.
Next thing, greg, I think youhave the next key component.
Speaker 1 (04:54):
Thanks, sean.
We're going to call it trustand accountability, although
that's the first cousin of trustand verify right.
So the issue is withoutphysical presence.
Some leaders struggle to trustright?
Are they people doing whatthey're supposed to be doing?
To trust that the work isactually being done?
Leadership response shift fromtime-based oversight to
(05:15):
outcome-based leadership.
What do we get done?
Not how long do people work?
Build trust throughtransparency.
We can clear what's going on.
Don't hide anything.
Recognition when it'sappropriate and consistent
follow through.
Actually meet the team once ayear is a great goal.
(05:35):
If you could pull that off,it's definitely a worthwhile
goal.
If travel a senior manager canbe the issue, encourage a senior
leader from the remote team toyour facility.
Okay, the best option.
Develop trust with honestdiscussions.
Truth is a great tool.
Next one isolation andengagement.
Remote employees may feeldisconnected from the team or
the mission Leadership.
What do they need to do?
(05:56):
Foster belonging throughrituals, virtual coffee chats,
right Shout outs, sharedstorytelling.
Emotional intelligence becomesa strategic asset.
The bottom line engagementwithout issues open up to casual
conversations, and I have somestats that were put together
that I found very interesting.
These stats apply to investingin remote employee engagement.
(06:17):
There's a 41% reduction inemployee absenteeism if you
invest in employee engagement.
59% reduction in turnover andhiring costs, again by investing
in remote employment engagement.
And finally, 17% productivityincrease.
Those are numbers that you wantto hear.
Number four performancemanagement.
(06:39):
So the issue evaluatingproductivity and growth remotely
can be a little tricky becauseit's not right in front of you.
You don't just walk down thehall and observe.
So here's what leadership doesUse clear metrics, regular
feedback loops and personalizeddevelopment plans.
Avoid those one-size-fits-allapproaches because they don't.
They just don't fit them all.
(07:00):
Everyone should have access tothe data on the teams.
If there are major differences,the remote team would know that
they will have to talk aboutthose issues before the meeting.
Again, make sure people haveaccess to the information they
need and if you're managing theteam, call the team or team lead
and make sure that they're notblindsided by a question they're
just not ready for.
(07:23):
There's a fear of culturedilution.
The issue, company culture canfade when teams are dispersed.
If we used to say the furtheraway you are from the mothership
, the culture starts to deviate,and generally not for the
better.
Leadership must become culturecarriers, reinforcing values
through behavior, storytellingand how they make decisions.
(07:44):
So if you're the manager of theremote team's results, you are
the culture that they see.
You're that direct connection.
Bring in guest speakers fromthe company.
Bring in guest speakers on thehistory of the organization.
Have someone from research anddevelopment or marketing talk
about the future.
Get folks fired up, get themengaged in what the thinking is.
You are the leader of remoteteams and your teams need to see
(08:06):
the organization through youreyes.
Speaker 2 (08:09):
John.
The next subject is somethingthat people talk about in terms
of remote.
A lot is fatigue and burnoutand the endless video calls that
blur the boundaries of whereteams actually wear down.
The best leadership responsewould be to model healthy
boundaries, encouragingasynchronous work and
(08:33):
normalizing breaks.
Empathy isn't soft, it'sstrategic.
Go beyond a call volume.
You need to understand how tobuild a bench and a team in
order to handle things likepromotions or turnover.
Part of that is giving peopledifferent assignments in order
to find that engagement, tobuild up that dynamic.
(08:56):
You're going to have peoplethat are going to be leaving and
in order to handle burnout, youneed to also be challenging
that team overall, not just theleader.
Best practices for engagingremote teams Some ideas in order
to try to talk about not justthe structure but the intent of
(09:17):
the connection.
Some best practices areconsistently showing results in
the industry, so there'sstandards that they've seen and
have utilized.
Again, it sounds like ourprevious podcast we talked about
for meetings, setting clearexpectations to define the roles
, the responsibility and thegoals of the framework.
(09:38):
And if you've heard about thesmart idea concept, it's
applying the smart rule.
Take a look in our podcast list.
We've talked about that in thepast.
Share product roadmaps orworkflows to reduce ambiguity
and bottlenecks.
Focus on outcomes, not hours.
