Setting remote work expectations: A guide for managers
When the COVID-19 pandemic forced companies to rapidly shift to remote work, many managers found themselves struggling to transition from in-office validation to online collaboration. Without people coming to them with reports in an office, they were unable to understand if their employees were truly productive and engaged.
A few days into lockdown, our CEO sent me a DM that frankly admitted, "I have no idea how to tell if anyone is actually working right now."
He actually said “I don’t think anyone is working right now,” which is shitty and awful, and any leader that takes responsibility knows it’s their job to learn how to access real-time reports and data and not have to ask individuals for special reports that take their time away from revenue-generating tasks.
I was working at least from 7am to 10pm every day. Signing on to Slack and seeing a message like that, is why I firmly believe leaders should only set rules they are willing to follow themselves and should proactively try to become better remote managers.
This scenario highlights the importance of proactively setting clear expectations for remote employees – not just during the initial onboarding process, but continually throughout their tenure.
As a manager, it's your responsibility to communicate what you expect in terms of work habits, communication, collaboration, and performance. Without clear guidelines, you can't reasonably expect your remote team to read your mind.
There are only two ways to get information: Push and pull
You can either push information to someone, like creating a weekly report that automatically gets dropped into the Slack channel, or a bookmark to a dashboard with real-time data, push notifications, etc. Or, you can pull it from them by asking for it.
The CEO I experienced, was used to asking for information and having it pushed to him in the office. But online, he did not know how to retrieve it himself, no one was pushing information to him, and it really feels weird to DM someone and say “what are you all up to?”
Set a precedent from the top
The scenario highlighted how important it is to proactively set clear expectations for remote employees – that also apply to leadership. If everyone is expected to attend meetings with video on, then leaders must too. The minute a leader demonstrates that they are more important than their team by showing that the rules don’t apply to them, then you’ll find it’s hard to enforce them on anyone else either.
Create an internal doc for all leaders that summarizes their expectations for gathering data and the quick links they might need. Teach them how to access dashboards, read real-time information, check in on progress, and see tasks in motion.
This way you aren’t wasting employees’ time asking for something that you could teach yourself. Instead, you can use that time to ask them something helpful, like “what’s your biggest blocker at the moment?”
If leadership has a handle on how to use the data available to them, then they’re ready to set expectations for the employee on how and when to push information to them.
Effectively set and manage remote work expectations
Setting expectations during onboarding
Establishing expectations should start from day one, even if not all of them stick right away. This is your opportunity to set the tone and be clear about what success looks like.
Preonboarding (about 2 weeks before their start date) is your time to set up the documents you need to hit the ground running on Day 1.
On Day 1, I typically follow this schedule:
9-10:30: Set up your computer, accounts, passwords, and Slack profile. DM the channel on Slack and say hi!
10:45-11:45: Kick off meeting
The manager presents the company welcome deck, company values, background and context, how the business works, who you’ll work with. This time can include expectation-setting in the form of behavior and professionalism. It’s usually wrapped around delivery about the company values; for instance, “Team First means that we work better when we work together. If you need help, feel free to ask for it here and here. If someone else needs help, feel free to provide it if it’s in your wheelhouse and you have time.”
1-3: Introduction to your onboarding guides and setting expectations.
Share their documentation space with whatever training docs they need (EG: 30/60/90 and/or a main Training doc).
Share the homepage to the HR resource center which should link out
Share any individual guides or just one main guide that covers all the topics. Here’s what you’ll want to include:
Expectations must include context
For each area you want to apply a few groundrules or guardrails to, you’ll need to explain why you do things this way and how it ultimately benefits both the employee and the team.
Communication: Outline the preferences for things like response times to messages, status updates, availability during work hours, and how to best reach you.
What should be a DM and what should be an email? Who needs to be CCed and when? Should we favor using public channels over DMs? Can I send messages on the weekend or outside work hours?
Productivity & performance: Define clear goals, milestones, and reporting requirements. Explain how you'll be monitoring and evaluating productivity.
What reports do I need to fill out manually each week vs automated? How are OKRs measured? If I’m falling behind on OKRs what do I do?
Collaboration & teamwork: Clarify expectations around meeting attendance, participation in team discussions, and contributing to group projects.
What constitutes bullying? Do you have a Safe Workplace policy and training? Do I leave feedback in public or private? Do I have to have my video on at all times? Can we start our own Slack channels?
Work hours/schedules: Be specific about your expectations for work hours, flexibility, and boundaries.
Provide the tools (for example for working in different time zones) that enable your team to work at normal working hours for them (or not normal, if they prefer that and you’re OK with it!).
There are plenty of asynchronous communication methods to be able to keep work moving even during different hours. You may even like having more time coverage with employees working in their own timezone instead of aligning to HQ (better be a good reason!)
Get buy-in from new hires on these expectations. Have them acknowledge their understanding and agreement, so there's no ambiguity down the line.
Ongoing expectation setting
Maintaining clear expectations shouldn't stop after onboarding. Regularly revisit and potentially revise them as the work environment, team dynamics, or projects evolve. Solicit feedback from your remote employees to ensure the expectations remain reasonable and aligned.
Every documentation of a project usually comes with an outline of roles and responsibilities (sometimes called a RASCI or RACI), which sets expectations on a project-by-project basis of who is responsible for what.
Addressing performance issues
Even with upfront expectation setting, there may be times when an employee is falling short. When this happens, have an open and empathetic conversation to understand the root causes. Perhaps the expectations were unrealistic, or the employee needs additional support or resources. Jointly work to refine the expectations and create a plan to get them back on track.
Be very clear about the consequences if the revised expectations continue to go unmet. But also be willing to adjust your own management approach if you determine the fault lies with you, not the employee.
Communication methods
The ideal cadence will depend on your team, but a good rule of thumb is weekly 1-on-1 check-ins and monthly team meetings to discuss progress and refine expectations as needed.
By taking a proactive, early, two-way accountable approach to setting remote work expectations, you empower both yourself and your employees for better online working harmony. It takes effort upfront, but pays dividends over time.
And, don’t let anyone gaslight you about how hard you worked during the pandemic. If you were doing what I was doing, you were simultaneously trying to rapidly pivot in a brand new society, keep the existing train on the track, emotionally support your entire team and family and likely yourself last, and bear the weight of cascading pressure from leadership and moving targets.
