I read recently that negative reviews online carry so much weight it takes eight positive reviews on Yelp to counteract a single bad review. While this is bad news for your local diner, why is it relevant to those who lead remote teams? The reason is that people take negative feedback much more seriously than positive feedback. The problem with long-distance reviews Our … [Read more...]
Beware of Unintended Consequences
by Kevin Eikenberry As a leader you make decisions every day. Some are bigger than others, and some may be bigger than we realize at the time. It is often these decisions with far reaching impact that we underestimate, or don’t spend enough time thinking about. I believe we … [Read more...]
Need Help Pondering the New Year?
You’re probably getting a lot of advice about how this time of year is good for taking stock of you and your team, where you are now and where you want to be. People who do this mean well, but just saying, “Give some thought to where you want to go,” is not all that helpful. At best you will focus on some things that matter, at worst you become a blubbering pile of insecurities … [Read more...]
5 Ways to Ruin a Virtual One-On-One
As leaders, we know that one-on-one communication with our team is critical. When we can’t just look out and survey the cubicle-farm to see how people are doing, the little time we get to spend with each employee becomes more precious. That’s why conducting these meetings is perhaps the most important skill a long-distance leader can have. In many ways they are just like … [Read more...]
Leaders: Remember You Have Superpowers
As leaders of a remote team, it is easier to get down on ourselves. We aren’t getting the participation from our team we’d like. People aren’t honest with us about how their work is going, and we think everything is fine only to have fires pop up in the least likely places. We feel powerless. It seems funny then that others think of you as a superhero (or villain, depending on … [Read more...]