In the fast-paced world of business, creating or updating your business plan can seem like a daunting task. However, with the right approach, it can be an exciting opportunity for growth and innovation. It is important to revisit your plan yearly to ensure your goals align with the company vision; this can look like updating budgets, organization charts, and more.
Steps to Creating Your Plan
To start, gather your team and identify your goals and objectives. Then, conduct a thorough analysis of your market and competition to gain valuable insights. Next, develop strategies and action plans to achieve your goals. Don’t forget to establish key performance indicators to track your progress. Lastly, review and refine your plan regularly to ensure it remains relevant in the ever-changing business landscape.
Aligning your Business Goals with the Evolving Market Demands
In today’s dynamic and ever-changing business landscape, it’s crucial to align your business goals with the evolving market demands. The remote workplace model has shifted how businesses operate and engage with their customers, making it essential to stay ahead of the curve. To effectively align your goals with market demands, start by researching and analyzing industry trends, customer preferences, and emerging technologies. Identify areas where your business can innovate and adapt to meet these changing demands. Consider customer feedback, competitor strategies, and market research to refine your goals and strategies.
Key Considerations when Revamping Your Business Plan in the New Normal
Prioritize flexibility and adaptability. The remote workplace model requires agility and the ability to pivot quickly. Additionally, ensure that your plan includes provisions for remote team collaboration, communication, and cybersecurity — there has been a large uptick in cyber attacks against companies. It’s also crucial to reassess your target audience and their changing needs and preferences. Finally, don’t forget to address potential challenges and risks that may arise in the remote workplace.
Common Mistakes to Avoid while Crafting a Business Plan
One common mistake is being too unrealistic about your goals and projections. While it’s important to be ambitious, it’s equally crucial to be realistic and grounded in your expectations. Another mistake is not conducting thorough market research. Understanding your target audience, competitors, and industry trends is essential for developing effective strategies. Additionally, failing to set measurable goals and key performance indicators can make it challenging to track progress and make necessary adjustments. Lastly, don’t forget to regularly review and update your business plan to ensure it remains relevant and adaptable in the ever-changing business landscape.
Review, Reassess and Adjust – The Continuous Cycle of Planning
Planning is not a one-time task but a continuous cycle that requires regular review, reassessment, and adjustment. As your business evolves and the remote workplace model continues to shape the business landscape, it’s crucial to periodically revisit and update your business plan. Review your goals and strategies, assess their effectiveness in the current market, and make necessary adjustments to stay on track. Look for new opportunities and challenges that arise and adapt your plan accordingly. By embracing this continuous cycle of planning, you’ll be able to navigate the ever-changing business environment with agility and drive your business towards success in the age of the remote workplace.
What is one major trend you will be building your 2024 business plan around? Share it with us!
Your end-of-year employee review can be crucial to ensuring your company’s success in the upcoming year, but it can also be quite daunting if you’re not sure what to ask your employees or what your expectations are for them. Just as you should ask an important set of questions when hiring someone, you should also be specific during their yearly reviews. Here are some questions you should consider asking during your next end-of-year review, along with key performance indicators that will help you make necessary changes to help your team succeed in the future.
What goals were accomplished this year?
This is a tricky question because many employees take on new tasks and responsibilities at the end of the year. If you want to know what they accomplished, ask them what tasks they completed that were related to their original job description. You could also ask them about how they overcame any challenges, or what skills they picked up this year. Finally, you can let them know your expectations for next year and see if they are open to achieving those goals as well.
What goals were not accomplished this year, and why?
Ask your employees why they did not accomplish certain goals and how they could overcome that in the future. For example, if you ask a salesperson why they did not meet their quarterly goals and they say I don’t know, then you should spend some time diving deeper into that question. Did they place all the calls they were supposed to? Did they follow up? Was there a procedure in place to help them handle difficult contacts or onboard new ones?
By getting to the root of any issues that arise, you can better prepare your team to meet those goals in the future. If the employee’s answer is different from what you expected, it might be a sign that something needs to change. It’s important to remember that your end-of-year review should always be constructive – there should never be any negative feedback because ultimately this meeting is about improvement and growth. This does not mean you should not address negatives such as someone who does not follow the daily check-in schedule; it just means you should bring that up and try to address it positively, pointing out what is happening and asking for a change.
What did the employee do well this year?
