TIP #2: EMPLOY THE RIGHT LIEUTENANTS & LEAD BY EXAMPLE
So maybe, instead, you or your lieutenant take advantage of those first four minutes and get the group loosened up and ask a fun question to start some chatter before diving into the agenda. If you’ve been on a call where everyone was sitting silently on mute waiting for the “late party” to join, we can all admit it’s awkward. We can and should do better than the awkward silence. Little things, but they add up to culture…and they start from the top.
As a leader, make sure you have the right lieutenants to ‘lead from a distance.’ They know how to engage with people, communicate effectively, and balance the need for humor while getting tasks done. In practice, to me, the lieutenants see and do the little things. For example, your virtual Teams meeting starts at 2:00 pm, and people are trickling in until 2:04pm. Yes, there’s the “be prompt, ‘cause everyone’s time is valuable” mentality, but perhaps the latecomer was trying to solve a big problem for a customer.
Concord’s Culture in Motion
You can talk all the generational lingo you want, but one thing is certain – people value and want to be part of a good culture. It’s a collective effort to build and maintain culture – leaders can help facilitate, but the entire organization needs to take part to make it stick. At Concord, we’re working hard to make sure our culture maintains its differentiation. I’m sure we’ll drop the ball occasionally, but we’ll pick it back up. I encourage you to do the same. Have a blessed and adventurous summer. There’s lots to see in the world that won’t put you or others at risk. At least not at risk from catching a virus, that is. No matter how big or small your army, if you want to keep the soldiers fighting for you, you’d better get them connected and figure out what makes them tick.
TIP #3: COLLECT & REVIEW YOUR DATA
Now, for some of you big, global companies, you’ve been leading/managing/operating from a distance for years. Maybe the challenge for you is to understand the data you already have sitting around. For example, of those you’ve allowed to work remotely, how well have they kept connected? If you allowed 3,000 people to work remotely, how many stuck around? What’s the turnover of your remote workforce? What percentage of those workers are promoted or lead teams? Do your remote members boast a better or worse retention rate than those who walk through the front door most days? This is the type of data that your human resources leaders can help you gather, understand, and act upon since remote work has and will continue to explode as a result of the pandemic. If your HR team does not have that data or doesn’t know how to get it, perhaps you need to give Concord a call.
18 | Work Culture In The New Abnormal
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