Leading remote

LEADING
REMOTE TEAMS
IN CHALLENGING
TIMES

LPI....
IS REPRESENTED IN +20 COUNTRIES
HAS DELIVERING CAPABILITIES IN +20
LANGUAGES
+20,000 ALUMNIES
PEOPLE FROM +75 COUNTRIES HAVE
BEEN EXPOSED TO OUR PROGRAMS
1 COPYRIGHT LEADERSHIP PIPELINE INSTITUTE

2
LEADERSHIP PIPELINE
INSTITUTE AT A GLANCE
With Stephen Drotter and Jim Noel as Partners, the
leading global provider of Leadership & Specialist
Pipeline solutions to private, public and non-profit
organizations.
COPYRIGHT LEADERSHIP PIPELINE INSTITUTE

3
HOW TO ENGAGE PEOPLE IN
FOUR FULL DAYS IN A ROW ON-
LINE LEADERSHIP TRAINING?
To what extent did the program allow you to practice?
How would you rate the opportunity to learn from other
participants?
To what extent did you contribute to your own learning
(i.e were active during the workshop)?
How would you rate the facilitator´s facilitation skills?
How would you rate the facilitator in terms of
professional knowledge
How would you perceive the overall value you could bring
back to your job?
SCORE SCALE 1-5
4.7
4.8
4.5
4.9
4.9
4.8
4.3
ON-SITE
SCORE
ON-LINE
SCORE
4.5
4.3
5.0
4.8
4.5
Due to the travel restrictions during covid-19 some of our clients
have turned the regular on-site four-day leadership transition
program for leaders of others into a four-days facilitated on-line
training session.
With LPI’s online training platform we can deliver the in the same
rhythm as on-site, with individual reflection moments, plenary
discussions, and break room team sessions.
We have compared average feedback scores from the past two
years’ on-site programs with the scores from the recently completed
on-line program. Exact same content, structure and facilitator.

4
FROM NEED, TO IDEA, VIA
SPRINT TO RESULTS
As a result of covid-19, millions of people have started working from
home. Many leaders have had to build or polish their skills in remote
leadership. We quickly challenged ourselves: Let‘s take our general
“remote leadership” program and make it relevant to a situation
where most of the employees involved are exposed to a personally
stressful situation of fearing for the health of family and friends, and
fearing for their own future work situation.
We engaged in a sprint process and launched the revised program
two weeks ago. Below, you can see an example from a client on the
immediate responses to the program. For inspiration to those
unable to attend the program we will over the next couple of weeks
share some of the key discussion points in the program
Overall, I am satisfied with the
overall experience of the first module
of this course
Example from client on the
immediate responses to the program
4,78 Average
Rating
I am motivated to use my learning
from this first module in my job
The trainer was inspirational and
motivational
5,00 Average
Rating
4,78 Average
Rating

The circle of
influence
#1
- how to proceed
In recent weeks, LPI has been running the virtual workshop
“LEADING REMOTE TEAMS IN CHALLENGING TIMES” for
several of our global clients.
The focus has been not only on leading their teams
remotely, but also on how to cope with their team members
and themselves being under abnormal stress and on how to
build team resilience and psychological safety.
We will share some of the participants’ key findings that had
the biggest impact on their ability to support their teams.
One of the key discussions was how to work with the circle
of influence.

#1
It is equally simple and impactful,
especially in times of crisis and
uncertainty.
One of the key roles we play as
leaders, both for ourselves and for
our teams, is to make sure that we
increase the things we can control
and influence, and minimize those
that are beyond our control and
influence.
As leaders we need to help our
direct reports clarify and shift
focus from the things that are not
within their sphere of influence to
those that are.
The leader who is able to do this
successfully not only enhances the
productivity of their direct reports
but also makes it possible for them
to feel a sense of accomplishment
and success, and building their
resilience in the process.

#1
A quick guide to how you can use the
circle of influence as a coaching tool
with your employees
1
2
3
4
5
Introduce the circle of influence and the ideas
behind it (control, influence, beyond influence)
Select a specific assignment, a project you’d like
to explore together (this could also be the
situation in general, working from home, etc.)
Now explore by asking questions and brainstorm
together with your employees the things they can
control and influence within the given task.
Focus on expanding the control and influence
circle by challenging limiting beliefs; put the “not
in my sphere of influence” issues in a safe place
and do not spend any more time worrying about
them.
Make an action plan and discuss
deadlines, etc.

