It’s now been a few weeks for most of us navigating working from home, schooling our kids, and trying to continue to lead our teams and produce our work like “normal.”

If you are a marketing manager who has a team newly working from your homes and not physically sitting side-by-side, it’s maybe challenging to keep up the morale and engagement in your team. Heck, even if you managed a remote team with marketers in different offices throughout your state or across the country, even this normal of working from home with spouses, kids, and pets is tricky.

While I have managed remote teams in the past, it didn’t go without challenges to make sure I was able to keep meaningful relationships, provide the support (both for professional and personal growth), and make sure workloads are balanced throughout the team. Working from home now just exasperates this effort.

With that in mind, I did some thinking, research, and talking to some other managers and came up with these ideas to help you not only manage but lead your virtual marketing department. This list is chock full of advice and resources for those of us leading a virtual marketing team for the foreseeable future.

You can either read about them or watch the lesson from a Facebook Live inside the Marketers Take Flight Co-Working Community.

Set Clear Objectives of What to Accomplish

Now is the time to come out of the gate with strong, clear objectives of what you want and expect your team to accomplish. As the leader, you need to set the tone and vision. It’s not the time to have a brainstorming session of what everyone should be working on, but for you to come to your team with 3-5 objectives of what they need to focus on during these next few months.

Once you have those objectives determined, then assign who will be leading each objective or task and who will make up the teams. Of course, this will depend on the size of your marketing team, but someone must lead each initiative and you need to assign that person.

The key is for you, as the leader, to set the objectives and expectations of what to achieve. Then let your team achieve them. That’s where the flexibility comes in. This allows them to work as a team (or on their own) to best fit their new schedule.

These may or may not be new initiatives. If you already have a rebrand or new website project in the works, for example, how will those continue? Who will be leading those? Do you need to add new initiatives for your team to work on as a response to COVID-19?

If you need some ideas, check out the article I wrote a few weeks back on adding value remotely.

What if you are a marketing department of one?

Well, then you are the marketing leader! Congratulations!

All kidding aside, if you are a marketing department of one, it’s crucial for you to be clear on what your objectives are for yourself for these next couple of months.

Use an Online Task Management System

You may already use a task management system like Microsoft Teams, Wrike or Asana. Now more than ever it’s imperative that everyone use and update it. This includes you. If you were reluctant to use it before but encouraged your team to use it, now’s the time to step up and lead by example.

Every objective that you set out for your team should be in the system and all tasks managed, including any task assigned to you. This way you and all of your team members, can see what everyone else is working on. This is especially important if your team previously worked side-by-side in one office. You can no longer pop by someone’s desk to say hi or see what’s up on their screen.

Use Video for All Internal Meetings

You previously had weekly, maybe daily, team meetings. These meetings were to touch base with your marketing team and what they were working on, brainstorming ideas for certain initiatives, or maybe just checking in on everyone is doing.

These meetings need to continue. However, I strongly suggest that you make them video-based. I would also suggest making them more frequent, but shorter. This is especially suggested if you were only meeting once or twice a month. Try having them weekly or two times a week but make them shorter at 30 minutes.

If you are using the Task Management System, then you already know what everyone is working on, so these meetings will be more about creating a connection and making sure your team has the support they need. That’s why it’s critical to have them use video.

Personally, I am still getting used to this. Last Friday, we had a first weekly Zoom meeting where I turned on my camera. I didn’t do my hair or make-up. That’s usually a no-go for me to get on video. However, it was just my team with no clients, so I quickly got over it. I know you and your team can too. 😊

Keep Normal Working Hours, but be Flexible

I recommend keeping “normal working hours.” What I mean by this is that you try to have meetings, calls, Zooms during the 8-5 pm, 9-6 pm, etc. business hours. Set the expectations that your team needs to be available for IMs and calls during this time. This helps with other folks trying to schedule meetings and get responses.

However, be flexible. If you have a single parent who can only work when the child is asleep, then work with that team member. Or, if you have a marketer whose spouse is on the front lines (medical, first responders, etc.) with odd shifts, your marketer will need some flexibility.

It is important to communicate expectations but be compassionate with those you need extra flexibility.

Maintain Your Normal Culture

Chances are you have worked hard to build your marketing team. Your team has built relationships amongst each other, other departments, and with you. All this feeds into your firm’s culture and your department’s culture.

As a leader in this trying time, it’s up to you to try and maintain your culture as much as possible.

This might make you rethink some of the activities and fun you would normally together in the office. Some ideas that I have tried and/or have researched include:

• Use Microsoft Teams of Slack Channels for different conversations or topics. These can include conversations threads for funny memes, work from home tips, homeschool tips, recipe swaps, etc.
• If you previously dressed up or down on certain days, continue to do that and encourage sharing in the applicable Teams or Slack thread.
• Virtual lunch hours – If you went out to lunch together, try a virtual lunch hour. Set up a Zoom and have everyone eat together but away from their desk. Have them go out on their patio, dining room table, etc. Try this once per week and see how it goes. This is especially important for those who live alone and need human interaction.
• Virtual happy hours – I have already seen many marketers master this one already. 😊
• Send notes and virtual treats. I used to have a box of cheesy notes, swag, and goodies so I could leave little notes and treats at my team’s desks. Maybe send something similar to your team’s houses. Think about sending a cute, funny, or inspirational card or a small gift. BrightBox and Greetabl are some fun services that make this easy.

Your Turn

If you’re leading a virtual marketing team, what are some other ways to keep up the engagement and morale of your team, while still adding value to your firm? Share them with others in the comments below.