Unleashing potential | Lasting impact

PiP Speak

Making remote working work for you and your

organisation
For some, remote working has been a valuable working solution for several years. However, it didn’t just occur overnight, and,
for many, it was possible because they could depend on a co-located office-based team in the background. Entire organisations
working remotely alongside more seasoned remote workers is an uncharted territory which requires effective leadership.

While keeping your company performing remotely is important to deliver your strategy, it also helps the teams within it feel valued
and valuable. And, if you can get them working well remotely, they will be more efficient, more together and more adaptable when –
or if – they return to the office.

In normal circumstances, we find six elements are crucial to making remote working work, while the current
realities add a seventh factor:
1. Keep your teams and organisation safe 5. Set your remote team norms to maintain
collaboration and connection
2. Be explicit about what is required – what, when and whom
6. Chat more often – emails aren’t enough
3. Understand your remote team – everyone works differently
7. Recognise that clients and suppliers are
4. Leverage digital platforms
dealing with the same challenges

1. Keep your teams and organisation safe

WhatsApp
WhatsApp
exchange
exchange
between
between
thethe
Melbourne
Melbourne
team
team
With your teams working remotely, there is no visibility of their working conditions and Recent WhatsApp exchange
possible risks. The lucky few will work in an established home office, but many will be between the Melbourne team
working from the kitchen table or the bedroom, bringing new challenges and stiff necks.

It is important to help your team think through how to reduce obvious risks (e.g. raise
laptops where possible), as well as identifying and addressing other unexpected risks.

And, with many people working remotely for the first time, their mental health may be
affected. Most organisations have Employee Assistance Programmes – now is the time
to remind your team that they exist and encourage them to access them when needed.

If some teams have limited work in the short term (e.g. recruiting), consider how you
might mobilise them, and call your people individually to check how they are coping.
More informal forums (e.g. WhatsApp) among cohorts or teams can also help to maintain
a sense of community, whether this is swapping jokes or asking for help with a problem.

At an organisational level, revisit safety programmes and risk frameworks to ensure

they cover the challenges of working remotely. This may mean developing new
protocols and providing alternative equipment to your remote team to keep them fit,
healthy and sane.

Some questions to ask your organisation:

→→ Has every person working remotely completed a risk assessment with appropriate
mitigation plans?
→→ What happens if an employee hurts themselves while working outside the office?
→→ Does our risk framework cover remote working arrangements? How is it monitored
and evaluated?
→→ Are individuals aware of your Employee Assistance Programme and know how to
access it?

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 Unleashing potential | Lasting impact

2. Be explicit about what is required – what, when and whom

Remote working at its worst allows inefficiencies, duplicates effort, fosters uncertainty and delays, and causes low
morale. Organisations can be slower to spot these issues as they arise because colleagues are unable to meet. In parallel,
new ways of teamworking will emerge spontaneously and independently, driving both good and poor practice.

To address this, it is important to set clear expectations:

Agree priority deliverables Agree specific actions to Overinvest in transparency

for the time period deliver these priorities and visibility of comms
→→ (Week, month, quarter) →→ What needs to be done? →→ Ensure stakeholders are in the loop
to avoid duplication of efforts
→→ When is it needed by?
→→ Celebrate coordination across the
→→ Who is accountable to deliver it?
business, and share learnings

Document key processes and protocols Overinvest in time chatting to

→→ Document those designed for or evolving in the home-working environment your people and checking they
→→ Make them available to those who need them
are OK, physically and mentally

Leading
Leading‘remotely’
‘remotely’reinforces
reinforcesthe
theneed
needfor
forcascading
cascadingKPI
KPItargets,
targets,regular
regularreviews
reviews
and
andaligned
alignedobjectives
objectives
We consistently apply this to achieve clear accountability with supporting targets, cascading through the organisation, to enable all
members of a highly dispersed workforce to pull in the same direction.

