How to Manage a Remote Team: Clarity, Core Values and Results

0:02Welcome to Leadership DNA, a podcast for those who aspire to be a better leader. Alongside Arturo Gomez, I'm Rob Cressy. And today's topic, strategies for managing a remote team. And Arturo, remote work is a big part of business today, and how leaders can adapt and still make a difference with their teams. Yeah, I mean listen, I think remote work has been occurring for some time. Obviously the pandemic heightened it and kind of expanded it to a crazy level where to the point of part of our corporate structure, part of this idea of remote work, some aspects of it may never come back. I want to challenge this conversation though, and I think there's two forms in my mind, two forms of remote work.

0:55One is this concept that we're talking about where people are working from home and you know, we're using Zoom or some other type of video method to communicate or phone or email, what have you. I think there's also leaders right now that have large organizations that may not seem, may not see individuals on their team for weeks or even months because of the spread of the organization.

1:24And so, you know, I think about, you know, multi-state operators that, you know, don't often get to get face to face with their teams on a regular basis. And so to me, there's, there's obviously that communication that exists between those individuals is similar in a sense in terms of video, email and phone. But there are people that are not necessarily working from home, but in the concept of their corporate construct or their, their distance from their quote unquote leader or direct report, it may feel remote. And so I think that there's both have some strong similarities in terms of how they're managed.

2:06The other thing that I'll say is that I do think that in person communication and camaraderie and team building, I think it's really critical. I think it's very difficult to move the, move the needle out at high levels. And I think that there's certain industries obviously that can function extremely well in remote environment. And there's some, there's others that I just don't see the future for those teams being remote because I think that it's so important to have, uh, camaraderie in this interconnectivity of people. But listen, I think, you know, first and foremost, the idea of, um, the organization having a strong culture and vision is critically important, uh, because it really kind of starts defining, um, kind of, you know, how we're going to act and behave in terms of a, more of a corporate type, uh, or a compass, so to speak.

3:00Um, having goals, having goals, clear goals so that people understand, you know, what their, what their job is, what their responsibilities. And obviously, you know, you go a step back. I mean, having clear, precise job descriptions for, for individuals, I think is really important that you would, you would be very surprised at the magnitude of people that are given jobs, corporate jobs, salary jobs, that actually are accepting jobs without seeing a defined job description.

3:29And I think that that's, I think that's a problem. So for me, I think, you know, it starts there. Um, and I think that that can allow, uh, some good functionality in a space that, um, otherwise I, you know, uh, you know, have, I'm very passionate about people working together in close proximity. But I think those are some of the key things for me.

3:51What I love about this conversation is that I have a very unique perspective on this, having worked from home for more than 17 years. And my teams are virtual in how I operate. And even Arturo, with what you said, I think back to when I was living in Cincinnati, Ohio, early on in my career, when I was going from job to job, one that pays more money and has a closer commute.

4:19And it was my first job in digital advertising sales. And it just so happens that the guy who was interviewing me was a Pittsburgh Steelers fan. And I'm from Pittsburgh originally, and I was a Steelers fan. And the interview went amazing. The first 30 minutes of it, we didn't even talk about work. We just talked about Pittsburgh sports. And it went so well that I got the job. And when I showed up to work the very first day, I didn't actually know what the job was.

4:47And I didn't care because it was a closer commute. It was paying more money. And my boss was a Steelers fan. And it's a very real example because in an interview scenario, clarity is something that we as leaders want to be very specific about what we're doing. And granted, I experienced this early on in my career. But let's move this now to the remote side of things.

5:13And one of the things that's been very important for me, being someone who is a very energetic personality and the teams that I run, fun and good vibes are very much part of them. One of the strategies or tactics that I do on a weekly basis is going over our core values. It's something that if you go to my website, robcressy.com, and you click on the about section, my core values are the very first thing that you're going to see.

5:41And my core values for myself are the same core values that my businesses have. And of course, running multiple businesses, some of them have a variation of them because we're creating individual ones for that. But for the most part, they're pretty uniform across the board. And it's very important for me to set a culture and consistently reinforce it because I think there's a lot of companies that one, don't have core values.