This is the perfect place to give praise and highlight any good that the employee has done this year. They deserve it!
What could the employee have done better this year?
Employees should be able to articulate what they could have done better this year and be specific so they are able to improve upon the points you mention. Be sure to ask questions that will allow them to reflect on the items you want them to improve upon. Make sure that you ask them what they think they could have done better first. Just as you let employees ask questions and provide comments during the interview process, allowing room for a conversation on both ends during reviews not only gives both parties a chance to speak, but it should help improve your team’s performance. Then, if your employee does not mention something that you have noticed, address that. Remember, be specific so they are able to improve upon that point next year. Just saying something like “your turn time wasn’t fast enough” won’t help. Tell them they turned in projects two days late every time and that needs to be fixed moving forward, as an example.
What are the employee’s goals for next year?
One of the best questions to ask during an end of year review is what goals employees have for next year. Goals are important because they give employees a sense of purpose and help them better understand how their work impacts the business. Setting measurable goals will also allow you as a manager, or company owner, to set clear expectations. For example, “I want you to increase sales by 20%, or I want you to reduce customer complaints by 10%.” This will make it easier for managers and employees alike to understand what’s expected in order to achieve success. Make sure that all goals are measurable so that there is no confusion about what needs done and how progress can be measured along the way. Just saying “get more sales” helps no one.
What are some key performance indicators that can be used to measure progress towards those goals?
In order to evaluate performance, ask employees what key performance indicators they want to measure. Goals and objectives should be set in advance. This will allow you to see how the employee is performing in relation to their goals and objectives. It will also give them a chance to talk about what obstacles they are facing, so that you can work with them on solutions. After employees have mentioned what they want to measure, it is then your turn to share what items you want to measure and how much you want to improve them.
For example, maybe your employee points out that their customers respond better to emails versus phone calls. You should take that feedback and focus more on KPIs (key performance indicators) around emails instead. Then, you can say that you want to see more new customers brought in via email, so you will also be measuring new leads to conversions via email.
What questions do you ask at your end of year reviews? Let us know so we can share them with the HireMyMom family!
If you’re like many people, you’ve made a few New Year’s resolutions in the past that you eventually gave up on. It can be frustrating to set goals for yourself, only to find that you don’t have the motivation or the means to stick with them. However, this doesn’t mean you should give up on goal-setting altogether. With the right approach and a little bit of effort, you can make your New Year’s resolutions stick.
1) Define Your Goals
Setting goals can be a great way to give yourself motivation and direction in life, but it’s important that you don’t get overwhelmed or frustrated by them. Before setting any new goals for the New Year, it’s important to take the time to define your goals in a way that works best for you. When setting goals, it can help to break them down into smaller, achievable steps that you can work on. Ask yourself questions like: What will I gain from achieving this goal? And what do I need to do to get there?
2) Write Your Goals Down
Writing down your goals helps to solidify them in your mind and makes them real. When you put your goals on paper, it can help motivate you to stay focused and work towards them. You can also use this list as a roadmap or reminder to keep you on track and make sure you’re not straying too far from your original plan. Writing your goals in positive terms can help to reinforce the idea that achieving them is possible. You should also consider tracking your progress. As you complete tasks or reach milestones, make sure that you mark it off your list. This will help keep you motivated and remind you of how far you’ve come.
3) Set Realistic Goals
When creating your resolutions, think about how much time you realistically have and the resources available to you. For example, if you want to take up an exercise routine, consider how much time you can actually dedicate to working out each week and what type of exercise would be most suitable for your lifestyle. If your goal is to launch a business, make sure you have the financial resources and support network necessary to make it happen (spoiler alert, you do have that with the HireMyMom family!).
4) Set Specific Goals
Making vague or broad goals can make it harder to actually achieve them. For example, let’s say one of your goals is to get healthier. That’s a great goal, but how will you measure success? It’s much better to set specific goals such as exercise at least 3 times a week or eat at least 5 servings of fruits and vegetables each day. These goals give you a tangible way to track your progress. If you want to get more creative, you can break your goals down into smaller, more manageable steps. Instead of aiming to exercise more, why not plan to take a 30-minute walk three times a week? Or commit to joining an online yoga class twice a week? These are more achievable and measurable goals that will help you stay on track and motivated.
