Adjust your expectations of remote workers to become an accountable leader

COVID-19 has upended life. Much of what we’re experiencing is brand new, and therefore disruptive, stressful, and even a little frightening.

Suddenly millions of people are adjusting to working from home. Though some leaders have experience managing remote team members spread across multiple offices—this virtual reality is different. And what about the leaders adjusting to managing remotely for the first time?

The good news: There are ways managers can adjust and keep their teams engaged, connected and productive.

Even better, these new skills can serve any manager well in the long-term, remote or not. After all, there’s a reasonable possibility that once the crisis passes, some organizations and some employees may not want to return to more traditional office environments. The future of work was always likely to involve a much more remote and dispersed workforce.

COVID-19 may have simply accelerated that change.

Tip No. 1: Acknowledge the current situation is unusual—even uncomfortable and scary—and plan for adjustments. Not only are millions of your team members working at home for the first time, it’s likely their spouses or significant others are doing the same. And for those with children, home schooling became a reality almost overnight.