How do you actually build a thriving remote team? There are lots of tips and theories out there — but not nearly enough best practice examples from the real world!
That’s why I sat down with Maël Frize, co-founder and CPO of “Filestage”. Together with his colleagues, he has built a fantastic remote company. In this article, he allows founders and leaders to glance under the hood of a modern, thoughtfully designed remote organization.
In my first few years as an entrepreneur, I overlooked something very important: while I was doing a fine job of designing a great product, I completely neglected designing the company itself.
This oversight cost me dearly…
70% of meetings keep employees from doing productive work. Almost 75% of cross-functional teams are dysfunctional. And almost 50% of the work we do fails to advance our organizations’ strategies.
Our current playbooks for leadership and entrepreneurship are in desperate need of an update. Our current models have stopped working — and we need to find better ones if we want to stay successful in the future.
Here are three predictions on the future of leadership and entrepreneurship.
I applaud every founder who puts people before profits.
But I notice that some of them wrestle with a false dichotomy: they think they have to decide between productivity and kindness, between making profits and caring for the humans on their team.
Let me — and science — explain why this is a misunderstanding…
In 2010, when we made the switch to remote work, I must admit I was a bit naive. I thought it would be a piece of cake. After all, remote work is simply “work minus the office,” right? Well… not really…
I learned the hard way that my image of remote work was mostly incorrect.
In this short essay, I’ll share the “Top 5 Misconceptions About Remote Work” which I fell for… and which I often hear when speaking to other founders and leaders.
Let’s eliminate some misconceptions, shall we?
Let’s say you’re on your journey to become a better leader. You’ve started to build a culture of trust — and let go of your impulse to micromanage your colleagues.
So far, so good. But what if you’ve done that — if you’ve given your trust — only to see that things didn’t work out as you hoped? Deadlines were missed, mistakes made, and goals not reached…
What can you do if your trust has been disappointed?
Trust is one of those very lofty and abstract topics.
Most modern leaders understand that they need to take it seriously. But they have a hard time actually developing it. Because there’s only little material out there that shows you how to put it into practice!
In this essay, I’ll give you 4 concrete examples you can use in your own team.
The term “trust” gets thrown around a lot in leadership circles.
On the one hand, this is great: leaders seem to understand that it’s crucial for building strong and resilient organizations.
On the other hand, however, only few leaders understand how trust actually works.
This explains why trust is still a rare sight in most teams. Because how could leaders foster and grow something they don’t fully understand!?
Imagine you had to double your company’s headcount in the next month. Would you be confident that your culture can withstand such a tremendous strain? Or would you fear that stress, mistakes, and conflicts would all increase?
Learn to see the signs of a culture that is NOT ready for growth — and what you can do to MAKE it ready!
Many founders and small business owners have a problem — often without realizing it. Their company culture might not be bad… but it’s often closely (almost inseparably) tied to them and their personalities.
A company in such a state is extremely fragile and vulnerable!
What’s better? If you, as a leader, make a decision — or if you let your team make it? It’s a trick question (for which I instantly apologize ;-) because it depends! On the situation, on your team, and on yourself…
The best leader isn’t a “servant leader” or an “agile leader” or a “democratic leader”. The best leader is the one that can pick the right leadership tool for the situation at hand.
How do you get buy-in for your ideas from your team? How do you make sure that your suggestions are being heard and welcomed? What can you do so that your colleagues not only half-heartedly “comply” — but greet your ideas openly and excitedly?
By learning the art of making effective announcements!
How do you translate a lofty concept — like “transparency” — into real, tangible change in your team?
A tricky question, I know… But your success as a founder / leader / manager depends heavily on this very skill. Because your job is not to count people’s working hours, grant their vacation requests, or put their coffee cups in the dishwasher.
Your job is to improve the organization. And if you can really bring something like “transparency” alive in your team, you’ve hit a home run.
Imagine you’re sitting across from your doctor. She’s known for her transparency, so she has laid out all the results from your most recent test. But just as she’s finished arranging all the papers in front of you, she’s called to an emergency and has to leave you sitting there… overwhelmed and worried!
This is an important reminder for founders and leaders: something that's usually very beneficial — transparency in this case — can backfire terribly if it’s done wrong!
Uncertainty is a major source of stress for people. Which shouldn’t surprise us: if we don’t know what’s coming, our biology makes us careful and vigilant, not willing to take risks.
A team in such a state is doomed...
