Remote management : the challenge of trust Tutorial

Explore how remote management can thrive through trust in our video "Remote Management: The Challenge of Trust." Discover the critical shift from command-and-control to a more empowering approach. With insights on agility and change, learn to foster autonomy, responsibility, and effective communication that revitalizes teams and drives success, even from a distance.

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the current pandemic will have revealed what is working well

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and what needs to be improved within your team.

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To make the most of it,

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I invite you to ask the three KSS model questions.

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Keep,

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stop,

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start.

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What do we keep doing?

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What do we stop doing,

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and what are we going to start doing?

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Three major questions that every organization and every

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manager must ask themselves on a continuous basis.

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Management did not wait for the pandemic before transforming.

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The managerial culture was already shaken.

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Management did not wait for the pandemic to implement telecommuting.

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The number of telecommuters had been increasing for several years.

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According to Bertrand Du Perin,

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most of the telecommuting damages during

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the crisis were caused by managerial shortcomings

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leading to disengagement and a feeling of exclusion on the part of employees.

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This is a serious conclusion,

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though deerin acknowledges that managers were not prepared or trained

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for remote management,

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no planning,

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lack of models.

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The managers and teams that suffered the most during

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the crisis are those that functioned on a more traditional

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command and control approach to management.

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This model only works with a strong manager managed physical proximity link

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and with employees accepting an overly directive management.

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The teams that fared best during the crisis

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are those that were already operating on autonomy,

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responsibility and trust.

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Prior to the crisis,

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management was already moving towards a management by trust system.

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Companies such as MyF,

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an insurance company,

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began a huge transition towards this model of trust

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as early as 2015.

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MIF has long been committed to trust-based management

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rooted in the empowerment of its employees.

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Today,

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MIF has made it possible for 100% of its employees,

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except for specific functions,

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to work from home.

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This is thanks to a unanimously signed agreement.

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If you implement management by trust,

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remote management will be much easier.

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I would go so far as to say that without management based on trust,

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remote management becomes a challenge for everyone,

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managers and employees alike.

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What is management by trust?

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Letting go of the traditional command and control model.

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Create a climate of trust amongst everyone that goes

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hand in hand with values such as listening,

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truthfulness,

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transparency,

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feedback,

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respect,

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etc.

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have a common goal,

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some would say a purpose that gives meaning to the job

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and to which everyone aspires.

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MyF,

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which insures over 3 million people,

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has as its purpose

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to pay sincere attention to others and to the world and to

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put this at the core of each of its commitments and actions.

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In trust-based management,

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the manager and the employee set objectives together,

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giving the employees a certain amount of autonomy

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to achieve these objectives.

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Therefore,

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in management by trust,

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management techniques must evolve towards more autonomy

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and more responsibility

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by encouraging initiative and accepting failure.

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The concept of working hours is gradually being

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replaced by a commitment to deliver results.

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This point is particularly critical in remote

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management so as to avoid time pressure.

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And to focus on delivering tangible and measurable results,

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management by trust is much more than these basic outlines.

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It deserves a video cycle on its own.

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It takes on different forms and colors depending on the company,

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the profession,

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the country and the culture.

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When teams work remotely,

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everything seems exponential.

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The speed at which we isolate ourselves,

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we disengage and which the collective disintegrates.

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Distance highlights all the dysfunctions within a system

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that worked well locally,

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but only apparently so.

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Thus,

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distance will highlight the problems of communication and collaboration,

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coordination difficulties,

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difficulties in being creative

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and deciding together,

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difficulties in acting together.

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According to Francis Boyer,

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author of Managerial Innovation blog,

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the pandemic will accelerate the

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ongoing organizational and management transformations.

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One only has to look at the evolution of the qualities expected of a manager

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over the last few years to realize that we are no longer focusing on criteria

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such as technical expertise,

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managing,

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or even leadership,

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but rather on empowerment,

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making people grow,

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and more recently on enablement or facilitation,

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creating favorable conditions for employees to carry out

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their tasks under the best possible conditions.

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It is for this reason that managerial frameworks place more emphasis on values,

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attitudes,

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state of mind,

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and a conscious balance rather than technical skills.

