I had the pleasure to lead a Hacking HR panel discussion with some wonderful people from different regions and industries on the topic of hashtag#remotework.
This discussion reinforced how critical it is for remote leaders to foster belonging and inclusion through intentionality, empathy and understanding different needs and perspectives.
Learning from each other’s diverse experiences, and incorporating lessons learned into our own leadership approaches, will help us craft more impactful remote work strategies and narratives.
Here is a brief summary/ lessons for the chat:
– The panelists shared experiences on navigating remote, hybrid and distributed teams. This included challenges like managing across time zones.
– When building remote work, it’s important to focus on the human elements that connect with your audience. Soundari Mukherjea discussed collecting stories from her clients and collaborators to help them move to action.
– Creating a consistent framework with regular check-ins was highlighted as important for remote leadership. Visual cues like cameras allow understanding team well-being. Alex Howieson spoke about utilizing technology like calendar status to show availability and pick up on visual cues to understand team well-being.
– Informal interactions like virtual coffee breaks are important for connection when people can’t chat in person. Events should be intentional and include different activities.
– Khalil Zafar noted cultural awareness is crucial, as communication styles need to respect different regions and generations. Language usage is particularly important.
– New strategies are needed for learning and development, like micro-learning and virtual discussions. Involving younger teams can provide new perspectives.
– Setting expectations and accountability is still important for remote work, while also allowing flexibility and freedom within frameworks.
– Belonging and inclusion require continual effort through empathy and understanding individual needs in remote environments. Alex Howieson said belonging is a key thing to focus on whether teams are working remotely, in person, or in hybrid models. Creating a sense of belonging and inclusion is continually challenging.
– Noelle Peart, SHRM-SCP discussed the importance of building a community and ensuring inclusion in a remote workspace. She talked about intentionally connecting people and making them feel like they belong to the team.
– Nesa K. Johnson noted that building trust is important for getting important work done, and the basis of trust has to be established through understanding who people are and making them feel they belong. Remote work requires understanding individuals’ needs and meeting them where they are.
– Nesa K. Johnson closed by emphasizing the importance of setting clear expectations to help all employees, especially new hires, feel set up for success.
Thank you 😊
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