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You can lead a team, even if you're working remotely.
- Remote work is becoming the new norm with concerns about employee health and safety.
- According to a report by FlexJobs, a careers resource company for flexible work opportunities, remote workers have increased by 159% from 2005 to 2017.
- Business Insider spoke with executives and workplace experts on how to lead a team during meetings - even if you're working remotely.
- Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.
Keeping people engaged during in-person meetings is hard. Leading virtual meetings is even harder.
According to a 2020 analysis by FlexJobs, a careers resource company, flexible-work policies increased by 159% between 2005 and 2017. Today's circumstances mean more people are working from home and companies are leveraging tech tools and online-conferencing platforms to making meetings run faster and shorter.
Nevertheless, remote meetings have a separate set of challenges. You can't keep tabs on your employees and make sure they're paying attention to what's being discussed during remote meetings - a 30-minute call can easily turn into a complete waste of time.
"It's hard to run online meetings - especially if a lot of people are in the meeting and you can't see any faces," said Spencer Waldron, director of global communications at presentation platform Prezi. "That's why we need to set expectations and get creative in how we're keeping people focused."
Business Insider spoke with Waldron and Brie Weiler Reynolds, a remote work expert, on how you can still lead a team during meetings even if you're working remotely.
Use video-chat functions and collaboration tools to keep people engaged
In an interview with Business Insider, Waldron said that he's been working remotely from Amsterdam for six years, and he's had to lead online meetings from the start. He said Prezi has a rule that people who can't join an in-person meeting have to turn on their audio and video function because being able to see a face through the screen increases focus. Video calls are more engaging due to the lack of visual cues in audio-conferencing, he added.
"What happens then is you see me and I see you," he said. "I see how you're reacting to something I'm talking about. You're more connected to the person that you're watching."
Reynolds, a career development manager at remote work HR company FlexJobs, recommended that leaders find creative ways to engage employees throughout the course of meetings.
For example, you can take advantage of chat functions embedded in conferencing apps, or you can share your screen within them. You can ask open-ended questions that would fuel further discussion, and you can have pop quizzes halfway through the meeting to check if people are still paying attention, the expert said.
CEOs and executives are expected to have packed calendars throughout the day, and they should schedule deep-thinking meetings during times when they're most productive, Waldron said. Leaders can share their expectations on best times and practices, and they should also update changes on a regular basis to avoid interruptive meetings, he added.
Companies with international offices can also use the time zone difference to their advantage. Waldron said that teams often schedule brainstorm meetings at 9 a.m. - a time when he's least likely to come up with game-changing ideas. To combat this, he records his core talking points beforehand, sends it to the team for review, and sometimes skips the meeting altogether. It's the best way to give valuable input without wasting time or his productivity, he said.
You can still build a company culture remotely
Offices are a great way to establish a company culture that facilitates collaboration across teams. This is especially true for companies with hybrid situations, where you have some employees working in offices and others working remotely, Reynolds said. Nevertheless, you can still incorporate positive work experiences for remote workers with office activities that will expose them to the company culture.
"On a bigger scale of culture, its also thinking about the things that bring an office together," Reynolds told Business Insider. "So when you have parties to celebrate people's birthdays, promotions, or baby showers, or whatever it might be, how can you do that in a virtual way?"
Reynolds said that at FlexJobs, employees often have virtual lunches together. Everybody gets together on video and thought it's not mandatory, it gives employees an option to take office breaks together. The remote-working company also hosts seasonal pizza parties, in which pizza is literally delivered to everybody to recreate an office party.
"You can still celebrate those successes and company milestones even if you're working at a virtual office," Reynolds said.