5) Create a Plan of Action
Creating a plan of action to help you achieve your New Year’s resolutions is an important step in making sure you can stick with them and actually follow through. Without a roadmap to success, it can be easy to get sidetracked or overwhelmed. Make a timeline to work with, and it will help keep you accountable. Make sure the deadlines are realistic and achievable — there’s no point in setting a timeline that’s too ambitious and then failing to meet it. Also check out HireMyMom’s free goal sheet to help you set and reach your goals.
6) Hold Yourself Accountable
It’s okay to call in some help on this one. If you worry that you won’t hold yourself accountable, ask friends and family to help! It’s good to have a set time to sit down and review your goals weekly or even monthly. Ask yourself: Did you meet your goal? Why or why not? What can you change moving forward to meet it before you review your roadmap again?
7) Celebrate Your Accomplishments
Don’t forget to celebrate your successes along the way! Whether it’s a small accomplishment or a big one, take the time to appreciate your efforts and enjoy the process of achieving your goals. For each goal you set, also set how you want to celebrate it! That can really help motivate you. For example, if your goal is to get your first client, and you achieve it, go out to dinner with friends and family to celebrate!
By taking these steps, you’ll be better equipped to stay focused and motivated in pursuit of your New Year’s resolutions. With the right attitude and determination, you can make this year your best yet! If your goals include starting or growing your remote career, be sure to check out our Cultivate course created to help you fast track your work from home career!
As we enter into a new year, it’s the perfect time to reflect on the successes of the past year and to look forward to exciting projects that are on the horizon. We are eager to continue building on our past successes and strive to take on even more ambitious projects in 2023. In this blog post, we’ll discuss some of the exciting projects that we have lined up for the coming year.
2022: A Year in Review
What a crazy year it has been! Does anyone else feel like they blinked and it was over? Lots of new projects came and went that were front and center — and some that were behind the scenes!
At the beginning of the year, we started off by offering two master classes for small business owners and job seekers. We quickly realized that it’s hard to coordinate classes with everyone’s schedules! That’s when we converted it to Cultivate, an online course that you learn on your own time which includes a one-on-one coaching session with HireMyMom founder Lesley Pyle!
We worked with some wonderful moms to create video testimonials that we just added to the website, perfect to start off the new year with!
Our own team changed with a few long-time friends switching to full-time moms and a few new friends that we onboarded. We also implemented a program to help you get to know our team by sharing information about them on our social channels to commemorate work anniversaries, new additions, and just fun bios for you to better get to know the folks behind HMM.
We started a brand new TikTok channel — check it out and give us a follow! We will share tips, highlight some available jobs, and throw in a fun video or two with popular trends (you might even catch us dancing!).
What’s Ahead for the New Year
Coming soon we will be…
More master classes/self-taught classes featuring industry experts.
Continued updates to our programs for job seekers:
Text message updates so you can receive the latest information FAST!
…AND LOTS MORE!
Your Suggestions
Thank you so much for being part of the HireMyMom family for the past year — we can’t wait to continue with you into 2023. As always, we value your feedback! What should we update? What should we add? What should we remove? Reach out and let us know! We would love to hear how we can offer more classes, tweak current services, and expand our offerings to grow with you; let us know what resolutions you’re setting and how we can help you achieve those. Happy New Year!
The most fulfilling jobs allow you to do what you love. And if you do what you love, you’ll never work a day in your life. If you’re passionate about your hobby, whether it’s knitting hats or visual arts, the thought of turning it into a full-time career can be thrilling, especially if you’re burnt out.
With that said, turning your hobby into a worthwhile venture requires a long list of steps and a great remote work-specific resume (if you’re applying as an employee). Even so, it’s still very possible to pursue a high-earning career with your hobby if you plan ahead and take it slow.
What Side-Hustles Can Earn You Money?
Virtually any hobby in any industry could earn you money, but some careers are harder to pursue than others. Take streaming on Twitch, for example. A recent Twitch hack showed that 25% of the top 10,000 highest paid streamed don’t make minimum wage through subscriptions.
While streaming video games isn’t fruitful, writing, for example, can be if you’re in the right industry. Content writers can make $50,000 or more per year, whereas authors have to write between 1 to 15 books to make the same amount per year, and only if they’re lucky.
You should also consider hobbies that could lead to other opportunities in your current industry. A journalist could shoot an aerial drone video to improve their articles or news-related media.
