Ashira Gobrin is Chief People Officer at Wave, with 25 years of experience driving business performance through a holistic People strategy.

After a few months of figuring out how to manage remote work environments, businesses and employees from all over the country are realizing that even following the pandemic, working from home will continue to be a viable option. On a survey within my company, Wave, 24% of employees stated that if given the option, they would choose to work from home on a full-time basis, and 57% reported they would want the flexibility of working from home two or three days per week. Statistics Canada released a new survey on the impact of Covid-19 on businesses in Canada, which found that one-quarter of businesses reported being “likely” or “very likely” to offer more employees the chance to work remotely even after the Covid-19 pandemic is over. Fourteen percent of businesses may even require it. Covid-19 forced entire workforces to rapidly transition to being entirely virtual in order to flatten the curve. While many organizations had some or all of the necessary technology platforms, tools and infrastructure in place, very few understood what the implications could be from a psychological perspective.

Behavioral economics scientists recognized the sweeping change that took place, but whether it turns out to be a positive or negative will come down to how effectively leaders can pivot to adopt or design best practices that continually support and encourage trust, creativity, collaboration, connection and psychological safety. One of the world’s top human behavioral researchers, Dan Ariely, uses experiments to show how these human factors contribute to business success. When transitioning to working from home, leaders need to ensure the human side of things transitions with them. I’ve developed seven ways to adapt your management style to the working from home world.

1. Trust is the key to organizational effectiveness on a normal day. However, in a virtual environment, trust becomes a critical component to the success of your organization. In a work-from-home environment, we cannot truly set mandatory core working hours once we understand that each employee is likely juggling a new set of responsibilities, schedules and dealing with the unique circumstances and challenges of their day-to-day lives. You have to simply trust your team to do what they are capable of — without putting the pressure of the standard 9-to-5 working hours. 

2. Your leaders should be working with their teams on specific protocols, schedules and ways of working together that apply to their individual teams. There is no one system that will work for all teams and teammates. As much as possible, aim to keep things feeling relatively normal, and realize that in many cases, we will have to discover our new normal.

3. Be accessible even though you are not visible. Try running open virtual coffee meetings for anyone who wants to show up or “ask me anything” sessions to keep in touch. We are all concerned about our families and each other. Be consistent and continue to update teams as information becomes available. Communication is key. Aim to communicate often, with clarity and with your video enabled whenever possible. Not every meeting needs to have a strict agenda — make sure to check in on each other to keep connected and make up for the lack of coffee breaks that would happen organically in the office.

4. Managers should be encouraged to meet regularly one on one via Zoom or other video software with their direct reports. Find agreement on clear and reasonable expectations for being effective at work. As teams engage in the practices they agree on, it is important to hold ourselves accountable for adhering to those practices while being sensitive to so many extenuating circumstances. Managers should be connected to their team members so they know how things are going in a personal and professional capacity and can step in to help as needed.

5. Try to make intimidating or stressful situations — like starting a new job — more fun. You can adapt your onboarding experience by creating a virtual scavenger hunt where each piece of their onboarding gives them a clue to the next piece. New hires can follow a game board or a map that sets out the steps and clarifies expectations in a fun way.

6. Another thing that becomes more difficult to do in a virtual environment is provide timely and frequent feedback, and I’m not just talking about negative feedback. It’s a human need and right to receive recognition for the great things you do, when you accomplish something meaningful and when you go above and beyond. It’s easy to just move on to the next thing without taking the time to stop, give a shoutout or a virtual high five and recognize what someone has done. On the same note, if you have a problem or a situation that needs constructive criticism or redirection, it is equally important to have that conversation as close to the moment as possible, sensitively and directly.

7. Lastly, be inclusive and find ways to engage both the introverts and the extroverts on your team. Some will love participating in games and challenges, while others will just want to observe, but everyone wants to feel connected to other people. Use humor, and adjust mediums of communication for variety. Keep meetings shorter and more effective, and make sure that everyone on your team has a chance to talk. 

There will be many advantages to managing a remote team and some challenges to overcome. The biggest thing to remember is that a remote team cannot be managed in the same way as a physical team. Something has to change — and that something is you. You can’t play a new game with an old rule book. Find the new normal, and experiment collaboratively with what works and what doesn’t. You will get better through the process. 

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