Again, if you're just talkingabout the hours, that's what
(10:00):
you'll get.
Be careful what you ask for.
So, if you're asking forspecific deliverables, that's
where you want to be in terms ofcommunicating.
Next is creating rituals ofconnections, starting a meeting
with a personal check-in.
Celebrate wins at the beginningof the meeting, whether they're
large or small.
Give a shout out, even avirtual high five.
I've done that a lot.
(10:21):
It's trying to personalize thatconnection and then normalize
asynchronous communication.
Reduce meeting fatigue byencouraging updates.
Use tools like shared documentsor stack threads or just
looming videos.
You want to try to make surethat you're getting a precise
(10:43):
direction rather than somethingthat's just filling in time.
That's the fastest way to burnout a team.
Build psychological safety Verykey, especially in remote teams.
Encourage vulnerability andopenness.
Ask how does it feel right now,especially if you can create
the one-on-ones.
(11:04):
You're developing that trustand that element that you're
there with them.
Model empathy and admit thatyou don't have all the answers,
but you'll work on helping themfind a solution and do what you
can to help them find solutionswithin the company, but they're
not alone.
Invest in development.
Offer virtual mentorship,stretch assignments and even
(11:29):
stipends if your organization isbased that way.
Design for autonomy.
Clearly define what the goalsare so that people can work
independently.
Avoid micromanaging.
Trust their input.
Trust them that they will takeownership and that really does
(11:50):
fuel engagement.
Reinforce culturalintentionality.
Share stories that reflect yourvalues and encourage them to do
the same.
Make sure that you're doingsomething for onboarding teams
and creating internalcommunication so that they
understand the mission front andcenter.
(12:11):
Greg, I think you have anotherway to take this and have some
fun with it.
I'm a little bit toobusiness-like.
How do you have some fun withthis?
Speaker 1 (12:22):
Absolutely, john.
Here's some examples of fun,effective rituals to connect
remote teams.
So you start off with the oldfavorite virtual coffee chats.
They're casual, they'renon-work conversations and you
schedule them once a week orevery two weeks, rotate hosts
from the different locations tokeep it fresh.
And some teams have eventhought about themes like share
a picture of yourself as a child, maybe a pet, your weirdest mug
(12:47):
, whatever.
Another idea weekly wins andchallenges roundup.
Each team member shares one winand one challenge from the week
, which is great for recognitionand also brings some
camaraderie and team building.
It builds vulnerability,celebrates progress and services
support needs where someonemight need some assistance.
The third word and numbercheck-ins Start meetings with a
(13:09):
one-word emotional state and onenumber for energy level.
It's a quick pulse check thatopens space for empathy and
support.
Themed work days or Slackprompts Example for this would
be throwback.
Thursday share an old photo.
I remember we had a flannelshirt day.
Just, you know, kind of getinto it.
(13:30):
Gratitude Friday shout out, youknow, recognition to a teammate.
These things encouragecreativity and personal
expression.
And then the last oneonboarding buddy system.
Pair new hires with a seasonedteammate for informational
guidance and connection.
So let's have some moreexamples of effective rituals
Recognition rituals, monthlyly,team hero awards, peer-nominated
(13:52):
shout-outs or a rotatinggratitude wall, and this
reinforces values and boostsmorale.
You don't like our suggestions?
Then write your own.
Rituals work best when they'realigned with your team's
personality.
Maybe a simple check-in ritualcan transform a team's dynamics,
especially in high-stakeenvironments like healthcare and
construction.
With your team's personality,maybe a simple check-in ritual
can transform a team's dynamics,especially in high-stake
(14:12):
environments like healthcare andconstruction.
Have some fun creating yourorganization's value support and
have a laugh at the same time,john.
Speaker 2 (14:22):
And I like the idea of trying to find somebody who
understands remote teams reallywell, and the CEO of Microsoft,
sadia Nadella, is obviously aperson who understands the power
of a computer and how to workwith remote teams.
He has a quote Empathy makesyou better innovator.
(14:45):
It's not just nice to have,it's essential to understand the
needs of your team and yourcustomers.
Now this quote speaks directlyto the heart of remote
management teams.
When physical presence isremoved, emotional presence
becomes even more critical.