Here are a few side-hustles that could be turned into well-paying careers:
Illustration and Design
Photography or Videography
Teaching or Writing Music
Cooking or Opening a Restaurant
Selling Indoor Plants or Gardening
DIY Crafts or Creating Journals
Writing Comedy Skits on Youtube
Brewing Beer or Coffee
Walking Doors or Pet Sitting
Visual Arts or Dancing on TikTok
Typically, a person who pursues a hobby as a career will start as a freelancer or remote worker, but that isn’t always the case. For example, you could get hired as a dog sitter for a vets office, as a line cook for a local restaurant, or as a beer brewer in an established craft brewery.
How to Turn Your Side-Hustle Into a Career
Many fields rely on your hobby of choice; you just need to stay vigilant when applying for work or building your business.
Here are the 5 steps you should take to turn your hobby into a career.
1. Research Your Career Path and Make a Plan
Spend time researching your hobby, the barrier of entry to each career choice, and average salaries and employment rates. Consider speaking to another career professional for advice about getting into your field. If you’re lucky, your industry may benefit from your chosen hobby.
If they don’t come up with an exit strategy. If you want to leave your current career in a year, list out a set of tasks that get you there, such as training, building a website, and/or networking.
2. Iron Out the Details (and Consider Your Options)
After setting up a game plan, be sure to iron out the details. If you want to be a police drone pilot and you’re already an officer, ask yourself who you need to talk to or what certification you’ll need to move into that role. If you aren’t an officer yet, you may want to consider other options.
If becoming a police drone pilot is your dream, nothing should stop you, but it’ll take a long time to get there. However, you can be a drone journalist without a degree and perform a similar role.
Cristina Par is a content specialist with a passion for writing articles that bridge the gap between brands and their audiences. She believes that high-quality content plus the right link-building strategies
Whether you’re an entry-level worker or have been with your company for years, if you feel like you’re being underpaid, asking for a raise can be one of the most stressful and intimidating conversations you have to have at work. You don’t want to appear ungrateful or greedy, but you also need to get paid what you’re worth — it’s not just about your paycheck; it’s about building a life that leaves room for financial flexibility and freedom, too.
Gather evidence that shows how you add value
If you’re going to ask for a raise, you need to be able to back up your request with evidence. Gather data that shows how much you contribute to the company and how your work has helped improve things. If you can show that you’re an invaluable asset to the team, you’ll be in a much better position to negotiate a higher salary. Put together a list of goals that you want to achieve over the next six months and then track them on a spreadsheet or app like Asana. Show this list to your boss so they can see how valuable you are!
Understand why it makes sense for them to pay more
It’s important to remember that when you’re asking for a raise, you’re not just asking for more money. You’re asking for more money because you believe you’re worth more money. And in order to convince your boss that you’re worth more money, you need to be able to articulate why:
Think about the company and how you can contribute to its success.
Look at how much time you spend on projects and how much impact it has on the company.
Be prepared with specific examples of why the company would benefit from paying you more money.
Prepare yourself mentally
Before you go into your boss’s office to ask for a raise, it’s important to prepare yourself mentally. This means getting rid of any self-doubt and having confidence in your abilities. You should also have a clear idea of what you’re asking for and why you deserve it. Remember, your boss is more likely to give you a raise if you’re able to articulate your value.
Practice your pitch before asking in person
Before you ask for a raise, it’s important that you have a clear idea of what you want to say. You should rehearse your pitch so that you can deliver it confidently and calmly. Here are a few things to keep in mind:
A lot of career and business advice starts by advising that you “find your passion” and go from there. But, despite a widely held idea that passions strike like a bolt of lightning, for most people, passions are uncovered through a process of self-discovery.
Whether you dream of launching a business, would like to find a job that aligns with your passions, or are thinking of expanding an existing business, a few simple exercises can provide the insight you need to identify your passions.
In this blog, we offer our best ideas and some easy-to-do exercises to guide your journey of self-discovery.
What is Passion?
In our experience, people often misunderstand the meaning of the word passion.
Many people associate passion with doing something for a greater purpose. Sometimes, passions do evolve out of a desire to solve a problem or accomplish a goal. But, according to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, passion is simply “a strong feeling or emotion” or a “strong liking or desire.”
