What do you want from me?

(Photo: Center for Nonverbal Studies)

Living up to other peoples expectations can be difficult, especially as a remote employee your expectations can be even more elusive. So how do you get through it? How do you determine if you are doing everything anticipated of you and delivering what is expected of you?

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Ask Questions

If you want to deliver on expectations, you need to know what those expectations are. Be up front and revisit expectations regularly to determine if you are on track. Discover not only what your manager expects of you, but what is expected from you by others.

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Set Milestones

Setting milestones will keep you on track to achieve your goals. As you progress through your scheduled milestones communicate them, it allows others to get the sense of what you are actually accomplishing even though they cannot see you working first hand.

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Clear Communications

No one can see and appreciate the massive effort you are putting in so it is urgent to produce results and share your output with the team. Remember when you work remotely, no one is there to see your accomplishments first hand; the only way they will ever find out, is if you are delivering on your expectations and sharing your progress. They only know what you tell them and show them so don’t be humble, it’s not boasting, it’s communicating your progress.

Demonstrate Commitment

As with any great team loyalty and commitment  are critical. Be sure to demonstrate the attributes of a good team member:

• On virtual team everyone works together and depends on one another so be sure to provide your team members what they need on time.
• If there is an announcement or break through everyone could benefit from be sure the group is notified.
• Share success stories with your team; if something worked well for you and improved a process it is likely something similar will work for others on your team and before you know it, your point of interest has become a best practice for the entire group.
• For the most part people enjoy helping others to succeed, it makes you feel good inside when you help others in need. If someone helped you accomplish a task you could have not otherwise done your self or was just assisting you in meeting a timeline; tell the group, people appreciate the recognition and are grateful you recognize their efforts.

Sure it takes a little extra effort to keep everyone in the loop and to ensure you are living up to expectations, but in the end you will have achieved greater success through clarity and communications.

What are some best practices you have in place on your virtual team?