His own empathy alignsbeautifully with his own
(15:11):
management style, especiallywhen you look at the focus of
mentorship, resilience andbuilding trust across complex
systems.
This CEO understands the powerof a remote team.
Probably the most effectivetool of all the management tools
that you're going to be able tohear about is empathy, to
(15:35):
understand how it relies onlistening and finding those
issues that sometimes are onyour radar and you can catch
them in terms of tone or silenceor the sub-signals that are all
in those virtual spaces Veryhard to do since you're remote.
Critical that you're listening.
(15:55):
Now there's innovation throughlistening when you're asking
questions.
That feels very heavy right now, or I'm just checking in or how
are you doing.
Those kind of likenon-essential conversations also
help in terms of a remote teamunderstanding that they're part
(16:16):
of a team.
But the most important thing interms of remote teams is to
understand that you're mentoringthem and you're building a
legacy and that empathy in termsof how you mentor through a
crisis or through a change isvery transparent to the people
(16:37):
who are listening.
Empathy helps for the people tounderstand where you are and
what you wish that could be doneand how they're doing.
They're listening to your voice.
They're listening to whateverbody language that they can pick
up from that visual image.
If the soul is involved in theprocess, it will hear, and
(16:59):
that's really probably theimportant part listening.
And then the other part that Ithink is a very important tool
to develop in terms of a manageris to be able to storytell and
that you have a storytellingempathy so that you have some
kind of like manuscript or atheme that creates the lens for
(17:22):
them to see and they understandthat this is an important
element of what you think isimportant how you base your
decisions and the family momentsthat you think have real
meaning.
It all gives them a sense ofyour personality and that's
really the toughest part forremote leadership is for them to
see a little bit of you.
So the idea of this podcast isto give you some tools to work
(17:48):
with and within leadership, andhopefully we've done that during
this podcast.
But if you like what you'veheard, I've written a book
called Building your LeadershipToolbox and we talk about tools
like this and it's available onAmazon and Barnes and Noble and
other sites.
The podcast is what you've beenlistening to.
(18:08):
Thank you so much.
It's also available on Apple,google and Spotify.
A lot of what we talk about isfrom Dr Durst and his MBR
program.
If you'd like to know moreabout Dr Durst, you can find out
on successgrowthacademycom andif you'd like to contact us,
please send me a line.
That's wando75.jw at gmailcom,and the music has been brought
(18:34):
to you by my grandson, so wewant to hear from you.
Drop me a line, tell me what'sgoing on, what you like and what
you would like to hear about.
It has always helped us tocreate content.
Thanks, greg, this was fun.
Thanks, john, as always Nexttime.
Thanks, greg, this was fun.
Thanks, john, as always nexttime.
Yeah.
Well, hello and welcome to our podcast, success
Secrets and Stories.
I'm your host, john Wondolowski, and I'm here with my co-host
and friend, greg Powell.
Greg, hey, everybody.
And when we put together thispodcast, we wanted to put out a
helping hand and help that nextgeneration and help answer the
(00:35):
question of what does it mean tobe a leader.
Today, we want to talk about asubject that I think supports
that concept, about a subjectthat I think supports that
concept.
So today we wanted to talkabout managing remote teams, and
remote does not mean removed.
(00:56):
That's kind of an important keymessage that we want to start
with.
How do you lead in the presenceof distance?
Now, I've seen remote teamsthat are done in the state.
I've seen remote teams in termsof on the global environment,
where it's different countries.
I've also seen it whereorganizations have all their HR
(01:18):
department at home.
None of them are on the site.
So remote communication andremote teams are the wave of the
future and the present, andCOVID pushed us way ahead of
that process.
Before COVID, remote workforceteams were like 7% of the
workforce.
At the moment it's less than50% of the workforce, but still
(01:42):
a significant amount of theworkforce are still working from
home and that kind of shiftreally does push organizations
to manage differently.
And more than likely, if you'relistening to this podcast,
either you or you know someonewho might benefit from a little
bit of this background.
Please share, because that'sthe idea of what we're trying to
(02:04):
do here, is give you some ideasin terms of how to be a leader.
Let's talk about the coreleadership challenges of remote
management and the things thatyou need to try to address Now.
First is communication gaps.
Second would be trust andaccountability.
Third would be isolation andengagement.
