How To Be Proactive And Consistent In Your Messaging

1. Communication times

One way that you can create consistency is by carving out designated communication times. You can do this by setting up regular video meetings at the same time each week or month.

• Weekly, Biweekly, or Monthly meetings – Depending on how often you need to meet with certain members of your team, this will determine the frequency and length of the meetings.
• Set Time – Your meetings should also have a set time that recurs every week or every other week depending on how often you’ve determined you need to meet.  Consistency is key here. Your team will feel appreciated knowing you are always setting aside time to meet with them.
• Show up – It is important that you set a time that you know you will be able to attend!  It does you and your team no good if you aren’t able to attend the meetings that you set.  Of course, there will be times when something comes up, however, you need to make meeting with your team a priority.

Remember, you aren’t in an office setting.  You won’t be able to easily group a few people together on the fly for a meeting.  Creating this regular schedule is key to your visibility.  Just because you don’t get to see your team in person doesn’t mean that you should let your executive presence slide.  

2. Set Clear Expectations

Once you have a set schedule with your team, it’s time to decide what your meetings will entail. 

You will want to be very clear with what people can expect when they step into this meeting. This can include regular:

• Departmental updates
• Presentations
• Q+A time
• Sharing of ideas 
• Recognizing other people within the team

Whatever it is – set the expectation.  When you set the expectation from the beginning, it will also help you lead your team more effectively.  You will be able to intercept any off-topic conversations or questions by reminding your team of the reason for the meeting.  It will help divert certain questions to more appropriate settings for discussion.

3. Be Proactive

As a leader managing a team remotely, it is critical to keep your lines of communication open.  You will need to set expectations on where people can find you and when they can expect to hear from you.

Because you won’t have the option of simply walking over to someone’s desk for a quick interface, you will want to be proactive in your communication.  

• Think ahead – You’re busy doing your job, but it is critical for your team to hear from you before anyone else.  A breakdown in communication can make team members feel undervalued – this is especially true when leading a virtual team.
• Gather Your Information–  Gather the information that your team is going to need to hear. Do this ahead of time and not last minute. The more prepared you are the better your communications will be.
• Communications Channel – You may have determined that you will have video meetings at certain times on certain days, but can your team reach you outside of that? Make sure your team has access to you for all other questions or issues that may arise and let them know how.