#2
How to take
care of yourself
The key is knowing what works for
you, and remembering to do it or do
more of it when you’re stressed!
“There’s a reason why as part of the safety briefing on an
airplane we’re asked to put on the oxygen mask before we
help our fellow passengers”
The quote is from a leader participating in the virtual
workshop “LEADING REMOTE TEAMS IN CHALLENGING
TIMES.” The topic was how to take care of ourselves as
leaders in times where our main focus has been on how to
support our teams. Just like a passenger in an aircraft
needs oxygen to survive and make a difference for fellow
passengers, we need to take care of ourselves both
physically and mentally to stay healthy and perform over
time as leaders. Many leaders overlook this fact in their
effort to support others. This is also a great list to share
and discuss with your team!

#2
TAKE REGULAR BREAKS
EXERCISE
EAT A BALANCED DIET
CONNECT WITH OTHERS
GET SUFFICIENT SLEEP
HAVE SOME TIME ALONE

#2
USE A SELF-CARE “BUDDY”
SYSTEM
TAKE THE TIME OFF THAT
YOU ARE GIVEN
WRITE ABOUT YOUR
EXPERIENCE IN A JOURNAL
PAY ATTENTION TO THE
EARLY WARNING SIGNS
OF STRESS
BALANCE GIVING AND
RECEIVING SUPPORT

#2
You know what works best for
you. Some of the strategies
listed may not be realistic at
certain times or in an
emergency, but could be used
later. Other strategies might be
used immediately.
This is also a great list to share
and discuss with your
team!

#3
How can you maximize
your team’s resilience
in times of crisis?
This is one of the key topics we discuss in our workshop
“LEADING REMOTE TEAMS IN CHALLENGING TIMES.”
According to the WHO, resilience is defined as “the capacity
to cope with adversity and to avoid breakdown when
confronted with stressors.”
One of the most powerful ways to create resilience is to
instill a sense of unity, belonging and teamwork among your
team members combined with a strong focus on key
priorities. The “team success factor” tool that we are sharing
here is a strong enabler of team success and resilience.

#3
A quick guide to how you can use
the spiderweb as a coaching tool
with your team
1
2
3
4
5
Share the definitions of the 6 elements (see the next
pages for descriptions)
Ask each team member to score each element on a
scale of 1-5 (with 1 being the lowest)
Ask each team member to share their score and add
some reasons for their score
6
Plot each team member’s score into the spiderweb
Discuss the overall picture: where are you strong,
where can you improve
Agree on concrete actions you
can take, as a team,
to increase the score

PRIORITIES
FRONTLINE
PASSION
(CUSTOMER
-CENTRIC)
INCLUSION
KNOWLEDGE
SHARING
ADAPTABLE
COOPERATION
#3
PRIORITIES PROVIDE TEAM MEMBERS
WITH CLEAR AND SHARED
DIRECTIONS. THE TEAM HAS A
COMMON UNDERSTANDING OF THE
PURPOSE, RESPONSIBILITIES AND
PERFORMANCE EXPECTED OF THE
TEAM.
PRIORITIES PROVIDE TEAM MEMBERS
WITH CLEAR AND SHARED
DIRECTIONS. THE TEAM HAS A
COMMON UNDERSTANDING OF THE
PURPOSE, RESPONSIBILITIES AND
TEAM.
FRONTLINE PASSION IS PLACING
THE CUSTOMER IN THE CENTER OF
EVERYTHING WE DO. EVERYONE IN
THE TEAM HAS A CLEAR IDEA OF
HOW THEIR WORK CREATES
CUSTOMER VALUE.
PRIORITIES PROVIDE TEAM
MEMBERS WITH CLEAR AND
SHARED DIRECTIONS.
THE TEAM HAS A COMMON
UNDERSTANDING OF THE PURPOSE,
RESPONSIBILITIES AND
TEAM.
COOPERATION IS WHEN TEAM
MEMBERS RESPECT AND TRUST
EACH OTHER AND PULL IN THE
SAME DIRECTION TO ACHIEVE
THEIR GOALS.
INCLUSION IS WHEN EVERYONE
FEELS WELCOME AND WHERE THE
DIFFERENCES PEOPLE BRING TO THE
TABLE ARE APPRECIATED AND
TAKEN INTO CONSIDERATION. IT IS
SAFE TO SPEAK UP AND JUST BE
YOURSELF.

#4
Rewards that the
participants have
experienced working
remotely
All participants on the program “Leading remote teams
in challenging times” agree, that they actually prefer the
business situation three months ago versus today.
But whereas all the leaders experienced significant
challenges and are uncertain about both the near and
the distant future, then they were also able to find
strong motivation in the situation and personal rewards
in handling the situation.
How about YOU! Have you also been able to do the
same? If not, we have cited the following rewards that
the participants have experienced working under these
circumstances.

