Let’s take up any project in an organization, especially Multinational Corporations, and try to understand the hierarchy levels in a team. Usually at the top, there is the delivery manager followed by project manager and then there is the team lead with all the assistant team members at the base of the hierarchy. On any normal day, the delivery manager is the one who is answerable to the client during the time of project going live or at the times of crisis. The project manager is answerable to the clients on a weekly basis with the team lead reporting to the project manager with all the milestones and progress reports. So to sum up, the work was usually into two fonts, managers who manages the entire group and is answerable to the client and the team lead who lead the team and reports to the managers. So this traditional way of doing business was going on until the pandemic hit the business.

For the past four months, we are working from home. We have forgotten what the boundary exactly looks like between office and home, with a little concern for privacy and social life. We are always trying to do ‘more’ and in a ‘better’ way and there are times, when we feel helpless, if and when we do not get the same amount of cooperation and assistance from our team lead or managers. Numerous articles are being published everywhere on how to improve effective communication in remote work but there is always a bit of communication gap, especially when we are unable to apprehend the non-verbal cues. It is at this time, when the managers should step down from being a manager to being a leader.

A leader is someone who acts a ring-bearer to a team member. He does not just say what to do, rather he works with him, side by side, to sail through the problem. Whenever a team member expresses a concern or some problem, instead of just providing a solution, he listens to it and deals with the situation with empathy. In fact, a team leader gives a solution by being a part of the solution. Having done a part time internship in such a culture, I have observed that the managers, even in remote scenario, tend to be stoic and still behaves in a very formal way. It is high time that the managers step down into the shoes of the leaders and lead the team through such a mind-wrecking situation, instead of just managing it.

As per my observation, a few ways by which the managers can put on a leadership cap are:

1. A team huddle in the morning, discussing about the team progress and also providing a platform open for suggestions.
2. Listen to pertinent problems of team members and deal with empathy, thus going over the notion of manager.
3. Arrange for coffee break, once every half-month, and the discussions should be on the recent advancements and not just on news.
4. Managers should be bit more personal rather than being formal.

Remote work calls for different measures and from the organizational perspective, managers putting on leadership cap will go a long way in building a sustainable and resilient organizational culture. If we take this as a parameter and compute the cost-benefit analysis, this approach will definitely improve the productivity and thus will create multi-fold productivity.

Be a leader.

Source: Self