Andrew Lear

Remote teams require unique solutions to ensure effective learning and consistent engagement—learning content should be tailored to each team's distinct, individual needs. To accurately assess your team's needs, provide regular feedback opportunities so you can gauge what is and isn't working and adjust strategies from there. Offering many methods of learning that fit a wide variety of styles can help make sure no one is left behind.

Resistance to change often stems from fear of instability and a loss of control. This is why encouraging consistent feedback and active participation is so essential—it gives employees control. Change can be an opportunity to empower employees when the decision-making process is collective. When their ideas and perspectives are acknowledged and adopted, teams feel inspired by change rather than resistant to it.

You can't force people to form bonds in any workplace, and this is especially true in remote settings—forced bonding won't work. This is why it's extra important that the social and bonding opportunities and experiences that you provide for employees be authentic, engaging, and creative. I've seen through my virtual tours that when employees are all experiencing something new together, relationships form more naturally, authentically, and sustainably.

Keeping remote employees engaged isn't just about quantity of content—it's about quality. Remote teams require unique solutions to ensure consistent engagement, as the isolated nature of their work can make it easier to feel a disconnect from a company's mission and purpose. Maintaining variety in content can liven things up, and beyond variety, creativity is a big factor in engagement. When given interesting learning opportunities, employees feel committed to contributing to the company's vision.

Consider what's already taken as fact and evaluate the truth behind it. A great example of this can be seen studying Michelangelo, whose homosexuality often gets overlooked and erased. He had relationships with several men in his life, created highly homo-erotic art, and even wrote poetry about his implictly sado-masochistic relationship with his biggest crush. In the 17th century, his nephew published these poems but changed many male pronouns to female, and it wasn't until centuries later that this was rectified. Inclusive historical research requires looking at ALL sides of the story, not just the most public-facing or convenient ones!

A fair amount of recorded history in many, though not all, parts of the world has been through the lens of white men, leaving a lot of hidden stories out there. When learning and evaluating history, it's often helpful to not just take things at face value, but to see how it might connect to any other larger cultural themes. Once you start learning the hidden histories of given places and times, the real context can begin to surface!