Many businesses are fast realising some of the benefits of working from home. If it wasn’t for the pandemic, some would be none the wiser around the potential of reduced office lease costs, greater work efficiencies, less commuting times and more time with family.
As a result, some of the changes we’ve needed to make may now become more permanent arrangements in our businesses.
So, how do you lead from home and by example?
Here’s a few tips:
- Be calm – whilst you’ve a lot on your shoulders right now, presenting positively and calmly to your team will help reduce any fears or anxiety they may have
- Model good work practices
- Be on time for meetings
- Be positive in your interactions
- Establish a ‘check-in’ routine with your team
- Keep the time consistent day to day or week to week
- Communication is key – communicate regularly and propose a ‘way of working’ and ask the team if they agree with this approach
- Include your team by asking for feedback and encouraging them to ask questions
- Practice what you breach – you need to lead by example, especially in times like this
- Be open, transparent and clear
- It’s important for your team to understand where you are, where the business is going and what’s the plan to get there
- Share problems and responsibility – two or more heads are always better than one
- Support your team
- To build trust and confidence, you need to understand how to support your team – this means listening
- Listening will show them that they’ve been heard (and reassure them around any concerns they may have.
- By listening to their needs, this shows them that you trust them and are willing to help develop them.