(02:26):
When they're isolated,especially when they're overseas
, performance management,culture, dilution, tech fatigue
and burnout All these things arewhat is engagement means when
you're dealing with remote teams.
You have to have at least astrategy to these six key points
(02:50):
.
So let's start with the firstone Communication gaps.
The lack of spontaneousinteractions can lead to
misunderstandings ormisconnections, especially in
terms of context.
Misunderstandings ormisconnections, especially in
terms of context, the leader'sresponse to over-communicate
with clarity and intention tounderstand.
(03:11):
Sometimes there might be atechnical issue that affects
communication.
You need to slow down how fastyou communicate, or maybe it's
the volume of which you'recommunicating.
To establish the norms ofcheck-ins, the norms of updates,
the norms in terms of how thatinformation is brought across.
(03:31):
It helps with the tone tobridge those gaps.
Now there are other things interms of helping communication
that are tools that you shouldkeep in mind that might help
that communication, especiallywhere you're dealing with
different languages.
They have software that canactually create things like
subtitles.
(03:51):
Don't be afraid to usetechnology when it can help you
with communication.
That is a tool that's in yourquiver that you should be using.
That's an arrow you should use.
Teammates will address itemsthat are a concern in terms of
their region and there's thingsculturally that are going to
affect teams.
You have to be asking thosequestions and they have to feel
(04:15):
that they're in an environmentwhere they can share it.
If you are really disconnectingand you think that there's
really an issue in terms of notso much the words but how the
words are intended, don't beafraid to use an interpreter and
decide who gets the interpreter.
But an interpreter can helphandle those communication
(04:38):
issues, especially when it'simportant.
Not a lot of organizations canafford an interpreter, so that's
why the software sometimes isthe best.
Next thing, greg, I think youhave the next key component.
Speaker 1 (04:54):
Thanks, sean.
We're going to call it trustand accountability, although
that's the first cousin of trustand verify right.
So the issue is withoutphysical presence.
Some leaders struggle to trustright?
Are they people doing whatthey're supposed to be doing?
To trust that the work isactually being done?
Leadership response shift fromtime-based oversight to
(05:15):
outcome-based leadership.
What do we get done?
Not how long do people work?
Build trust throughtransparency.
We can clear what's going on.
Don't hide anything.
Recognition when it'sappropriate and consistent
follow through.
Actually meet the team once ayear is a great goal.
(05:35):
If you could pull that off,it's definitely a worthwhile
goal.
If travel a senior manager canbe the issue, encourage a senior
leader from the remote team toyour facility.
Okay, the best option.
Develop trust with honestdiscussions.
Truth is a great tool.
Next one isolation andengagement.
Remote employees may feeldisconnected from the team or
the mission Leadership.
What do they need to do?
(05:56):
Foster belonging throughrituals, virtual coffee chats,
right Shout outs, sharedstorytelling.
Emotional intelligence becomesa strategic asset.
The bottom line engagementwithout issues open up to casual
conversations, and I have somestats that were put together
that I found very interesting.
These stats apply to investingin remote employee engagement.
(06:17):
There's a 41% reduction inemployee absenteeism if you
invest in employee engagement.
59% reduction in turnover andhiring costs, again by investing
in remote employment engagement.
And finally, 17% productivityincrease.
Those are numbers that you wantto hear.
Number four performancemanagement.
(06:39):
So the issue evaluatingproductivity and growth remotely
can be a little tricky becauseit's not right in front of you.
You don't just walk down thehall and observe.
So here's what leadership doesUse clear metrics, regular
feedback loops and personalizeddevelopment plans.
Avoid those one-size-fits-allapproaches because they don't.
They just don't fit them all.
(07:00):
Everyone should have access tothe data on the teams.
If there are major differences,the remote team would know that
they will have to talk aboutthose issues before the meeting.
Again, make sure people haveaccess to the information they
need and if you're managing theteam, call the team or team lead
and make sure that they're notblindsided by a question they're
just not ready for.
(07:23):
There's a fear of culturedilution.
The issue, company culture canfade when teams are dispersed.
If we used to say the furtheraway you are from the mothership
, the culture starts to deviate,and generally not for the
better.
Leadership must become culturecarriers, reinforcing values
through behavior, storytellingand how they make decisions.
(07:44):
So if you're the manager of theremote team's results, you are
the culture that they see.
You're that direct connection.
