The rise of the home office brings with it a set of challenges for business managers, who must adapt to a virtual context, even when this scenario is not their favorite. Without a doubt, the remote modality is here to stay, becoming an essential element to retain talent.
Executive coaching offers invaluable strategic contributions in this environment. It goes beyond simple compliance with legal aspects, and seeks to consolidate a high-performance team, which requires achieving it from a distance.
Here are some ideas that could serve as a checklist to evaluate your approach:
1.- Establishment of clear and achievable goals: transmitting realistic objectives in a virtual environment is essential. Sometimes it is wrongly assumed that being at home, all the time is for the company.
2.- Development of effective communication and collaboration skills: reinforce active listening, empathy and assertiveness to promote mutual help and understanding. There are digital tools that facilitate this interaction.
3.- Time management and self-discipline: respecting schedules, setting a dress code and rules for communications, such as visibility on camera, are key elements.
4.- Promotion of work-life balance: separating the personal sphere from the work sphere in a teleworking context, so that they are differentiated.
5.- Adaptation of leadership qualities to virtual environments: let us remember that a good leader brings out the best in each of the members and knows how to properly manage conflicts. The challenge is that physical distance can make this coexistence difficult and a greater degree of perception is required.
6.- Creation of a positive virtual culture: promote inclusion, respect and transparency. The idea is to go beyond work, fostering friendships that contribute to mutual support.
7.- Strive for innovation and creativity: stimulate diversity of thought and organize virtual brainstorming sessions. It is crucial to encourage the participation of those who, due to their nature, tend to speak little.
8.- Implementation of flexible work policies: combine the best of both worlds, office and virtuality, asking teams to do certain days of in-person work.
9.- Promote professional growth and continuous learning: offer training opportunities. In fact, the virtual environment is suitable for ongoing training.
10.- Use of technology to facilitate contact: verify that people have access to the necessary tools.
11.- Seek the well-being and mental health of everyone: stay close to the team, not only in work matters, but also to have informal conversations and understand your environment.
How do you feel about virtual work? Comment me on social networks such as LinkedIn, Instagram or Twitter and follow me on the “Money and Happiness” podcast, on Spotify, Apple Podcast, among others.