KPIs and targets are cascaded through all levels RARs1 bring transparency and drive performance

GM
GM 1:11:1
review
review

Department
Department
Manager
Manager

Manager
Manager 1:11:1
review
review 1:11:1
review
review

Team
Team
lead
lead

Work
Workteams/staff
teams/staff 1:11:1
review
review 1:11:1
review
review 1:11:1
review
review

→→ Invest upfront to get the KPIs right and embed them →→ Targets must be aligned with position descriptions and
throughout the organisation performance management outcomes
→→ Remote working KPIs are more likely to include ‘soft’ targets
such as team health/morale (e.g. exercise and balance KPIs)

Some questions to ask your organisation:

→→ Do all team members understand what is expected of them?
→→ Are regular reviews occurring to check status, agree priorities and determine next steps?
→→ Are key processes documented and readily available to those who need them?

1 ‘Results-Action-Reviews’

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 Unleashing potential | Lasting impact

3. Understand your remote, home-based team (including your own preferences)

Everyone works differently in the office and that’s equally true when working remotely, although an individual’s personal situation
may complicate remote work further.

Recognise individual working styles Invest the time to listen, care and understand
what they’re going through
Some will find it a welcome relief to work at home alone,
others will miss the energy of having people around, while From a distance, you cannot be sure whether it’s a bad day
some despair at being unable to draw a clear line between or a structural or personal issue when working remotely.
home and work. Each leader needs to understand what
their people need so they can work at their best.

Assume positive intentions and encourage Don’t underestimate the importance of taking
others to do so care of yourself
Give people the benefit of doubt, especially during difficult Irrespective of your seniority, some form of down-time
periods, yet recognise it may be necessary to intervene and distraction is critical. Chances are this is a marathon,
quickly to address situations before they escalate. not a sprint, so taking care of yourself and leading by
example is vital.

Some questions to ask your organisation:

→→ Is there flexibility to adapt working hours or meeting times?
→→ How are your team adjusting? How can you help them through the process?

4. Leverage digital platforms

Email will only get you so far. Digital platforms offer far more
potential than most organisations currently use.

While your established technology architecture will continue

to function, some people may not have what they need to
perform their roles outside the office, whether this is tools like
smart phones or laptops, or access to the internet.

Working remotely introduces additional challenges around

data and security, so it’s important to engage IT early in the
process of finding an appropriate, sustainable solution. They
play a crucial role, as existing processes and policies often limit
how quickly a team can access systems from outside the office.

Home networks are typically not as secure as corporate

networks, particularly when networks are shared (e.g. multiple
people working from home, children distance learning), so
your organisation’s ‘human firewall’ becomes more important
to protect your organisation from cyber threats.

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 Unleashing potential | Lasting impact

Once the basics are in place, there is a vast array of

online platforms available to enable communication (e.g.
Skype, WhatsApp), information sharing and collaboration
(e.g. Google Docs, Miro, Microsoft Teams) and project
management (e.g. Trello, Monday.com, BaseCamp), as
well as governance (e.g. Diligent, Boardvantage). This is an
ideal opportunity to see how they will work within your
organisation.

If this is the first time using these platforms, help people

familiarise themselves with how to use them. This could
include training, either in groups or self-guided, or
appointing ‘ambassadors’ to provide support within
divisions or regions. With practice, these platforms will
become just another part of your organisation’s toolkit and
culture, enabling greater coordination and contribution.

Experiment with a note of caution – don’t rely on any single digital tool for every aspect of communication and collaboration, as they’re
not designed to do everything. There is no one-size-fits-all, so each team will need to figure out what works for them. And, not all
collaboration tools play nicely together, so your IT or cyber teams should have a holistic view of the tools being used to identify hidden
cyber risks.

Some questions to ask your organisation:

→→ Does
Aneveryone
effective dashboard
in your means
organisation have the team
the required caninfrastructure
tools and track keytometrics, status
work remotely and actions
and collaboratively?
inisone
→→ How place
adoption of new tools being supported and encouraged?
→→ Is IT actively involved and engaged in rolling out new digital platforms?
→→ Have cyber risks been assessed and mitigated?

An effective dashboard means the team can track key metrics, status and actions in one place

Key project metrics Workstream metrics Org/HR status

Milestone Due Status Project float Mobilisation Technical Top project risks
+2 days Milestones Budget Milestones Budget
Risk Actions Owner Risk Done?

