Developing Your Remote Staff

Are you working as a newly remote or hybrid team? You may have noticed new challenges arise.

Even "normal" tasks like managing projects and communicating with staff look different and even feel uncomfortable at times.

And on top of that, your employees may be facing burnout as their work and home life have blended into one.

So how do we invest in our employees and make sure they have the skills and resources they need to thrive in this new environment?

That is exactly what I talked about during my session at the Virtual Summit for Nonprofit Changemakers hosted by TopNonprofits.

Benefits of Remote Work

Remote and hybrid workforces bring many unique benefits - things to stop and take note of - like improved productivity, decreased costs, improved staff satisfaction, reduced employee turnover, and increased diversity in your candidate pool.

Seriously!

Challenges of Remote Work

But it can also come with unique challenges as things like project management, collaboration, communication, and trust building become more difficult.

The Path Forward

So how do you invest in your staff to make sure they have what they need to scale your mission?

We continue to develop their functional, leadership, and DEI skills - even in a virtual world!

Here's how:

Session illustration by Ashton Rodenhiser, CEO and Chief Graphic Recorder of Mind’s Eye Creative Consulting

Start by reviewing your organization's priorities. If you need to pause and update those priorities so they are clearly defined, do so first. Then,

1 - Identify the opportunities for staff development.

This means you have to get clear on your expectations of staff. What actions do you need them to take to drive your organization's priorities?

But you also have to understand how those actions are different than what they are currently doing so you can identify the "opportunity."

Identify what barriers your staff are facing. What is preventing them from taking the actions you need them to take?

Paint a picture of success.

2 - Create the right experiences to help them develop the skills you’ve identified.

Translate your expectations into goals and objectives.

Brainstorm your options for meeting those goals.

Create an engaging experience.

Prepare for delivery because in-person training and virtual training are VERY different!

Grab my free Virtual Facilitation Formula for quick tips to prepare for delivery.

3 - Nurture the transformation - or put simply, make it stick.

Provide staff with an immediate opportunity to apply the behavior change.

Prepare your supervisors to support their staff through the change.

Remove barriers to success.

Your Turn

Chart your path forward and let me know what one organizational priority you are focused on over the next 6-12 months.