Handling Individual contributions with care and respect
There is a right way and a wrong way to process and respond to the work of Remote Individuals.
The Wrong way …
- An individual contributor contributes something to the team (code, whitepaper, business report, marketing content, (whatever)) and no response.
When remote team members send work for review, approval or simple collaboration and nothing comes back. The work goes unrecognized and unread; it is valueless.
That work was assigned and should be recognized. If not, it’s demotivating to the person who did the work. And it begs the question, why was the work assigned in the first place? Is the work valuable if it doesn’t even merit the time to read it?
When this happens, it is clearly
a failure on the part of the team lead. Don’t fail your people.
As team lead you gave them direction, you allocated company resources, they
invested time and effort into completing the work.
The Right way …
- If the work is satisfactory – “I read the note. Nice work, lets call this complete. Kindly post on team file share. And declare victory on your weekly.”
- If the work merits a team review – “Nice work, if you feel this is ready for a team review, we can add to an upcoming agenda. How much time should we allocate?”
- If the work needs love – “Good progress, but needs a bit more love … a little more of “x”, a little less of “y” and please think about adding a call to action. If you need to discuss or need help just ask. Thanks for the hard work, if it wasn’t important it would not have been asked of you.”
BKM –
Recognizing
the work creates connectedness. Ignoring the work implies its valueless.
Recognize the work of everyone, every piece, every time, no exceptions.
Sometimes we (leaders) get busy. Sometimes we are heads down on a specific task. Sometimes we get chronically busy. Don’t allow your team to be low on your priority list. Just saying “I trust you” does not created connections or belonging
- If you are chronically busy, just set Calendar time to “Respond to Team”, be diligent, your team merits your time.
- Tell them what to expect (and why) – “for the next week. I will be heads down on X. Don’t let this hold you up, its fine to proceed in my absence.”
- Give your team autonomy. In most situations they can/should proceed without your input. They can organize peer reviews themselves. Peer reviews keep them connected.
- Make your team your priority, their work matters. Consistently responding to your team keeps them connected and valued.
This topic is important for Remote Teams, as individuals will already feel disconnected simply due to being remote. It’s our jobs as Team Leaders to overcompensate by giving recognition and clear feedback to every piece of work (every piece, period, no exceptions).
And gentle reminder, there are always other uses for your team’s time. They may do other gainful tasks for the business. Or they may be doing other gainful tasks for some other employer. Ignoring work, implies its valueless and triggers the belonging instinct and survival instinct. Always leading to diminished motivation, diminished contribution and often attrition.