Remote work is here and it isn’t going away. The pandemic supercharged a movement that was already underway in which employees contribute to the overall mission of an organization from different parts of the country and possibly even the world. But people were working remotely long before zoom became a four letter word. For the military, remote work has been a core competency since the inception of our institution. When I was deployed to Iraq as a troop commander, I had personnel spread across the entire western region of the country at seven separate locations. That reach was from Baghdad to the Syrian and Jordanian borders, an area roughly the size of the state of New York. Each of those units were engaged in training Iraqi Security forces as well as conducting combat operations. I had to synchronize our efforts across Iraq, making sure that each outstation had the guidance and resources to complete their mission. Our solid communications network gave us the connectivity we required to ensure success and the overhead imagery we received from an assortment of drones helped us to monitor combat operations as they occurred. But these tools required an immense amount of discipline from the leadership because the technological ability to monitor and communicate inevitably leads to the desire to control, and that’s not what my team needed. They didn’t need more meetings, they didn’t need headquarters second guessing their actions on the objective, and they certainly didn’t need someone watching drone footage to tell them to “turn left at the intersection” when from the ground they could tell that turning right was the better decision. This is the great challenge in a remote work environment- how do you maintain cohesion and synchronization amongst a disaggregated workforce without becoming too overcontrolling and bogging the system down with unnecessary practices and procedures? In order to be an effective leader in this environment, you need to exchange your remote control for remote leadership. The question isn’t about how to control your remote workforce, but rather how to lead them remotely to achieve success for the organization.
Clear Commander’s Intent
The term “Commander’s intent” has strong meaning to those who have served in combat zones. A good commander recognizes that their troops are ready to go, they simply need direction with some meaningful parameters. What they don’t need is a detailed plan on how to execute that mission. Before leaving “the wire” (departing base) for a combat operation, the ground force commander leading the operation provided a mission brief, basically sharing with the boss and his staff key aspects of the operation. Invariably, one of the main points of discussion revolved around the commander's intent. There can be no room for ambiguity on intent of the mission and desired outcome, everything else is open to the creativity of the team planning and executing the operation. When I put out clear, concise, guidance, my remote units were allowed to execute their operations without the overbearing “eye over the shoulder.” Furthermore, when unplanned contingencies arose, they were able to react without waiting for me to tell them what to do. Take this principle to your organization. How clear is your intent? Do all your subordinates understand the direction they need to go? One way to find out is to simply ask, have a conversation on the topic, drill down on this in your meeting time. Be both creative and radical in making sure that intent is clearly presented to your workforce; this is worth the investment of your time. In a remote work environment, if you don’t articulate your intent, your employees will be intent on doing what makes most sense. This could result in your team seeking continuous guidance. Without it, you may find yourself spending unnecessary time attempting to corralling and redirecting your team as opposed to them making progress.
The Tactical Pause
In combat, one thing that is stressed is to make sure that you aren’t allowing adrenaline to dictate your actions. In order to counteract the tendency to react irrationally, oftentimes leaders will employ a brief, ‘tactical pause’ to accurately assess what is going on. In a firefight, this happens very quickly because you don’t have the time to pontificate about the situation, but it still happens. The broader principle here is that you need to properly assess the situation before driving over a cliff. In remote work environments, with information at our fingertips, we can tend to act before having the complete picture. In one instance, we had a drone flying near our base in Iraq, and for some reason a lot of people above us in the chain of command were fixated with the images it was sending. They were looking at what appeared to be an individual digging holes just outside our base and it was presumed that he was doing something nefarious such as burying explosives. We were told that we needed to go stop the activity even though we didn’t feel there was any threat. So begrudgingly, we got the platoon out the door and proceeded to conduct a direct action mission on what ended up being a farmer laying irrigation pipe on his property. No one was injured other than a few egos, and we were later able to laugh about the entire episode. But this episode demonstrates how easy it is to produce an inaccurate narrative of a situation in a remote working environment. With information freely available, it is almost impossible not to rush to judgment. Resist that urge and take the tactical pause before telling your subordinates to take action. Incidentally, tactical pauses have particular value when you receive “bad news”. Instead of reacting to the news, take a pause and understand the situation, its impact on your operations, and what guidance (if any) your employees need. In a remote world, the people closest to the problem have the best situational awareness. And when you take that pause, it not only provides your team with the opportunity to solve the issue, but also removes the burden you feel to fix it yourself.
Battlefield circulation
To gain a broader perspective of what is occurring on the ground, commanders in the military will conduct what has been termed “battlefield circulation.” Essentially, they visit the outstations and geographically separated units under their command in order to hear directly from them and to see the problem set from their vantage point. It’s amazing how effective this practice is in enhancing everyone’s situational awareness. Sometimes, due to the tyranny of distance, I would only have a short time at each of my outstations. But what I found is that even just a 2 hour visit was worth its weight in gold. I fully understood their challenges, and they fully understood my intent. If I was a lot smarter I could probably derive an equation that demonstrates how many zoom calls are equal to one hour of in-person meeting time, but I think you understand the point. Perhaps you’ve even experienced this dynamic in your own remote work environment. For months you have been frustrated at the apparent lack of adherence to the game plan. No matter how many times you have explained yourself it is still obvious that some people just don’t get it! You find yourself rapidly pushing computer buttons but you’re really just pushing people’s buttons. Rather than vent your frustration over a text, understand their point of view in person. Whether it’s bringing everyone together for an occasional offsite, visiting them in their work environment, or a combination of the two, you can NEVER replace the value of being in the same room with someone. Budget for it, clear time in your schedule, make it part of your organizational culture. Trust me, you will never regret spending more time with the people you are leading.
Remote control works for TV’s, RC cars, and drones. But if you want your remote organization to thrive, you need to employ remote leadership. Sometimes we act as though productivity is measured by the number of emails sent out, the length of your zoom calls, and how many people commented in the company chat room. It’s ok to use technology to help your company run, but don’t ever allow technology to run your company. In remote environments, that means providing clear commander’s intent, taking a tactical pause if something appears awry, and circulating around the proverbial battlefield to visit your workforce on their home turf. Employing these principles in your organization will give you the upper hand as you navigate the remote environment.
Authored By: Mike Uyboco, Managing Director