Bring in guest speakers fromthe company.
Bring in guest speakers on thehistory of the organization.
Have someone from research anddevelopment or marketing talk
about the future.
Get folks fired up, get themengaged in what the thinking is.
You are the leader of remoteteams and your teams need to see
(08:06):
the organization through youreyes.
Speaker 2 (08:09):
John.
The next subject is somethingthat people talk about in terms
of remote.
A lot is fatigue and burnoutand the endless video calls that
blur the boundaries of whereteams actually wear down.
The best leadership responsewould be to model healthy
boundaries, encouragingasynchronous work and
(08:33):
normalizing breaks.
Empathy isn't soft, it'sstrategic.
Go beyond a call volume.
You need to understand how tobuild a bench and a team in
order to handle things likepromotions or turnover.
Part of that is giving peopledifferent assignments in order
to find that engagement, tobuild up that dynamic.
(08:56):
You're going to have peoplethat are going to be leaving and
in order to handle burnout, youneed to also be challenging
that team overall, not just theleader.
Best practices for engagingremote teams Some ideas in order
to try to talk about not justthe structure but the intent of
(09:17):
the connection.
Some best practices areconsistently showing results in
the industry, so there'sstandards that they've seen and
have utilized.
Again, it sounds like ourprevious podcast we talked about
for meetings, setting clearexpectations to define the roles
, the responsibility and thegoals of the framework.
(09:38):
And if you've heard about thesmart idea concept, it's
applying the smart rule.
Take a look in our podcast list.
We've talked about that in thepast.
Share product roadmaps orworkflows to reduce ambiguity
and bottlenecks.
Focus on outcomes, not hours.
Again, if you're just talkingabout the hours, that's what
(10:00):
you'll get.
Be careful what you ask for.
So, if you're asking forspecific deliverables, that's
where you want to be in terms ofcommunicating.
Next is creating rituals ofconnections, starting a meeting
with a personal check-in.
Celebrate wins at the beginningof the meeting, whether they're
large or small.
Give a shout out, even avirtual high five.
I've done that a lot.
(10:21):
It's trying to personalize thatconnection and then normalize
asynchronous communication.
Reduce meeting fatigue byencouraging updates.
Use tools like shared documentsor stack threads or just
looming videos.
You want to try to make surethat you're getting a precise
(10:43):
direction rather than somethingthat's just filling in time.
That's the fastest way to burnout a team.
Build psychological safety Verykey, especially in remote teams.
Encourage vulnerability andopenness.
Ask how does it feel right now,especially if you can create
the one-on-ones.
(11:04):
You're developing that trustand that element that you're
there with them.
Model empathy and admit thatyou don't have all the answers,
but you'll work on helping themfind a solution and do what you
can to help them find solutionswithin the company, but they're
not alone.
Invest in development.
Offer virtual mentorship,stretch assignments and even
(11:29):
stipends if your organization isbased that way.
Design for autonomy.
Clearly define what the goalsare so that people can work
independently.
Avoid micromanaging.
Trust their input.
Trust them that they will takeownership and that really does
(11:50):
fuel engagement.
Reinforce culturalintentionality.
Share stories that reflect yourvalues and encourage them to do
the same.
Make sure that you're doingsomething for onboarding teams
and creating internalcommunication so that they
understand the mission front andcenter.
(12:11):
Greg, I think you have anotherway to take this and have some
fun with it.
I'm a little bit toobusiness-like.
How do you have some fun withthis?
Speaker 1 (12:22):
Absolutely, john.
Here's some examples of fun,effective rituals to connect
remote teams.
So you start off with the oldfavorite virtual coffee chats.
They're casual, they'renon-work conversations and you
schedule them once a week orevery two weeks, rotate hosts
from the different locations tokeep it fresh.
And some teams have eventhought about themes like share
a picture of yourself as a child, maybe a pet, your weirdest mug
(12:47):
, whatever.
Another idea weekly wins andchallenges roundup.
Each team member shares one winand one challenge from the week
, which is great for recognitionand also brings some
camaraderie and team building.
It builds vulnerability,celebrates progress and services
support needs where someonemight need some assistance.
The third word and numbercheck-ins Start meetings with a
(13:09):
one-word emotional state and onenumber for energy level.
It's a quick pulse check thatopens space for empathy and
support.