6:07Two, don't have a documented vision or an aligned vision in those things. And because of that, the fabric or the DNA of who they are and the employees and the type of people that are there just isn't congruent. So for me, it is so important to be able to reinforce these things because inevitably we rise or fall to the level of our core values.

6:31And when a remote employee does something, air quotes, incorrect or does not hit the mark on something, instead of being an attack on them, it's very easy to look at our core values and say, hey, which one of the core values did you not uphold here in doing this? And it realigns who they are by being able to say this is the standard for how we operate and constantly reinforcing that.

7:00And then the same also goes for your vision. 100%. It's, I mean, establish clear expectation. And that's values, it's vision, mantra, you know. And, you know, what is the goal? What is the overall goal? And listen, I will say that, you know, as a leader, if you have limited time with your team, and let's say you maybe have two video calls a week or maybe there's three or whatever that number is, it's infinitely less than in-person working, okay? You have to make that time count. And the way that you make that time count is how are you going to leave the people that you're on this call with energy, with some impactful, heavily impactful vision in terms of where things are going to be moving. And so you have to prepare.

7:55Like if you show up, if you're the leader or you're the direct reporter, it's your job to move this project along, and you show up without being extremely prepared, the value of that time, you just diminish the entire value of that time. And I think that that's really difficult to move a remote team forward if you're not taking that seriously.

8:21And so, and to me, it's, I think it is also the same concept in physical businesses. You know, if you're showing up to one of your businesses that you're not present in as often as maybe you'd like, but you're meeting, you know, you're meeting your team there for a weekly meeting or whatever it may be, don't just show up to be reported to. Show up with some data, show up with some information, show up with some ability to contribute.

8:50The other thing I'll say is that if you're going to manage remotely, you have to really be okay with seeing your team fail, meaning you have to just be okay to pick up the pieces and move forward. I get it. No problem. We're going to learn from this. And I think that that form of trust, rather than, you know, getting so bent out of shape about it or reprimanding somebody.

9:17Now, if somebody is not doing something specifically that's been discussed and there's an issue with that's a whole different story. But I think people can get a lot faster and more efficient if they're actually operating under that premise where things are going to happen because we aren't extremely connected and you're going to have to be okay with it and you're going to learn from it and you've got to move forward.

9:39So, Arturo, so much of what you said resonates with me because communication is so paramount to everything. And I don't think that we can understate or overstate how important this is. And I think about another unique experience or perspective that I bring in. In January, I started a new company. It is an artificial intelligence strategy and consulting company where we help business leaders and entrepreneurs leverage ChatGPT, and AI for business growth. And I brought on a new business partner who lives in Texas and I'm down in Florida and we've got remote employees. And we even have another employee who's working with us elsewhere. And it was very important for us to set the foundation for our communication from a structure standpoint. So, three days a week, Monday, Wednesday, Friday at 11 o'clock, we've got a meeting in Discord where we're going over things for the business. And every single one of those meetings is structured. So, we're literally opening up a document going line by line to make sure that our communication is aligned. And one of the things that we actually added this week to help improve the communication, and this was more for the non-partners, was what did Rob and Zach miss this week? Meaning, whether we're using Discord or Slack or email, when you're building a machine or a rocket ship or a business with a lot of moving parts, it can be easy for the leaders to miss some things from time to time because we've got a lot that we are working on in a good way. So, we added another layer of structure of accountability that we gave ownership to our team that said, every single day or every meeting, we want you to bring to us the things that we may have missed in a way to help align all of us with our communication.

11:33And with the way that business is evolving and becoming locationless, that we have business partners now in multiple states. So, this is something that's a very real thing that's so important that if your communication structure is not repeatable, then you've got a hole in your boat. Yeah. I mean, listen, I have both. I have several remote businesses, and then I have businesses that are brick and mortar that were in person. In both situations, I think let's kind of play with the expectation of salaried team members where they're expected to work 40 to 45 hours a week, I guess, right? In the brick and mortar sense, obviously, there's time that needs to be clocked in the building.