As you start to go through the process of finding your passion, don’t be discouraged if the things you uncover feel mundane. Passions that spring from pure enjoyment are just as valid as passions aimed at solving a problem.
We think that’s a critical perspective to keep in mind when exploring your passions.
Know Yourself
For all the romantic ideas associated with “finding your passion,” for most people, reflection and self-assessment pave the way to revealing passions. While this process may sound very serious, it’s usually fun and interesting.
Start by setting aside some quiet time to think about your life–as you’ve experienced it and how you hope to experience it. As you reflect, make a list that includes:
Moments that stand out. Include everything from a fun party you planned to a charity race you participated in to advice a manager shared with you that shaped your career.
Topics that interest you. You likely have a wide variety of interests that span several realms and could include everything from crafting to cooking to hiking. Write all of these interests down, no matter how obscure or ordinary they seem.
Things you enjoy doing. Consider the type of professional work you enjoy and activities that bring you joy outside of work. For example, maybe you love to cook or organize closets. Perhaps creating the perfect PowerPoint deck brings you joy. Don’t edit out anything that brings you joy–jot it all down.
Check-in with Others
After you take inventory of your important moments, topics that interest you, and activities you enjoy, talk to people close to you to get their impressions of you. Ask:
What do you see as my strengths?
When do I seem most engaged?
What topics/activities do I talk about most often with you?
The insights that come from others can yield important clues for you. To get the wisdom of others, ask three to five people the same questions, and look for themes in their answers.
Then:
Write down the answers you hear.
Compare what you hear to your list. For example, if your friend says you seem most engaged when discussing recipes and your list reflects cooking as an interest and something you enjoy, that’s a powerful clue about where your passion lies.
Make a new list that reflects all the intersections uncovered and the themes you found.
This list is likely a good representation of the areas where you have passion.
Get Down to Business
Next, review the list of your interests and consider how those activities could translate to a business opportunity or a job.
Here are some examples of how you can use your list to generate potential business opportunities:
If you identify that you enjoy organizing events and your friends say you seem happiest when pulling together parties, you may want to launch an event-planning business.
Suppose you notice that managing a family calendar is something you enjoy and your friends note your skills in keeping things organized for others. In that case, you may want to pursue a Virtual Assistant business or look for a job that uses those skills.
If you identify writing as something you enjoy and your friends point out that you produce stellar newsletters for the soccer team, blogging may be in your future.
Pay Attention to Your Journey
Regardless of what you find through this exercise, it’s essential to remember that your passions may change over time as your life changes. Those life changes can bring new passions.
For example, our founder, Lesley Pyle, found her passion through motherhood. Like many moms, she planned to return to work after her baby arrived. After her six-week maternity leave ended, she tried to return to work but found that she desperately missed her baby girl.
She loved her job but when her manager turned down her request for flexibility, she knew she had to leave.
Suspecting that she was not the only mom in this situation, she launched a website for moms working from home–or those who wanted to work from home–as a resource for networking, learning, and support. Her first site, Home-Based Working Moms, ran from 1996 to 2010.
In 2007, she launched HireMyMom.com, changing her website and business as the business world began to slowly embrace hiring off-site contractors and team members. More companies started seeing the benefits of hiring off-site workers, including choosing from a national pool of talent.
Through the process, she found her passion–connecting moms who want to work at home with businesses that need them. If her first boss had granted her the flexibility she asked for, her life would have taken a different path.
As your life changes, take stock of your interests, poignant moments, and the activities you enjoy. A new passion could be just around the corner.
One common goal we hear from small business owners is a desire to expand their businesses. That’s not surprising–It’s fun to try new things and grow in different ways. As your business expands, your skillset grows, and you may add new members to your team, expanding your network and boosting your profits. What’s more, we’ve found that it gets easier to clearly see what’s next on the horizon for our business with every move.
But, sometimes, expanding the customer base for your existing products is a struggle. You’ve tried different marketing approaches and tapping new pools of potential customers, but it seems like a nut that just won’t crack.
In that situation, we find one of the most reliable ways to expand is by adding products or services that complement your existing offering. Adding services and products can round out your offering, help you stand out from the competition, find new customers and grow revenue.
Think of a restaurant adding a new menu option to appeal to a broader audience–that’s a product addition. If the same restaurant starts offering catering, that’s a complimentary service. These additions fall into the same realm as the restaurant’s original service. But, the changes will help attract new customers and provide additional services to existing customers–both of which can drive growth and increase sales.