Themed work days or Slackprompts Example for this would
be throwback.
Thursday share an old photo.
I remember we had a flannelshirt day.
Just, you know, kind of getinto it.
(13:30):
Gratitude Friday shout out, youknow, recognition to a teammate.
These things encouragecreativity and personal
expression.
And then the last oneonboarding buddy system.
Pair new hires with a seasonedteammate for informational
guidance and connection.
So let's have some moreexamples of effective rituals
Recognition rituals, monthlyly,team hero awards, peer-nominated
(13:52):
shout-outs or a rotatinggratitude wall, and this
reinforces values and boostsmorale.
You don't like our suggestions?
Then write your own.
Rituals work best when they'realigned with your team's
personality.
Maybe a simple check-in ritualcan transform a team's dynamics,
especially in high-stakeenvironments like healthcare and
construction.
With your team's personality,maybe a simple check-in ritual
can transform a team's dynamics,especially in high-stake
(14:12):
environments like healthcare andconstruction.
Have some fun creating yourorganization's value support and
have a laugh at the same time,john.
Speaker 2 (14:22):
And I like the idea of trying to find somebody who
understands remote teams reallywell, and the CEO of Microsoft,
sadia Nadella, is obviously aperson who understands the power
of a computer and how to workwith remote teams.
He has a quote Empathy makesyou better innovator.
(14:45):
It's not just nice to have,it's essential to understand the
needs of your team and yourcustomers.
Now this quote speaks directlyto the heart of remote
management teams.
When physical presence isremoved, emotional presence
becomes even more critical.
His own empathy alignsbeautifully with his own
(15:11):
management style, especiallywhen you look at the focus of
mentorship, resilience andbuilding trust across complex
systems.
This CEO understands the powerof a remote team.
Probably the most effectivetool of all the management tools
that you're going to be able tohear about is empathy, to
(15:35):
understand how it relies onlistening and finding those
issues that sometimes are onyour radar and you can catch
them in terms of tone or silenceor the sub-signals that are all
in those virtual spaces Veryhard to do since you're remote.
Critical that you're listening.
(15:55):
Now there's innovation throughlistening when you're asking
questions.
That feels very heavy right now, or I'm just checking in or how
are you doing.
Those kind of likenon-essential conversations also
help in terms of a remote teamunderstanding that they're part
(16:16):
of a team.
But the most important thing interms of remote teams is to
understand that you're mentoringthem and you're building a
legacy and that empathy in termsof how you mentor through a
crisis or through a change isvery transparent to the people
(16:37):
who are listening.
Empathy helps for the people tounderstand where you are and
what you wish that could be doneand how they're doing.
They're listening to your voice.
They're listening to whateverbody language that they can pick
up from that visual image.
If the soul is involved in theprocess, it will hear, and
(16:59):
that's really probably theimportant part listening.
And then the other part that Ithink is a very important tool
to develop in terms of a manageris to be able to storytell and
that you have a storytellingempathy so that you have some
kind of like manuscript or atheme that creates the lens for
(17:22):
them to see and they understandthat this is an important
element of what you think isimportant how you base your
decisions and the family momentsthat you think have real
meaning.
It all gives them a sense ofyour personality and that's
really the toughest part forremote leadership is for them to
see a little bit of you.
So the idea of this podcast isto give you some tools to work
(17:48):
with and within leadership, andhopefully we've done that during
this podcast.
But if you like what you'veheard, I've written a book
called Building your LeadershipToolbox and we talk about tools
like this and it's available onAmazon and Barnes and Noble and
other sites.
The podcast is what you've beenlistening to.
(18:08):
Thank you so much.
It's also available on Apple,google and Spotify.
A lot of what we talk about isfrom Dr Durst and his MBR
program.
If you'd like to know moreabout Dr Durst, you can find out
on successgrowthacademycom andif you'd like to contact us,
please send me a line.
That's wando75.jw at gmailcom,and the music has been brought
(18:34):
to you by my grandson, so wewant to hear from you.
Drop me a line, tell me what'sgoing on, what you like and what
you would like to hear about.
It has always helped us tocreate content.
Thanks, greg, this was fun.
Thanks, john, as always Nexttime.
Thanks, greg, this was fun.
Thanks, john, as always nexttime.
Yeah.
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