While remote work has existed even before the pandemic, it is still a relatively new reality for many. This poses new challenges for the way we not only approach work but also succeed in it. In this episode, April Shprintz reveals three secrets to success with remote work. Whether you are looking at this from a leadership perspective or an employee’s point of view, April has the insights, experiences, and strategies to set you up to achieve your goals. Learn the crucial information that will have you produce your desired outcomes, build trust with your team, and grow professionally. Tune in to not miss out!

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3 Secrets To Success With Remote Work

I am so glad you’re here. I have seen in the news and online for months all of the people who are arguing about and discussing returning to work, what it means, and how we handle it. It’s so interesting to me because my entire career, aside from the Air Force, was remote. I was managed by remote leaders. I managed remote teams. This is something that I have done for years.

It’s been interesting to listen to people struggle with how we are going to handle this. I have some thoughts both for the leadership side and, if you are an employee who is dealing with someone having to get used to remote work, how to set yourself up for success. Where does this fall into mindset? Candidly, this can change your entire mindset about your job and your team if you handle this well.

First, from the leadership perspective, I’m going to tell you what I did. Everyone has different opinions, but my teams were fantastically successful. They were empowered. They had a lot of autonomy and impeccable results, and it’s because they were empowered and had autonomy. As I was managing these teams, and it’s probably no surprise that I ended up naming my company Driven Outcomes, I managed to outcomes. I didn’t manage to hours.

 

I didn’t care about the amount of time people spent with their butts in a seat at a desk, at a computer, or on the phone. What I cared about was that their job was done. I cared that our clients were taken care of. If we needed someone to go above and beyond and look at something at 7:00 PM one night during the week, that wasn’t an issue. Also, if they wanted to leave at 3:00 to go to their kid’s ballgame, that is not an issue either.

I want you to consider how in the roles that you have, and this doesn’t work in every industry but it works in a lot more than people act as it does, how can you manage the outcomes? How can you manage what you need done more than how much time are they spending in front of a computer or accessible by Slack?

Giving people that freedom and letting them know that you trust and believe in them will have them responding to the way that you see them and showing up the way that you’re treating them. It is going to make your job much easier. It is also going to encourage them to go above and beyond in proving what they can get done because that’s what you’re measuring instead of proving how long they can sit at their desk.

On the other side of it, it was also a remote employee. When it was a new thing, it was usually those of us who were doing outside marketing or outside sales that were working from home. I was in a hybrid position in the sense that I could be in the corporate office but I could also work from my home. The thing that I realized was if I over-communicated, I could make whoever I was reporting to feel like they could trust that I was doing everything I needed to. That was important in the early stages of this relationship when I had a new boss or when I was in a new role to almost over-tell them what I was getting done, what I was handling, how clients were feeling, and where I was on my goals.

 

On some level, it may have been slightly annoying to them that they heard so much from me, but the feedback that I always got is, “Thank you so much. I have more information than I even need, but I know exactly what’s going on.” It was a great way for them to build confidence in me over time. It was also a great way for them to feel like if they didn’t hear from me because I was heads-down on a project or, in some cases, maybe I was traveling to a client, they weren’t worried about what was going on.

It’s going to depend on the leader to know how quickly you’re going to earn that trust, but being proactive about it, reaching out, asking for feedback about the work that you’re doing, and those sorts of things can put people at ease when you’re in that remote environment. From a mindset perspective, assume that they have your best interest at heart, which is your success in the company and the company being successful for clients.

Being proactive about earning trust can put people at ease when you're in a remote environment. Share on X

Over-communicate the things that you need to until they build that trust with you. Understand that many of them are adjusting to something they’ve never done before. Give them the benefit of the doubt. I promise you that not only in this environment will this serve you, but it will serve you well throughout your career. That’s because the more that you learn to build that trust and earn that trust quickly and early on, the better it’s going to serve you regardless of what role you’re in.

The last thing I’ll say is to remember that from either side, whether you’re the leader who is dealing with all of your team members who are using this new structure and they’re either reporting remotely or they have to be coming in more and you’re trying to see how you make that work, or if you’re the team members or the employees that are dealing with the changes that are happening and how management and leadership feel about it, be empathetic. Imagine what it would be like to be in their shoes and react to these changes in the way that they talk to you that way.

 

In doing so, you’re not only going to make it easier for you and how you feel about it, but you’re going to make decisions that help you stand out as a better employee. That will lead to different roles that you want to be in, promotions, and leadership. Even these things that can seem like they don’t apply to where you’re going in your career path and where you go success-wise have a lot more to do with it than you think it does. Give this a try and let me know. Reach out to me on social media or at WinningMindsetMasteryPodcast.com. Let me know how it’s working for you. Here’s to your success.