Remote work has started to become an indispensable part of everyone’s life. Even if you work as a remote employee, a remote leader, or know someone involved in the remote working context, you should have heard some benefits and downfalls of this working style. But, how do all of these influential leaders in particular? There is a lot of information going on there, how remote employees benefit from remote work or the downsides of it. But we tend to forget there is a leadership part involved in remote work, and there are some significant influences affecting everyone in the team.
Luckily, we are here to share with you all the details of remote leadership, focusing on how it could benefit your business. Without further ado, let’s dive into the work of remote work in the context of leadership!
60% of Business Leaders Now Open to Working from Home: What Does It Mean?
You haven’t misread it. More than half of the business leaders are embracing remote working by claiming that this working style is quite comfortable and efficient. Even though in the past, leaders were hesitant about how remote work can influence the dynamics in the workplace, after the COVID-19 pandemic and mandatory remote working days, leaders seem like they are not going to give up on this model.
Of course, why let go of something that is obviously beneficial for what you do? Over 50% of the leaders stated that their perspective on remote work changed in a positive way after the COVID-19 pandemic. This indicates that the common sense regarding remote work mainly consisted of prejudice, and when things come to the practice, the benefits overrun the possible downsides.
So, what that means is simple. Leaders will not give up on remote working anytime soon. In fact, many companies and firms are working on switching a remote model by optimizing the communication and technology tools they have.
How has Remote Working Changed Team Dynamics
We all agree that remote working is a significant influence on people’s lives, as well as the dynamics in the workplace. One area that remote working has been so influential is team dynamics, without a doubt.
The way remote working changed the team dynamics starts with the adaptation process to remote work. In this process, many people who are not used to working remotely had to change their lifestyle. Since the team is not physically present next to each other, they had to develop creative solutions to communicate.
In fact, this adaptation process can be mentioned as something beneficial for teams. Since it is now different to communicate, team members started to put more effort into understanding each other and communicating. Many teams are stating that their communication got better once they switched to a remote working model.
Another influence of remote working in team dynamics is that people started to learn about their teammates’ work. Remote workers know how to exchange work between them, not let any interruptions come in front of them, preserving an outstanding team spirit.
And of course, these changes allowed leaders to have the chance of managing their business more efficiently. Business management can be well done if the team members are communicating nicely and understanding each other. Contrary to popular belief, remote teammates can and do communicate perfectly, not allowing critical mistakes and misunderstandings.
Benefits of Remote Leadership
But how exactly is remote leadership beneficial for businesses? The following are five reasons how remote leadership can be the best thing for a firm or company.
Productive Teams, Satisfied Leaders
There are tons of studies proving that there is a tendency of remote workers to become more productive. What does this tell business leaders? It means that you will work with a more productive team with a clearer mind and willing to get things done. Moreover, the increased work-life balance of your employees will give you all the positive influences you may need in a team.
No More Micromanagement
Dealing with a team typically includes lots of micromanaging, where the leaders had to go and supervise each team member (sometimes more than they are supposed to). In the remote working model, this struggle decreases significantly. Since the team members are not sitting in an office, away from each other, you can easily communicate with them all simultaneously. Moreover, since you will be communicating with all team members at the same time, you will create an environment that is convenient for strengthening the bonds both with you and team members and within team members. Two birds with one stone!
Reaching Out to New Talents
How can you hire an incredible talent living overseas? If you are a remote leader, you can. Remote working allows leaders to widen their options when it comes to hiring. So, you will be able to increase diversity in the workplace and work with creative minds that you wouldn’t be able to work with otherwise.
Better Communication
Communication is everything for a team, and especially for a team leader. One of the biggest benefits of remote working for leaders is the fact that communication is smoother and more efficient. Perhaps your employee had something important to tell in the middle of a meeting, which might not be possible in a physical environment. But, they can always send you a private message on Zoom or any other means of communication you are using and let you know.
That’s a minor example. You can imagine how more accessible the communication would be. Of course, it is possible to mention communication as a downside of leadership in a remote context since you cannot read their body language or gestures. However, we cannot overlook the ease of communication for leaders. Before anything, you can talk with multiple team members at once, detect problems easier, and handle them more efficiently.
Saving Money
Last but not least, remote working benefits leaders by its cost benefits. Handling a team in a physical environment requires lots of tools, office costs, electricity, and all the other necessities. It is true that you might need to provide some office requirements to your employees, but the costs cannot be the same when you think of all the implicit costs of running an office.
How do large companies embrace remote working?
The influence of remote working is not limited to small companies and freelancers. In fact, there are many large companies that everyone knows embrace remote working by giving place for remote workers in their company. If leaders weren’t happy about how remote working goes, they wouldn’t implement it in their billions of dollars worth of companies, would day? We can implement that there is something beneficial in remote working for leaders to make it a part of their working style.
Some of the well-known companies, like American Express and Dell, are hiring remote workers across the world. And one of the most popular companies in the world, Amazon, hires remote workers. You don’t think that Jeff Bezos would fall into a trap, would he?
The examples of those highly successful companies giving place to remote workers are proof that remote leadership is a good idea and can be a beneficial thing for the future of the company. All the reasons we mentioned and the fact that the sector leaders are so positive about remote working and leadership can be counted as evidence.
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Originally posted on November 25, 2021 @ 8:39 pm
