Seven Major Managerial Pain Points and Solutions for Solving Them

(Bloomberg Businessweek) -- Five months into the pandemic, team leaders in companies everywhere have conquered the basics of remote management: The work gets done, the organization continues to operate. But what are some of the biggest pain points? We asked bosses what theirs are—and how they’re addressing them.

1. Strategizing is challenging.

How do you replicate the multiday, facilitated sessions most businesses depend upon? ThoughtWorks, a global software consultancy, previously held biannual leadership planning sessions, which involved long periods of focus preceded by informal socializing and team-building activities. “Simply transposing the sessions to Zoom calls wasn’t working,” says Chris Murphy, chief executive officer of ThoughtWorks North America. “Attention spans were shortened, and it was more difficult to build off of each other’s ideas.”

The Fix: “Our solution was to redesign the process from the ground up, specifically for video,” says Murphy. Rather than two long days, the sessions are now several shorter meetings held over multiple afternoons, with clearly defined outcome expectations for each session. Remote socialization is built in before, during, and after. “My advice to other managers is to use the opportunity to redesign the experience for the remote era. You may even find, as we did, that the opportunity reenergizes those old face-to-face meetings.”

2. Staffers are stressed and tired.

People are burned out. “Morale was down,” says Sandra Hurley, operations manager at girls-clothing company Hayden Girls. “People were scared and lacked motivation.”

The Fix: Address it directly with online workshops. “Video team-building exercises became extremely important,” says Hurley. “We took time to work through what made everyone feel demotivated, asked what can help, and played some games to reconnect. What worked for us was understanding and sympathy.”

3. Clients don’t have professional remote technology.

So you’ve successfully migrated your team to the cloud! Hurrah! But your clients aren’t there. “The biggest challenge for our personal injury law firm while working remotely is helping our clients use technologies such as video conferencing and DocuSign to sign paperwork for their cases,” says Gabby Piloto, marketing director at Hancock Injury Attorneys in Tampa, Fla. “A number of clients just do not have the experience or technological availability.”

The Fix: Use whatever technology the client has on hand. “We walked clients through the Zoom process, but when the meeting was supposed to happen, they were unable to figure it out,” Piloto says. “So we asked if they had an iPhone and knew how to use FaceTime, and we were able to make that work for them.”

4. Nothing’s fun.

No one’s laughing around the lunch table anymore. “I’m a big believer in staying connected on a personal level, and these moments have almost been entirely eliminated,” says Sarika Sangwan, global head of financial services strategy and marketing for Pinterest.

The Fix: Schedule the fun. Sangwan has carved out coworker connection time as if it’s “a key deliverable.” At Pinterest, this includes virtual birthday parties and happy hours.

5. Staying emotionally connected to co-workers is hard.

“Yes, there’s Zoom and Slack, but we’re not connected in the sense that we don’t actually know how people are doing,” says Anu Shultes, CEO of payday loan alternative LendUp.

The Fix: Official weekly check ins. Employees can ask for anything they need, from equipment to project support to mental health resources. “People don’t come fully clean with what’s going on with them, but you can see what changes over time, and you get a sense of it, especially relative to their colleagues,” says Shultes.

6. It’s tough to replicate office interactions.

“One of my most important jobs as a leader is to keep my team in high spirits and ensure they feel connected,” says Cynthia Chen, senior vice president for consumer health in North America at Reckitt Benckiser. “I used to love connecting with my team in the office to share some of this energy and ensure they all felt passionate about the work we did every day.” How do you compensate for that?

The Fix: Prioritize your own energy. “If I’m not feeling energized and optimistic, then how will I manifest positivity into the team?” asks Chen. Her care routine addresses physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual energy. Think: alarms set as regular walk reminders, phone dates with friends, and regular team breakfasts.

7. Communication lags when employees work different schedules.

“If I sent a message to an employee, it might be 12 to 24 hours before she even gets that message,” says Michael Dean, co-founder of pool management advisor Pool Research. “This kind of delayed communication tends to slow things down. I find myself wishing I could just walk across the office and have a conversation.”

The Fix: Email and Slack were effective tools in the office. Use videoconferencing and face-to-face meetings whenever possible. “When I meet with employees through video chat, I’m able to get information across immediately,” says Dean. “Use videoconferencing not just for meetings, but as the preferred method for communicating any important or essential information.”