537: How to Engage Remote Teams, with Tsedal Neeley

Jul 26, 2021

Tsedal Neeley, a Harvard Business School professor and author of *Remote Work Revolution: Succeeding from Anywhere*, discusses the evolving landscape of remote work. She reveals that remote teams can actually be more productive, debunking common myths. Surveillance software harms employee trust and engagement, making empathy essential for leaders. Tsedal emphasizes the importance of structured informal interactions and recognizing individual differences to build cohesion. She shares practical strategies for enhancing communication and emotional trust in virtual settings.

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INSIGHT

Remote Work Productivity

Remote work boosts productivity because employees value autonomy and flexibility.
This increases job satisfaction and allows for better time management, including collaboration.

ANECDOTE

Early Remote Work Success

Cisco and Sun Microsystems saw productivity rise when they experimented with remote work.
Sun Microsystems even reduced real estate costs by $500 million over 10 years.

ADVICE

Avoid Surveillance

Avoid surveillance software; it humiliates employees and fosters distrust.
Focus on outcomes, trust, empowerment, and coaching instead.

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Tsedal Neeley: Remote Work Revolution

Tsedal Neeley is a professor at the Harvard Business School. Her work focuses on how leaders can scale their organizations by developing and implementing global and digital strategies. She has published extensively in leading scholarly and practitioner-oriented outlets and her work has been widely covered in media outlets such as the BBC, CNN, Financial Times, NPR, The Wall Street Journal, and The Economist.

She was named to the Thinkers50 On the Radar list for making lasting contributions to management and is the recipient of many other awards and honors for her teaching and research. She is the author of Remote Work Revolution: Succeeding from Anywhere*.

In this conversation, Tsedal and I explore what the research shows us about productivity and fear around remote work. We highlight three key principles that leaders can lean in on in order to engage remote teams better. Plus, Tsedal provides practical examples on how almost any leader can put these principles into action.

Key Points

The research has been clear for decades that employees are more productive working remotely.
Surveillance software and services are almost always a poor direction for leaders and organizations.
Leaders should structure unstructured time for informal interactions — and should be the ones who initiate these conversations.
Emphasize individuals and individual differences, even more so than you might in person. Avoid referring to people by their membership in subgroups.
In addition to not shutting down conflict, leaders in remote settings need to force it, so the best ideas can emerge on the team.

Resources Mentioned

Remote Work Revolution: Succeeding from Anywhere* by Tsedal Neeley
Tsedal Neeley’s website

Interview Notes

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