12:24But I've really shared this message really across the various businesses, and I've said, I honestly don't care how much time you spend. If it takes you two hours to do a 10-hour job, I don't care. I'm not counting hours. What I'm counting is achievements, goals, and progress. So, if it takes you 10 hours a week to do the job that I'm paying you 40 hours to do, I don't care. I don't care.

12:51I'm not looking to be a number counter in the sense of, you owe me specific amounts of time. What I am looking for is specific results. And so, I think that in terms of the communication that we're talking about, establishing goals and establishing process and standards and expectations, I think that's where, I think for me, that's where it is. I really could care less, again, about the time commitment. I care about results.

13:20You know, Arturo, I believe what you just said is maybe the single biggest breakthrough or awakening that happened in the remote work shift that the pandemic created is the ability for a team or employees to be autonomous, to think for themselves. And it's not like, oh my God, we have to micromanage every single thing they're going to do because they're going to watch Netflix all day.

13:47With understanding that when you're running a team where there's a level of excellence, that they're going to do what they do and you can give them the freedom to do so. And I'm the exact same way. I'm results-driven in everything that I do. And I live my own life that way as well because life doesn't have to be this specific structure that we've been ingrained in systematically that when you can give the freedom for someone to say, listen, we're results-driven in how we operate on all this.

14:16Go and do your thing. This is the expectations and the standards of what we expect for you to deliver and everything else in between, I'm not going to say is irrelevant to me, but it's irrelevant to me because at the end of the day, I care about the end result. Yeah. I mean, I will also, you know, in that spirit, in that vein, I'll also let people know, you know, hey, if you're able to get this done in 10 hours, that's great. Imagine what could happen if you actually dedicated 40 hours to it.

14:44But, you know, so, but yeah, I think it's, I think it's, I think it's, there are, you know, real aspects to managing a remote team. And for me, those critical pieces are establishing the goals, expectations, culture, core values. I mean, you know, when you're managing remote, you have to be able to trust that people are communicating the beliefs and the values of the organization in the right way.

15:14And, you know, I suppose that some of this communication, you know, vigilance could be the same even if people were working out of an office or whatever. But I think it's a lot easier to digest corporate culture when you're, when you're in person, when you're living it every day rather than working at home. But I think it's, I mean, I think the world has already shown that it's very possible to produce results and to move businesses forward and do it in a, in a way that's unconventional, so to speak, obviously becoming a lot more conventional, but you know, from years past, but. Yeah. And Arturo, as we wrap a bow on this, there is one last use case here that I would encourage everyone to think about is someone who's a solo entrepreneur who is doing this themselves, because at one point I was that person. And I would encourage you to continue to build these systems and processes and structures in your business, even before you have employees, if you don't have any employees or any virtual assistants or anyone that you're working with, because we all started at zero as business owners and leaders. And it is your ability to build these processes in for yourself, which will actually take me to the action I am in the takeaway.

16:32And it's around core values. And at one point in my business and in my life, I did not have core values until it was just drilled into my head, the importance of core values to who I am and my business. So if you do not have core values in your business, I encourage you set some intentional time to write down your core values of what is important for you. And if you have a team where you do have them, I would encourage you to audit the visibility of them. Where does your team have the ability to see them and how frequent or what is the cadence in which you are going over these things? Because the DNA of your culture is all about your core values. Arturo, what about you? What's your action item or takeaway? Well, I think it'll be an actionable thing for somebody who's not necessarily in a leadership position and to kind of take everything that you just said and for them to maybe ask those questions. You know, to I think, listen, I think employee satisfaction or for our personal happiness in our jobs or the things that we're doing, it's really important to have clarity. And if you're an employee or you're somebody that's working in an organization and you feel that you still don't have that, I think that the goal should be to ask some, you know, get inquisitive and ask some questions and try to find if there's a better path or better direction for you. Obviously, it's not your responsibility to create that cadence in an organization. But if it's a place that you like working, I think that sometimes it's helpful as a leader and organizations have gotten much better by the people that are working and then pushing to try to make everybody better. And we would love to hear from you. And I'm curious, do you have any strategies or tips for how you and your team manage remote employees?

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