While a restaurant is an easy way to visualize the concept, the idea works across all businesses. Consider a Virtual Assistant who primarily responds to email inquiries and manages calendars for small business owners. The VA may notice one of the people she supports is doing a lot of travel. With that knowledge and her existing relationship, she may decide to add travel planning services to complement her other work and pitch the service to the client she knows has upcoming travel.
Here’s another example. At HireMyMom, we added concierge services to help our customers who need staff right away and don’t have time to go through a traditional hiring phase, which can take attention away from their core business.
We’re looking at other ways to grow, too. For example, we are working on expanding our overall Human Resources services. New services could include helping with onboarding, creating policies and procedures for employees, and developing standard operating procedures for small businesses.
Other options include offering custom-written targeted emails to increase the exposure of specific jobs or lending the expertise of a Human Resources specialist to help employers enhance job postings to attract the right candidate.
Find the right products and services
No matter the business you are in, there’s likely a way to expand by offering additional products and services. The key is to determine what products and services your customers may want and which you can provide. Here are some ways to do some market research:
Listen carefully to the questions your customers ask. If your customers routinely ask if you provide a particular service or know who does, that’s a clue that demand exists, and it’s likely something your current customers might eagerly add to their orders with you.
See what the competition is offering. Take a look around at your key competitors and see what types of additional products and services they offer. There’s a good chance those same options may appeal to your customers.
Ask your customers what else they need or want. Inquire about how they use your main product or service and what could improve the experience.
Build the right team
Once you’ve decided on a new product or service to add, it’s time to make sure you can reasonably provide it. In some cases, you may need to add staff members to offer the option. In other cases, your existing staff may be able to absorb the work. Also, you may need to purchase new supplies or find space to store materials or do work.
Doing a little upfront planning can make the transition easier. The first few times you provide the product or service might feel a little rough. But, it’s all part of the product development lifecycle.
If you feel stuck or aren’t sure what types of services and product extensions might make sense for your business, an outside perspective can help you look at your business with fresh eyes.
HireMyMom’s new Small Business Mastermind could be just the catalyst you need to identify the types of add-on products and services that can take your business to the next level.
Through the program, you’ll find the path for meaningful growth and success based on what matters to you. You’ll create deep and authentic relationships with business owners on the a similar path.
The group will meet bi-monthly to discuss business growth, discuss ways to expand, and explore marketing ideas. The peer group dynamic will help fill you with fresh ideas and unique perspectives to develop new viewpoints and see your business with fresh eyes.
The group will explore ways to improve business systems, build better processes and automate your work.
A private group app puts all the tools and resources at your fingertips. Group sessions will provide an opportunity to share thoughts, get support, and find encouragement.
What’s more, the group sessions will help you stay accountable to your goals and will offer you a chance to network with other like-minded moms who you might not have otherwise met.
Sign up now and start envisioning your next chapter.
When you lead a team, you set the tone and establish the tenor. Strong leaders know that what they say and do can change the trajectory of a team’s future. As the owner of a small business, you are the leader for that business–and chances are you have a lifetime of leadership experience to call upon and guide your interactions.
But, when you lead a virtual team, the equation changes. Your leadership must be tweaked to ensure your efforts travel over the miles to guide, inspire and lift up your employees.
At HireMyMom, people leading businesses with workers spread far and wide across the country, spanning multiple time zones, inspire us each day.
Sages have shared millions of words about the traits of effective leaders and how those traits translate to leading virtual teams. Along the way, we’ve noticed a handful of consistent traits and habits among those who do it well. Here’s a roundup of our observations.
A Long and Wide View
Vision is an essential trait of a remote leader. An effective leader looks further and broader than her team or business to see the bigger picture. This perch gives her a peek at upcoming trends–and issues–before others see them and provides the advantage of acting sooner rather than later.
In many cases, this translates to being prepared to leverage new business opportunities. Sometimes this comprehensive view helps a leader spy a weak spot on the team and act before an issue develops.
John Maxwell, author, speaker, and pastor who has written many books, primarily focusing on leadership, says that having the ability to see more than others before others allows great leaders tremendous advantages. One of the benefits of this skill is that great leaders can move into a cycle of test, fail, and improve. This cycle is a crucial component to keep businesses growing and reaching new heights of success.
