If we can’t be toe to toe, we must be ‘face to face’.
“How to increase employee engagement virtually for remote employees”
-Nathan Jamail, Keynote Speaker, Bestselling Author
What does it mean to be face to face if we can’t be toe to toe? Let me explain: toe to toe is when we are are able to stand in front of our team members or walk into their office – toe to toe is in person communication. Face to face is communicating via videoconferencing i.e. WebEx. If you are unable to meet toe to toe (a powerful way to coach and motivate your teams) don’t remove the very connection that makes your team a team and don’t just try to make it work using limited interaction with email check-ins, phone calls and text messages.
Take the time to implement and engage with video conferencing. Right now we all are struggling with social distancing and balancing out the impacts on our families and our businesses. Which include coaching and motivating our teams. Social distancing or separation does not have to mean ineffective leadership or coaching however. Tools to meet online ‘face to face’ have been around for awhile and now is the time to not just try them with your team members (if you haven’t already) but it is time to learn how to thrive with them. I have personally been using Webex and video conferencing for several years for large virtual trainings, one on one coaching days and coming soon our very first family Easter dinner and prayer.
The goal: implement a daily and weekly video conferencing program as well as a personal discipline system for it.
Three simple things you can do today to get started:
1. If you are used to seeing your employees every morning, then start a morning kick off coffee WebEx. Keep it fun & short, but make sure there is value; what is the day’s plan? It should have leadership guidance and/or possible scrimmage opportunity (what can you practice for today). 8am daily morning ‘break room’ meeting
2. Turn your weekly staff meetings into a powerful virtual video meeting. Leaders create the agenda that includes practicing a skill (there is not a better time than now to start practicing and perfecting professional skills), highlight wins and offer encouragement. Coaches coach employees while others just give advice or ‘wait to see what happens’. Weekly practice meetings
3. Conduct 30-45 minute weekly one-on-one coaching video sessions with each of your direct reports. Also if you are a leader of leaders, mandate your management teams do the same with their team members. Remember leaders will lead and coach the way their leader leads and coaches.
Rules for leading virtually:
Rule 1: The fact that it appears harder to do, the more important it is to do it.
Rule 2: Because it is more important to do, the impact of NOT doing it has a bigger negative significance.
Explanation for both rules:
The key is to create high intensity, powerful human connection and employee development even though no one is in the same room or even in the same state or country.
Excuse you will hear/get/feel: “It’s hard to do weekly group coaching meetings (weekly staff/sales meetings) because everyone is in different time zones and they have their own schedules to work through”. “Oh and it is just a waste of time”.
Fact: One of the biggest issues for remote employees is complacency and without consistent and impactful engagement with leadership and the team- the complacency widens and growth and success dwindles.
Final Thoughts:
In 2021 there are going to be those leaders that blame their lack of results on the epidemic of 2020- and there are going to be those leaders that credit their success of 2020 on the epidemic of 2020. The only difference is not the epidemic or the impact- it is how each leader decided to react to the issue. Don’t wait to see what happens, do something now and let others see what happens based on your focus and action.
