What can we do to help our remote teams to shine? It’s time to use real-time data to manage productivity and improve the most important asset of every team: trust.

The Covid-19 crisis has forced many companies to suddenly adapt to the reality of having entirely remote teams. For many, sending everyone home was a direct response to the emergency, not a pre-meditated organizational choice. So, when your entire office unexpectedly makes the transition to home working, the hardest thing to manage is not the technology or connectivity, but the impact it can have on your team’s stability and well-being.

The impact of physical distance.

Once we get used to the normal distractions of the constant family interruptions, the entertaining memes that keep appearing on our smartphones and the need for that third cup of coffee, a more complex question arises: what impact can physical distance have on our productivity and state of mind? Without the right approach, the effects can be profound.

A study by the Harvard Business Review shows that when physical distance between us increases, all team KPIs tend to decrease:

• Innovative behaviors decrease: -90%
• Trust declines: -80%
• Cooperative and helping behaviors go down: – 80%
• Role and goal clarity decline: – 75%
• Project success drops: -50%

A feeling of isolation accompanied by a drop-off in motivation and performance can be a side-effect of physical distance. Communication inevitably suffers when we don’t have the physical cues provided by face-to-face conversation.

A remote team needs the ability to communicate effectively to function. But that’s only half the story. Online tools like Slack or video apps can help us to stay in touch and collaborate better. But when facing the big-scale challenge of moving to a new way of working, and the consequent impact that will have on the culture of our company, it is important to rely on a more complete picture of team dynamics. 

How can we use deep-dive data to take the necessary measures to build trust and connection with colleagues? 

From problem to solution.

Key drivers like trust, well-being and collaboration need to be measured and acted upon— and that means using data to discover where the real problems need to be identified and the right solutions implemented. To survive and succeed in the new complex and uncertain environment we need to start building real-time, data driven collective intelligence. 

TeamEQ can help to drive the organizational transformation necessary to face the new reality. By using anonymous reporting and actionable data analysis, TeamEQ provides real-time human data to monitor team KPIs and listen with empathy; real-time alignment to increase trust, belonging and shared goals; and real-time decision making for a more agile, effective and empowering leadership.

TeamEQ allows us to directly monitor the key drivers of trust and confidence that will make all the difference between success and failure in this new environment. Giving team members a voice and leaders the right data, TeamEQ helps our remote teams to perform better, making sure that they never feel alone again.

Discover how TeamEQ can help you to manage the change and get the most out of your remote teams here.