Gepubliceerd op 20 april 2020

Leading Remote Teams in Challenging Times

Presentatie van Carola Boer (engelstalig) over hoe je thuiswerk-teams / teams op afstand goed kunt leiden in tijden van crisis. Deze presentatie is gegeven tijdens een gelijknamig webinar op 20 april 2020 dat is georganiseerd door NLinBusiness en 5 kamers van het ASEAN Dutch Chamber Netwerk: DBAV, DBN Indonesia, DCCP, MDBC en NTCC. Download de presentatie door op Download rapport te klikken en lees hieronder ook nog een samenvatting van het Webinar.

Presentation by Mrs Carola Boer (in english) about leading remote teams in times of crisis. It was part of a webinar about Leading Remote Teams on April 20, 2020 and organised by NLinBusiness and five business councils that are part of the ASEAN Dutch Chamber Network: DBAV, DBN Indonesia, DCCP, MDBC and NTCC. Download the presentation by clicking on the Download rapport button. Below you can also find a recap of the Webinar.

Motivation key when leading remote teams in time of crisis

150 entrepreneurs from across the ASEAN Dutch Chamber Network (ADCN) joined the webinar on Monday April 20 about leading remote teams in challenging times. The webinar was organised by NLinBusiness and five of the business chambers who partake in the ADCN. Mrs. Carola Boer, founder of LeadUP with 25 years of executive experience, inspired participants about leading remote teams in times like this and gave practical tips on how to keep teams motivated and productive.

Which phase of crisis are you in?

Carola discussed in more detail what’s called the ‘three phases of crisis’: After that she shared 7 tips for leading remote teams during these phases of crisis and concluded with 5 pitfalls that are best to be avoided. Interestingly, two thirds of participants indicated they are already looking to the future, preparing their business for the phase post Corona. Only about 8% indicated their business still being in crisis phase (see figure 1). Carola explained how each phase demands its own type of response and leadership, for the manager her/himself, for their teams and their organisation as a whole.

Figure 1. Many companies prepare for 'the new normal'

Motivation first!

One of her key messages is: “Start with motivation and then productivity will follow”. Be emphatic, listen to their worries and take their concerns seriously. This will create trust which will lead to motivation. Often, she noticed, executives and managers focus too much on productivity and keeping control of their staff, which may lead to an opposite effect. Engaging your teams and having frequent, open and honest connections with them, will raise the feeling of shared responsibility, motivation… and productivity. Many participants indicated they find this quite a challenge in their daily processes (see figure 2).

Figure 2. Keeping up the team spirit is the main challenge

Carola concluded with five common pitfalls that can easily be avoided if you are aware of them. Here too, crisis and working remotely requires leaders to be in tune and communication with their teams, constantly, not incidentally. It’s not business as usual.

A lively Q&A followed Carola’s presentation and tapped also on cultural differences such as how to act during Ramadan. Participants shared many additional tips. Guido van Rooy, executive director of the Dutch Business Association Vietnam (DBAV), who took the initiative for this webinar, moderated the Q&A and this session.

Operational impact

The webinar started off with the local situation in Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam, which was compiled by the participating business councils of ADCN. Jeroen Haver from NLinBusiness shared highlights from a recent survey that NLinBusiness held in cooperation with the business hubs and focused specifically on the outcomes about remote working. From the 180 respondents of that survey 86% said they had a remote working or job-sharing program in place since the outbreak of the COVID-19-crisis. The far majority consisted of working from home, 16% of all respondents mentioned having (also) a job- sharing program in place. In terms of impact of operations, 57% responded the impact was somewhat or more severe, whilst more than one third thought their staff was less efficient in a remote working situation.