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One of the main water supplier corporations expects its managers to listen,

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i.e.,

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take into consideration what employees say.

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Ashan,

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like Spotify,

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expects them to become servant leaders,

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show the way,

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and position themselves as genuine support for their teams,

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and Renault Nissan,

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via its management way

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expects them to adopt the role of coaches to

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better support employees and mentors to better guide them.

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This is what is happening with the emergence

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of new organizational models such as holocracy,

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sociocracy,

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adhocracy,

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and the concept of the freedom form company.

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These new approaches do not require managers in the traditional sense of the term.

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Employees interact directly with each other to accomplish their objectives,

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sometimes with the help of team leaders,

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often former managers or coaches.

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It is at the heart of this transformation which the crisis has accelerated

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that managers must find their bearings today,

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as Bruno Metlin,

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former HR director at Orange,

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says,

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Management in command and control mode does not survive the test of distance.

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It is management with the notion of trust,

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accountability,

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transparency,

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and flexibility at its core

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that will best manage remoteness and telecommuting.

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Managers can build this trust on a departmental level,

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but this transition will be more evident if the organization itself,

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as MIF has done,

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embraces the concept of trust and supports and trains its managers.

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By gradually abandoning the command and control approach,

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the manager is weakened.

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This is why many of them have long resisted telecommuting.

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How will I be able to control,

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monitor the work of my employees remotely?

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Losing control is not easy.

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Letting go of the reins is difficult.

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Managers tend to question themselves and contemplate the worst case scenarios.

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What if,

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what if the employee is less efficient?

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What if he or she stops listening to me?

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What if they lie to me about what they are actually doing?

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What if the team disintegrates?

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I invite you to write down all your what ifs and to collectively,

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if possible,

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develop strategies to avoid these slip ups.

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What if the employee becomes less efficient can be replaced with

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how can we become more efficient with telecommuting?

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What if they stop listening to me can be

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replaced with how to ensure good manager employee communication.

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What if I'm lied to about achievements can be replaced

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with how to follow up on objectives and achievements.

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What if the team disintegrates can be replaced with

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how to preserve cohesion and collaboration within the remote team?

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These points will be addressed as we go ahead.

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Therefore,

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verbalize your what ifs and have the team verbalize the

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what ifs before reflecting together on an action plan.

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You can do this together on a shared writing collaborative tool.

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Together,

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write down worst case scenarios of remote

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management and strategies for countering them.

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Management by trust starts with just that

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speaking the truth,

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authenticity,

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transparency,

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and seeking solutions together

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to work better as a team.

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By the end of this common reflection,

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you will be able to write your team charter on telecommuting.

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I will talk about this again.

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Management by trust goes hand in hand with empowering your employees.

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They will need to be supported or even trained in this empowerment.

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I therefore recommend increasing the training budget

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not only for business know-how but also and above all for soft skills.

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Some of your employees will need advanced training in online collaborative tools,

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which should be a priority in my opinion.

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Others in communication,

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meeting facilitation,

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and time management.

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Train and organize training sessions for your telecommuters.

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Autonomy and empowerment are not invented.

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They are based on acquired skills.

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As mentioned earlier,

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not all employees are made,

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or at least ready for telecommuting,

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as it requires self-discipline,

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accountability,

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autonomy,

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personal organization,

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and above all,

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love of one's work without.

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These skills and qualities,

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employees will quickly lose interest in their work.

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Even an efficient telecommuter can gradually lose interest.

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So

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learn as a manager how to detect trust signals.

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Here are 4 confidence questions for that.

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Is the person on time for online appointments?

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Does he or she keep you informed of his or her progress as projects progress?

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Does he or she send you the information you request?

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Is he or she doing what he or she has committed to

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to maintain and build trust,

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respond immediately to any signal,

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no matter how small,

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that something is not right with respect to these four questions.

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Whenever the trust alarm is triggered,

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even if it is a hunch,

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talk to your employee about it right away.

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Distance causes slippages to escalate rapidly

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and above all quickly undermine trust.

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And nothing nurtures trust like real in-person,

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1 to 1 and team meetings.

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We trust those we know

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best.

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