It’s easy for remote team managers to assume all is well if there’s no two-way communication set up to see how individuals are really doing. One key strategy that helps create strong engagement with a remote team and create a positive employee experience is taking regular “pulse checks” of each employee.
FlexJobs asked Lilian Chen, Cofounder and COO of Bar None Trivia, for her insights on what questions managers should be asking their remote workforce. Previously a remote employee, Chen now manages a remote team, working with remote managers across industries every day. Chen’s business focuses on creating fun and engaging connections for work-from-home employees by hosting virtual team-building activities, which has been particularly helpful during COVID.
Many companies say their largest challenge with shifting to a fully remote workforce is managing employee morale. Chen emphasizes that it’s important to find ways to create fun for virtual teams and stay on top of how people are feeling while working from home by asking three questions. FlexJobs consulted with a panel of remote experts to get their thoughts—here’s how they’d approach each of these remote team questions.
3 Questions for Your Remote Team
1. What is happening in your day-to-day that I may not be aware of?
Jasmine Chen, Founder and CEO of the remote-first company LIFE Intelligence, explains that understanding how people are feeling and what’s going on for them while working from home is critical for employee wellness. “Right now, people are probably feeling some combination of stress, anxiety, uncertainty, listlessness, loneliness, frustration, or all of the above,” the CEO says. “Emotional intelligence (EI) is responsible for almost 90% of what elevates workers from their peers. Managers with high EI are able to pay attention to the needs of those around them and adjust tasks or feedback accordingly.”
As you touch base with employees about their daily experience, be sure to create a feeling of openness and trust by sharing what you’re going through while working from home as well. If workers don’t feel a sense of psychological safety in communicating with you about what’s really going on, then you won’t find out the truth of their experience.
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Listen for what’s not being said as well, and ask follow-up questions to encourage them to tell you more. For example, if an employee states that they don’t want to burden you with their troubles, let them know that they can share what’s on their mind in confidence. You might ask, “Are you having to juggle a lot more than you used to while working from home?” as a follow-up question.
“It’s very easy to accept the response that everything is fine, but if you can build up the relationship so that they feel comfortable and that they will not be penalized for letting you know they are not great, then you have the start of a great working relationship,” says Roxanne Massey, HR and Recruitment Consultant at Honest HR.
2. Do you feel that I am communicating everything appropriately or do you sometimes feel lost in the decisions that are being made?
One of the key points to keep in mind as a remote manager is that it’s even more important to take a very intentional approach to communicating with team members. The first step of this involves carving out distinct time to connect with each individual, so that people can stay in the loop about what’s going on with decision-making and the larger company.
“Remote managers should make a habit of meeting with their team individually as often as possible,” advises Gerald Lombardo, Cofounder of The Word Counter, a fully remote company. “For most of us, successful remote work has been made possible through keeping close tabs on each other as well affirming each other even while we are far apart. You want to ensure everyone still feels relevant and in the loop by cultivating a more personal work relationship.”
3. What feedback do you have for me about how I can make your life and job easier?
Lombardo’s remote team holds daily standup meetings at 10:00 a.m. Pacific Standard Time, which provide team members with a chance to share feedback and request management support. “During these meetings, we discuss what we did yesterday, what we are working on today, and talk through any issues we are experiencing,” Lombardo says.
He adds that his team does all of their meetings via Zoom to keep each other accountable, and has every task set up in Basecamp to keep things tracked and organized. “It’s important to ensure that deadlines have been discussed so there is no guesswork and you don’t have to micromanage anyone,” he explains.
Rolf Bax, Chief Human Resources Officer at Resume.io, also manages a fully remote team, and he asks a variation of the question at his weekly team meetings by expanding it to include what anyone on the team—not just the manager—might be able to do to help the full team function better. Bax asks, “Is there anything you think we could be doing better as a team that would make everyone’s life easier?”
“I ask this because I am interested in knowing where each person sees the bottlenecks, inefficiencies, or redundancies,” Bax says. “Making our virtual communication and workflow as effective and streamlined as possible is always my goal.”
Stay in Touch
Communicating and showing interest in your employees’ well-being is at the heart of successful remote teams. By checking in with your staff and asking questions about what’s going on in their lives and what they need from you, you’ll be sending the message that you truly care about them—not just as employees, but as human beings. This will help with both performance and loyalty.
FlexJobs has been a leader in remote work since 2007. We work with companies of every size to provide support and advice for businesses that want to integrate remote work. For expert guidance, reach out today!
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