Build a Strong Team, Starting with You

Goal: Make sure you’re up for the task of managing remotely.

Managers who run dispersed teams successfully share several traits. They work a lot, they

travel — some more than half the time — and they thrive on their work and the culture they’ve

created. “Remote managers need more energy, because a lot of what you have to do is

transfer that energy to your team,” says Juliana Slye, who manages remote employees

as director of the government division at software maker Autodesk, based in San Rafael,

California. The successful remote manager has the following traits:

Passion. A remote set-up won’t work unless your employees are motivated and running in

sync — collaborating, asking each other for help, sharing ideas. That energy has to start with

you. You don’t need to start each day smiling from ear to ear, but if you’re annoyed every

time an IM breaks your train of thought or you’re not good about remembering to check in with

people, running remote teams probably isn’t for you.

Availability. Good remote communication requires extra effort. You need to go out of your

way to address issues that would come up naturally and spontaneously if you all worked

in one place. When your staff is spread across a number of time zones, they need to feel

comfortable calling you at odd hours — even if it’s dinner hour. Beyond the guidance or

answers you can provide, which allows them to move forward with their work, your availability

shows support, which helps strengthen your relationships with everyone. That said, establish

reasonable guidelines about when to call.

Patience. A two-hour dinner with an employee across the country may take up two days with

travel time. And it may take two hours instead of 10 minutes to schedule a conference call.

The lesson here? Budget extra time for common group tasks. This doesn’t necessarily hurt

productivity. For instance, conference calls are usually shorter and more to the point than a

meeting in person, where members of the group are bound to do more small talk.

Reliability. By doing what you say you’ll do — whether it’s helping solve a problem or

sending a new laptop — you foster trust. Your reliability shows respect for what your workers

are doing. Without that, they’ll quit asking for help, and you’ll fall out of the loop. “Trust

is particularly important in distance relationships,” says management consultant Debra

Dinnocenzo, author of “How to Lead from a Distance.” “You build trust through actions that

demonstrate reliability, integrity, and familiarity.”

Five Ways to Build Trust

Asked how he makes sure his team is keeping him in the loop, remote manager Dan

Belmont, chief marketing officer of the Marketing Arm, a Dallas-based agency that

promotes sports and entertainment events, says he makes himself part of their “network”

by working beside them. “If you’re in the trenches doing the work,” he says, “you’re not

just perceived as someone who is managing people and processes.” Belmont makes

himself available to brainstorm or solve problems and typically spends an hour a week on

the phone with each of his 14 employees.

Here are more ways to build trust:

1. Be available. Don’t let employee calls go to voice mail. When you absolutely can’t be

reached, reply ASAP.

2. Beware of using sarcasm and teasing in distance interactions, like email and

conference calls, where signals can easily get crossed.

3. Handle sensitive issues with discretion. One team member might tell Belmont that

another is having a bad day. He’ll immediately call the person having the bad day,

without exposing the colleague who told him.

4. Communicate in a variety of ways (email, phone, in person, etc) and often.

5. Visit employees on their turf. It shows respect for their time and interest in their life

outside the job.