#4
PERSONAL SATISFACTION AND ENJOYMENT OF
THE WORK WITH SUPPORTING DIRECT
REPORTS UNDER SEVERE STRESS
RELIEF FROM ROUTINE WORK; VARIETY
FEELINGS OF EMPOWERMENT DURING TIMES
OF CRISIS AND CHAOS
SENSE OF COMPETENCE AND MASTERY IN
OVERCOMING UNIQUE CHALLENGES
SENSE OF PRIVILEGE AND HONOR TO SERVE
DURING TIMES OF NEED
INCREASED SELF-KNOWLEDGE AND SELF-
AWARENESS
PERSONAL GROWTH
BEING PART OF A MEANINGFUL EFFORT
LARGER THAN ONESELF

#5
How participants
reaped the benefits
of the crisis
While working under the current circumstances is
potentially challenging and, in some cases, has
dramatic consequences for our private and working life,
it is in times like these that we should remember that
crisis also creates opportunities.
Crisis ignites our creativity, inspires us to find solutions
outside the norm and forces us to change behavior at a
speed that would normally cause significant resistance.
In our program “LEADING REMOTE TEAMS IN
CHALLENGING TIMES” we discussed how the
participants reaped the benefits of the crisis.
We have collected some of the examples below for
your inspiration.

#5
TALENT ATTRACTION OUTSIDE
IMMEDIATE GEOGRAPHY
Many front-line leaders tend to prefer having their team close to
them even when this is not operationally important. Simply
because it feels easier. This, however, limits their access to talent.
At the programs we discussed how much more talent they would
have access to if they recruited direct reports irrespective of
geographic criteria. Several front-line managers at the programs
agreed that the past eight weeks of forced remote leadership had
taught them that perhaps the right people are more important
than geographic preferences.
GETTING MORE STRUCTURE INTO
SETTING OBJECTIVES AND
FOLLOWING UP AN DELEGATING
The vast majority of the program participants agreed that the
challenges of remote leadership forced them to be much more
structured than they normally are when it comes to setting
targets/deadlines, following up and delegating authority.
At the same time, they appreciated the fact that they would
certainly stick to this new behavior when things return to normal
back at the office. It simply freed up more
time for being a leader and gave them
a much better perspective on how well
people in their team perform and
where the team members really
need development.

#5
GETTING THE PARTLY REMOTE
TEAM TO WORK AS A TEAM
Some of the program participants were already used to having
about half of their team working from remote locations and the
other half at the same office as themselves. They were struggling
to form a real team from all of their direct reports, as those
working remotely always felt somewhat left out and decisions
were often just made among those working next to each other on
a daily basis.
However, during the past eight weeks or so their entire teams
were working remotely and team members adopted new online
behaviors such as writing ‘good morning’ notes to everyone,
having five-minute on-line coffee breaks with each other across
geographies, making all decisions jointly by the entire team –
instead of just by those from the same office and so on.
The leaders agreed that the ‘new normal’ of leading their teams
could easily be applied also after going back to ‘normal’.
The value of the crisis was that especially the team of people
working in the same geography previously found it ‘artificial’ to
interact like this.
But now they were forced to get used to it,
making the change process much easier
for the leader of the team.

#5
TRAINING PROGRAMS –
FACILITATED 4-HOUR AND 8-
HOUR SESSIONS
Over the years we have had discussions with a large number of
HR functions about replacing part of the on-site training
with facilitated on-line sessions.
Not in order to discontinue all onsite classroom training, but
simply for the purpose of designing more effective
blended learning solutions.
It has always been questioned whether you can engage leaders in
8-hour online sessions or even 4-hour sessions.
The current situation has certainly changed many people’s
perspectives on this, both of L&D professionals and of the leaders
attending programs.
Many organizations have been forced to instantly adjust to
facilitated online rather than using onsite solutions. We have been
running 4-hour sessions, 8-hour sessions and even 3 days in a
row of facilitated online sessions over the past ten weeks.
While the participants do miss meeting each other ‘physically,’
they also appreciated the power of facilitated online sessions and,
in the future, it will be much easier for many
L&D functions to introduce this idea as
part of their leadership programs.

#5
OFFERING FLEXIBLE WORKING
HOURS
Quite a number of the program participants expressed that before
the Covid19 situation they by far preferred if their direct reports
show up in the office most days.
They were simply uncomfortable about having them work from
home. Uncomfortable in terms of how do I lead them? Will they
work as effectively? What about our team spirit?
At the same time, they experienced that many people applying for
jobs expressed a desire to be able to also work from home on a
frequent basis. Several program participants stated that they had
turned down talent due to them requiring this flexibility.
But after having been forced to work like this for more eight
weeks, the program participants now agreed that they were now
used to this way of leading and going forward they would not
hesitate to allow much more flexibility.
At the end of the day, it is just about leadership.
Accordingly, the crises has opened up new opportunities for them
to attract talent that they would previously have turned down.

CONTACT US
INFO@LP-INSTITUTE.COM

Leading remote

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