How I Lead a Team that Doesn't Hate Working For Me

Fantastic Friday Freaky Folks!

To round out this beautiful sunny June week up here in Spokane, WA I wanted to do a little dive into something I regularly get asked about and that is:

How do you build and manage a virtual team??

At our KeysCon event for our Scale Community last week we had a whole half a day dedicated to hiring and managing a team in their Real Estate Investing businesses.

People understand the gist when its a local company, get a dinky little office and force people to come be prisoners for 9 hours a day while you hover over them and make sure they arent fucking up, who wouldnt love that???

But when it comes to a VIRTUAL BUSINESS (which I really should talk about more because I forget how uncommon that is) people are always trying to figure out how to manage people and how to “build a company culture.”

Well just like most things I talk about, the answer is actually simpler than you think and most people overcomplicate it.

Im gonna go through 3 quick ways that I manage my team(s) that consist of over 20 people in 6 different countries.

1. Run a kick off meeting, EVERY DAY
   That’s right, EVERY SINGLE DAY, run a meeting that includes EVERYONE (at least everyone in their respective departments).
   
   This SHOULD have some structure, but the most important thing is everyone gets to see each other face to face, gets to know each other a little bit, and uses this as a time to realize they are not on an island working for some phantom organization.
   
   This same concept applies if you have ONCE team member, or a dozen, you should meet EVERY DAY.
   
   Yes sometimes it will get kinda awkward to hop on with your one employee and make weird small talk while you passive aggressively ask why they arent doing better, but congrats thats called being an employer.
   
   This simple act we have done Monday-Friday for 5 straight years and you’d be amazed how much of a difference it makes in team moral and happiness.
   

2. Do Individual Check Ins EVERY MONTH

   Every single month I take 30ish minutes and have a 1 on 1 meeting with every single team member. Remember I have over 20 people, yes that is TEN HOURS of meetings I am committing to once per month.
   
   The goal of this meeting is not just to talk business, but to talk shop, but to get to know your team on a personal basis. Ask about their families, lives, goals, hobbies, you know actual human stuff and not just things that create a weird boss/staff hierarchical feeling.
   
   Here’s the tricky part most people miss when they do this, when you’re having these conversations ACTUALLY LISTEN AND REMEMBER.
   
   You’re not just checking a box here people, youre team members are human beings with lives as complex (probably more complex) than yours and being able to have a meaningful discussion about them on a personal level goes so much further than you think.
   

3. Ask for Feedback, and ACTUALLY IMPLEMENT IT

   Nobody knows the challenges in the day to day workings of your business more than the people doing the work day in and day out.
   
   REGULARLY (ideally during those monthly check ins) Ask what their biggest struggles and challenges are in the business and ACTIVELY WORK TO CORRECT THEM.

   
   Sure sometimes you might disagree with some of the requests, but if you have a good team that respects you they likely wont be requesting things that arent major issues.
   
   This can be as simple as changing a sales script so its easier to understand to completely developing a new process or policy, don’t be afraid to do everything you can to make the JOB you offer not suck to do.

If you do these 3 things, honestly it won’t feel that different having a remote business vs an in person one.

If people are struggling to adapt, then its possible they arent cut out for virtual work (thats ok not everyone is).

Well there it is guys!!

What other tips do you have for managing a virtual team or being a good leader???

Reply to this or hit me up on Insta!

-Mike