Five ways to be a transformational leader in remote world

Transformational leadership has always been called for to build workspaces that are motivating, efficient and charismatic. It is not necessarily a new concept, but most managers often do not end up being leaders. Teams that are led by bosses rather than leaders often experience lower productivity and a high burnout. In remote work, the needed for being a transformational leaders is even higher.

Here are 5 ways in which one can be a transformational leader in remote world:

Be empathetic

Empathy is the foremost characteristic of a transformational leader. In a remote world, the need for being empathetic is even higher. With most of us still trying to adapt to the new normal and uncertainty around the world, managers that are empathetic will relate better to their teams. As your team juggles with work life balance in a remote world, offer support by letting them take off when they are stressed out. Prioritize mental health as loneliness is a common phenomenon in remote work.

Send thoughtful gifts

Show care to your team members by sending thoughtful gifts. As your team no longer meets in real world, these gifts can remind each other of the fun and best moments you had while you were in office. For new recruits, these gifts can help them connect to the organizational culture. Also, you can make this even more fun by organizing a gifting campaign among your team members where they send secret gifts to each other.

Appreciate and reward

Although remote work has many economic advantages to it, the most common downside to it is the inability to connect with an organizational culture and feeling isolated. So, it is important to let your employees know that they are very much a part of the organization and what they do matters. Appreciating and rewarding them for their work will enable them to go the extra mile when needed.

Related:
Ways using which a Leader can achieve long term commitment to the vision?Listen to your team

In remote work, it is easy to mess up with communication. Sometimes, managers are too focused on passing down instructions and not taking feedback. This can be very counterproductive on your team. Let your team express themselves and let them know that they are heard. This will not only improve communication but also build trust.

Prioritize engagement

Remote teams are distributed across geographies with no time, distance, or ethnic boundaries. And technology has enabled remote teams to be as large as needed. Therefore, it is easy to forget the interpersonal relationships. It is important for team members to bond with each other to develop trust, empathy, communication, and collaboration. When team members enjoy working with each other, they perform better. Virtual team building activities like virtual games, ice breaker sessions, virtual puzzle solving, virtual lunches etc proved to improve engagement in teams and help employees come together in a safe and welcoming environment.

Additional Resources:
Employee retention has never been more important than now
Creative ways to engage remote teams
Improving productivity in cross functional remote teams
Dealing with anxiety while working from home