Leading from a distance has become a particular challenge in recent years. Many leaders fear losing control over their employees. However, even when there is physical distance, personal closeness is possible! Learn in this article which methods and tools make remote leadership successful.
Leading from a Distance: These Are the Challenges
As a leader, you know the challenge: Due to the pandemic and the resulting home office regulations, you are at least temporarily separated from your employees. Until 2020, leadership was heavily characterized by physical presence. The mindset: Those who want to lead must know what their employees are doing!
Exciting insights into remote leadership are provided by a study from the Hernstein Institute. Particularly striking: The porridge is cooked hotter than it is eaten! Leaders who have already experienced remote leadership rate the challenges more optimistically overall.
We have summarized the most exciting findings of the study on remote leadership for you in an infographic:
You can see: There are various methods and tools that can bring back closeness when leading from a distance. Because one thing is clear: Physical proximity is no guarantee of good leadership! This means, conversely, that remote leadership can even be an opportunity for you to create true closeness with your employees. We will show you how this can work.
Tools for Remote Leadership
Three levers help you to lead successfully despite physical distance and to keep your team together:
Culture of learning in the company
Methods for digital collaboration
Tools for digital collaboration
Successful Leadership from a Distance through Good Learning Culture
What does learning culture have to do with remote leadership? A lot! When leading from a distance, your employees are particularly reliant on your support: They need to feel that you trust them and understand their challenges.
Reading tip: Learning culture starts at the top!
A good culture in the company is reflected in employees feeling strengthened in their individuality and supported from above. For remote leadership, this means specifically:
Good Learning Culture in the Company | Implementation in Remote Leadership |
Leaders serve as role models. | Inform yourself about methods and tools to work well from a distance yourself. |
Touchpoints enable networking among each other. | Create regular meetings where employees can exchange ideas with each other. |
Employees should always know what benefits something brings them. | Communicate why and to what extent leading from a distance is necessary – and how they can benefit from it themselves. |
Leading employees serve as a good example. | Don’t hold back on (sincere) praise and appreciation for your employees. |
Learning culture begins with onboarding. | Especially pay attention to regular exchanges at the beginning of distance with new employees. |
Learning culture is not confined to a room. Culture arises between people, even across geographical borders. A good learning culture thus significantly supports leading from a distance: Your employees feel empowered to be supported by you at any time and sense that you trust them. This way, they can give their best and even motivate each other.
Digital Methods for Remote Leadership
If communication mostly takes place digitally, you as a leader should think about suitable methods. Meeting in the coffee kitchen or a spontaneous visit to the office is out of the question. How can you facilitate exchange digitally in a similarly casual way?
5 Methods to Successfully Lead from a Distance:
1. Set Objectives
Setting objectives is the ideal means for successful remote leadership. Discuss with your employee (in a one-on-one conversation!) which goals they should meet and by when. Tip: At least at the end of the objective setting, another conversation should take place, ideally also in between.
2. Own Participation in Informal Exchange
Coffee dates, digital lunches, game nights after work – it can also be helpful for remote leaders to participate in such informal digital get-togethers. But please don’t overdo it: For employees, a consistent presence of leaders can also appear as surveillance.
3. Retrospectives
Retrospectives are particularly helpful in leading from a distance, as you gain new perspectives – the perspectives of your employees. You can offer these, for example, after larger projects or structural changes. Tip: Ensure that the retrospective remains at the mere "viewing" stage and that each participant has sufficient opportunity to speak.
Reading tip: Your template for digital retrospectives
4. Offer One-on-One Meetings
One-on-one conversations with your employees are particularly important in remote leadership. Tip: Be sure to allow your employees room and time to bring up their own topics!
5. Strengthen the Intranet
The intranet or similar platforms for information flow become particularly important under remote conditions: Your employees should always be informed about the currently applicable rules and offers. Tip: Show your face online too! If you want to announce something, why not just record a short video instead of writing a text. This feels more personal and brings you closer despite remote leadership.
Checklist: Your Employees Should Always Find Answers to These Questions!
What rules apply for remote work?
How and when can I reach my supervisor?
How and when will I find out if the framework conditions change?
Where can I quickly and easily get technical support?
Who is my contact person for which topic?
Digital Tools for Remote Leadership
Finally, we would like to give you a few suggestions for tools that you can particularly well use for leading from a distance. Different methods are appropriate for each medium – and ultimately, a good mix is usually the most successful.
Here are typical functions of digital tools, their use cases for remote leadership, as well as some concrete tool examples:
Function | Use Cases for Remote Leadership | Tool Examples |
Chat, quick and easy exchange | Spontaneous agreements, informal conversations, team or group-wide surveys | |
Video conference, meetings | Show your face at digital conferences – turn on the video! | |
Learning, further training, onboarding | Monitor learning progress, enable sustainable learning and onboarding | |
Intranet, platform for information | Consolidate essential information for all to read, announcements | |
Creative joint work, digital whiteboard | Actively involve employees in meetings, moving away from just sitting and listening | |
Project management, internal organization | Coordinate tasks, maintain an overview of workload, assign responsibilities | |
Data storage | Instead of file folders, store data and manage access | |
Time tracking | Track your own time for tasks, estimate how much time each area needs | |
Appointment scheduling | Find available time slots for appointments without oral agreements |
Conclusion: How to Succeed in Remote Leadership
You have now learned about the challenges, methods, and tools for remote leadership. In conclusion, we can say: Good leadership from a distance is always better than poor leadership in presence! Because physical proximity is no guarantee of good leadership, and too often leaders feel a false sense of security simply because they have an office next to their employees.
The main points of this article summarized once again:
The fear of remote leadership is often greater than the actual challenges.
Those who lead from a distance should expect more time for planning and communication.
A good learning culture is essential for the working atmosphere and thus also for remote leadership.
Digital communication must be particularly clear and easily understandable: Employees must always know what rules apply.
Plan at least one meeting in the one-on-one format once a quarter.
Give your employees ample opportunities to actively contribute.
Show your face! A quickly shot selfie video is a more friendly announcement than a text.
If you think ahead and plan that remote leadership has its own challenges, you can lead excellently from a distance. At the same time, you should seize every opportunity if a face-to-face conversation with your employees arises.