Key KPIs Org chart Onboarding status

Milestones: Target vs. actual Budget: Target vs. actual 2 Apr 23 Apr 2 Apr 23 Apr 2 Apr 23 Apr 2 Apr 23 Apr
Managing

Procurement Systems assurance

Director
Task
Regional

Milestones Budget Milestones Budget Head of

Operations
Directors

Due
Head of Head of
Head of Sales Head of Talent
Finance and Culture
and Marketing Acquisition
Technology
Owner
Sales Technology Recruitment People and
Marketing Finance Staffing Culture

Done?
Sales

2 Apr 9 Apr 16 Apr 23 Apr 2 Apr 9 Apr 16 Apr 23 Apr 2 Apr 23 Apr 2 Apr 23 Apr 2 Apr 23 Apr 2 Apr 23 Apr

Action tracker
Off-site members required to dial in can use Trello
Name/action When Status

Xxxx 11/4 Not done

Xxxx 10/4 Done
Xxxx 14/4 Done
Xxxx 15/4 Not done

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 Unleashing potential | Lasting impact

5. Set your remote team norms 6. Chat more often

Freshly remote teams need to get their new norms explicitly set- Leaders can no longer see their team and vice versa, so the
up and embedded early – this should include regular catch ups natural cues that come from actions, guidance and coaching in
to share progress, solve problems and communicate on specific the office disappear. This can be achieved with remote teams; it
topics, rather than drowning in a sea of emails. Set your remote just needs a different approach.
team norms to maintain optimal collaboration and connection:
While emails will significantly increase, most successful remote
→→ Take the lead in locking in frequent communication working managers do not rely on these – instead they call
–– Assign central accountability for sharing and reinforcing often, holding daily calls – by phone, Skype Video, FaceTime or
team best practice WhatsApp – with teams, sub-sets of teams, and individuals to
check in.
–– Surface preferences and let people find their ideal level
within reason Some questions to ask your organisation:
→→ Exploit tools available to keep it casual and minimise →→ Do all teams have regular meetings set up, either as voice or
adaptation required video calls?
–– Video call and screenshare to see people during team →→ When did you last pick up the phone?
calls
–– Virtual group chats act as informal forums – exploit the 7. Support your clients, contacts and suppliers who
tools colleagues already use are dealing with the same challenges
Note that as a leader, you are likely to communicate more
Every business is dealing with their own challenges and some
than you normally do for a while, and it’s critical you maintain
will shift more rapidly to remote work than others. Encourage
enough energy to facilitate your role.
your organisation to show empathy where possible – you can
Some questions to ask your organisation: support your customers and suppliers by being understanding
and, if opportunity allows, sharing your experience of what has
→→ Have all teams established regular ‘meetings’ to catch up as worked and what hasn’t.
a group?
Some questions to ask your organisation:
→→ Are your team aware of available tools to stay connected
personally? →→ Are our key suppliers and customers are working remotely?
→→ Do your teams know where to find relevant information and →→ Have we spoken to them to understand how working
support? remotely might affect their offering?

Conclusion
By applying these tips and tricks, we’ve built an effective and happy remote team which both performs and values individuals. We hope
they provide some useful pointers to help your organisation, as we all navigate the challenge of operating remotely.

About the authors

Guy Turner is a Director and co-leader of our Global Capital Practice. He brings over 20 years’ experience in delivering
capital and construction projects and is familiar with the challenges of working remotely – he assists clients around
the globe, while building the Capital Practice across North America, Europe, the Middle East and Australasia.

Philip Weinberg, Head of Intellectual Property, has built and nurtured global remote and virtual teams for two
decades from his base in the UK. He helps his teams across four continents provide effective, rapid support to our
geographically dispersed client engagements, while also delivering agreed tactical and strategic goals.

Partners in Performance helps clients unleash their true potential – at a business, commercial and
people level. Working as close partners, we enable our clients to achieve game-changing results
that drive lasting impact. Contact us to find out more: pip.global [email protected] 5
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