Welcome to Issue 15 of the Manager TLDR – the best in management, carefully curated by Fellow.app.
This week, we’re sharing strategies to keep your remote team motivated, build a positive culture, and develop an agile mindset during a crisis.
🌟 9 Expert tips to build a thriving remote culture
TLDR: One thing that remote companies learn very quickly is that culture is about more than ping-pong tables and office snacks. Great cultures are built around a strong mission and values that unite your team. Here are some expert tips on how to foster a thriving remote culture:
- Communicate your values and reward employees for exemplifying them.
- Create psychological safety by acknowledging your mistakes as a leader.
- Break down communication silos by sharing information in public channels.
💪 7 best practices to keep your team engaged from afar
TLDR: We compiled a list of strategies that have helped leaders at companies such as Drift, Webflow, and Gitlab keep their teams aligned and motivated during this crisis. Here are some of their tips:
- Establish weekly rituals to ensure everyone’s working towards the same goal.
- Video is a great way to communicate emotion. Use it as much as possible.
- Avoid meeting overload. Keep your standups under 20 minutes and limit large team calls to 1-2 per week.
🏡 Collected tips on working from home during lockdown – Julie Zhuo
TLDR: About half of the world (nearly 4 billion people) is in lockdown. That’s a mind-boggling number. We’re all scrambling to learn and adapt. In that vein, here are some things to remember during this period:
- This is not the time to come across as a “hard-ass” boss. Be empathetic and always assume best intent.
- Video calls seem to sap more energy than in-person meetings. Take a look at your calendar and cancel meetings that could be emails.
- Make small daily commitments, such as checking the news only once a day.
⌛️ Perfectionism will slow you down in a crisis – Harvard Business Review
TLDR: Dr. Michael Ryan, Executive Director at the World Health Organization, has been at the front lines of several global health threats. On managing through a crisis, he says: “If you need to be right before you move, you will lose”. Follow these 3 steps to adopt an agile mindset:
- Decrease distractibility: Divide up your work into small sprints and take breaks in between.
- Leave your ego aside: Ask openly for perspectives, feedback, and support.
- Practice compassion: Ask yourself, “How can I be of benefit to my teammates?”.
Remote Meeting Template
Last but not least, here’s a video we recorded for you this week! It walks you through an agenda template that will help you run more effective remote team meetings:
And that’s it for this week!
As always, feel free to forward this email to other managers and leaders that might benefit from it. You can also follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn to continue learning. 🤓