When you lead a virtual team, acquiring the vision that drives the success cycle takes special care and commitment. In our experience, openness to feedback, industry engagement, and frequent team communication help open this field of vision for business owners. Attend webinars, go to conferences and keep the lines of communication wide open. Overall, aim to be approachable and broadcast that you want to hear from people and welcome all ideas.
Authenticity
Authenticity is one of the characteristics that we often see among highly effective leaders. Those who inspire others embody the qualities and habits they promote. And, more importantly, they model those qualities and practices in public and private ways.
Team members see this match in words and deeds and find inspiration. It’s easier to follow along when team members know their leader really believes in something and isn’t just paying lip service. This creates cohesive teams.
It can be challenging to show team members these qualities when leading a virtual team because of limited in-person interactions. However, in our experience, leader authenticity still shines through the phone, email, and instant messaging- it just shows in subtler ways. For example, meeting with people individually by phone or video chat, sharing your enthusiasm and honest assessment as you discuss projects, providing constructive criticism, and jumping in to help when team members struggle are ways to show authenticity.
Another way you can exhibit authenticity as a remote leader is to share positive stories and anecdotes about company culture when you talk with your team. It can be tempting to gripe, especially with a long-term team member. But, the best leaders of remote teams make a point to share their beliefs and positive messages with gusto.
Building People to Build Business
Maxwell says that great leaders intentionally add value to people through skill development, and that’s been our experience, too. Great leaders see potential in people and invest in them so they grow. At HireMyMom, we see this in action when employers call us to replace a person who has grown into a new role at the business.
Investing in skill development for your team is good for people and business. Employees who know they are valued stick around and tend to be fiercely loyal to the leaders who helped them grow.
Looking at a team member and knowing how and where to invest in development can be trickier when managing a remote team. Mark Murphy, author of “Leadership IQ,” suggests that leaders of remote teams look for ways to extend their energy to be more open to coaching and meeting with employees across time zones. He says that leaders who successfully manage remote teams are “indefatigable” when it comes to coaching team members. If you find your energy waning, he suggests building breaks and flexibility into your day, so you have more time and energy for working with team members.
Also, this is an area where vision matters. Having a wide and long view helps you find the right people and invest in cultivating the right skills.
Instead, it means that great leaders know their people and share common ground as a way to connect. In some cases, leaders and team members connect over personal matters first, sharing experiences about parenthood, hobbies, or pets. That connection quickly spills over to a shared purpose around the business.
When you lead virtual teams, take the time to connect with your people and show that you care about them and value them as people and team members. Your remote team members need as much–if not more–encouragement than those who you see regularly. There are several ways to do this. For example, discuss big projects as opportunities and help to paint the long-term vision.
Remember that remote workers aren’t surrounded by a team, and it can be difficult for them to put mistakes into perspective without the benefit of seeing in-person reactions. When things don’t go as planned, show support by acknowledging the problem and providing assurance that you have faith in the employee or the team. For example, consider saying something like, “that project did not go as planned” when a mistake happens. Then, you can provide perspective by saying: “while we are all disappointed, I know you gave it your all. I’m certain that we will learn from this and get back on track. We will work together to make it happen.”
These types of reassurances can help team members feel valued and appreciated.
Courage
All teams and businesses–no matter how well run–eventually experience challenges. And, when those challenges pop up, whether they are big or small, great leaders exhibit courage.
When thinking of leader courage, we are reminded of the old saying that no one ever drifted to their desired location. Indeed, success is a road–sometimes a long one. Travelers need the grit to traverse the trail, and those travelers need a strong leader to drive and encourage. When leaders exhibit courage in the face of adversity, team members notice.
When leading a remote team, courage comes in a lot of forms. Sometimes, it means sharing constructive feedback that might be sensitive. In other cases, it means changing business directions or revamping teams. But, when leaders display courage, teams can solve problems, come together and thrive in the future.
Challenge yourself to be brave by practicing in everyday situations, like sharing constructive feedback or trying new ideas. This experience can prove valuable when things go sideways, and you need to dig deep to find all the courage.
Please Share
The small business owners and entrepreneurs we see leading teams each day inspire us. And, we never get tired of hearing your stories. Tell us what leadership qualities make you an effective leader. Your observations and tips for growing leadership skills help us learn more and share what we see with others.
