3 Tips to Improve Leadership When Working from Home

With the events going on today, more and more employees are working from home when possible. Leading from home during COVID has presented unique challenges that you may not have experienced before as a leader. Don’t worry though, you can still be a good leader while managing your remote workers. The goal here is to give you some of the best tips to help improve your leadership effectiveness while remote your organization can remain both safe and successful.

1) Be Empathetic

Times are challenging right now for many people. You have to remember that these employees are juggling their normal workload and other responsibilities, such as managing remote learning in many cases. They have to manage their kids when they aren’t “in school” while also working. Parenting is difficult enough, and work is stressful and challenging enough that it is time to show empathy. You may have employees that are single parents, married with children, or single without kids, no matter what though there are additional external factors to consider. Every employee has a different situation that they are dealing with during these unique and challenging times. Being empathetic can help them get through this period without becoming burnt out and remaining motivated and effective.

2) Constant Communication, Without Micro-Managing

A significant challenge for leaders is that they can’t see their employees’ work because they are used to walking over to their desk to see their progress or have regular in-person meetings to get updates. Micro-managing your employees is proven not only to reduce productivity, but it can also create a stressful situation for others that may lead to severe strain on the team and organization. There is a way to ensure constant communication without being so overbearing that the employees can’t get anything done. You have to reduce your grip on the reins on the employees and trust that you hired the right team to take on these tasks.

3) Get Creative

These are unprecedented times, which means that you may need to start thinking outside the box. You may need to find new approaches to managing your employees. Maybe this means utilizing technology to have virtual meetings, allowing the staff to get the socialization they miss from being in the office while keeping everyone up to date on what is going on. With a little creativity, you can create the perfect solutions for your workers to improve productivity, keep the morale up, and overcome the unique challenges your company faces.

Conclusion

Being a leader can be exceptionally difficult these days, especially when managing your team while working from home. As a leader, it’s crucial that you adapt and pivot as needed, especially when it comes to the means at which you communicate and work together. These are just some general tips that can improve your leadership while working from home. By following these, you will notice a significant improvement in your staff’s productivity and efficiency that will also help ensure that your valuable employees are still with your company when you are all able to return to work.