With the new year here, it’s time to set goals (if you haven’t already) –business, personal, and professional. The act of looking to the future and considering business possibilities is inherently optimistic and exciting. However, you may feel trepidation as you move forward with this process for 2021. This last year may have changed the way you view your business and the opportunities on the horizon. Your team may be larger or smaller, and rather than sitting together in the office, they may be scattered across the town, state, or country.
These changes mean that practical goal setting is even more critical than usual this year. Connecting with your people to discuss the business and plans for the coming year may look different; but, the elemental process is the same. With a few strategies, setting goals for remote employees can be every bit as smooth and successful as it is when you all sit together in the office. After years of working from home and leading a team, here are my best tips for success.
Take the Time to Talk Live
When employees are in the office, the discussion around goals often flows naturally. You see each other in the halls or grab an impromptu lunch, and talk of business, projects, and plans naturally flow. You can create the same feeling with virtual team members by setting up virtual coffee dates or lunches via video conference to talk broadly about how things are going.
Consider Process Information
Set yourself up for success by considering the process you want to follow to set your team goals. Admittedly, the process discussion is less exciting than discussing the future and potential accomplishments. But, a few minutes of process-related thinking offers a big payoff in the end.
Determine how formal a process to follow. Before you start the goal-setting conversation with your team, decide how you want to proceed after the call. Do you want to see a written action plan, or is a casual decision based on a few conversations the right approach? Past precedent can serve as a guide here but consider if other staffing changes may affect how well your past process works going forward. Be ready to share process information as part of your goal-setting conversations.
Establish deadlines for finalizing goals. Ideally, you have a day a week or two out where all goals are plans are completed, and you and your team are all working toward personal and business goals in short order.
Consider the progress check-in process. Based on the goals, you may want to check in weekly. In some cases, a monthly or even semi-annual check-in is in order. The important thing here is having a sense of the timeline and sharing it.
Once you’ve settled on the right process, send a general note to all team members that it’s time to start thinking about goals for 2021. Explain that you will be reaching out to them to talk. This step sets the table and lets people start thinking about their goals and prepare for your call. Then, send invitations out a few days before the meetings, so people have time set aside expressly for goal setting.
Collaborate
As you start your calls, keep the conversation light at first, much like you would if you were chatting around the copier. Then, segue into discussing the future and potential goals. To help the conversation flow naturally:
Outline the goals you have in mind for the business. Knowing what’s on your mind helps your team think more clearly about how they fit into the business and your goals for the next year. So, don’t be afraid to share what’s on your mind here.
Share your initial thoughts on the goals you have in mind for each role/person. Whether the goals are a continuation of prior goals or a fresh way of doing business, sharing some initial thoughts can help set the table for the direction of the discussion. Also, people feel appreciated when it’s clear that you’ve been thinking about them and how they fit into the team. Capitalize on this opportunity by sharing your vision. If you’ve recently completed performance reviews or shared performance feedback, that discussion can catalyze a broader conversation around goals and objectives.
Solicit feedback and employee thoughts on goals. Once you’ve shared some ideas, ask your team member what he/she is thinking about in terms of the next year. You may find that some people are hesitant to share their thoughts. You can combat this by pointing out that this is a safe space for brainstorming.
Remember the Basics
The basics of good goal-setting still apply. The long-standing business advice of setting SMART goals applies every bit as much now as it does when you work side-by-side in the office. When thinking about SMART goals for remote teams and employees, set goals that are:
Specific– Be very clear on particular goal elements. Without face-to-face interaction, it’s tough to know if you and your virtual employees are all defining common goal terms like “execute with excellence” and “quick turn around” the same way.
Measurable-Know what success looks like in terms of metrics and share the metrics with your team so each member can track accordingly.
Actionable-Set goals that a virtual team member can efficiently act on. Take into account any access concerns that the two of you may have discussed—brainstorm ways to overcome any hurdles that appear on the horizon.
Relevant-Ensure that the goals you have in place for your virtual team members align with broader organizational goals and that your remote team knows those goals and why they matter. Understanding how specific work actions ladder up to overall goals brings more meaning to your staff’s day-to-day activities.
Timely- Specific time frames for success help all team members, but especially remote team members, stay on track.
I’d love to hear how you set goals and how they lead you to success. Drop me a line to share your stories.
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