With an increasing number of companies going remote due to COVID concerns, there is a new executive position emerging to lead remote workers. With titles like “Director of remote work” or “Head of remote”, these new roles are being developed to act as advocates for virtual workers and facilitate cross-functional relationships between employees working apart from each other.
What do you think about this new role? Do you think it’s important to have in order for remote workers to feel a part of a team or does it feel like micromanaging? Do you think these roles will become obsolete in a few months or will they become a necessary?
It’s tough to answer on whether or not this feels like micromanaging without knowing more details of the job. Honestly, any position of leadership can take a micromanaging spin based on how the individual in the role handles it. Hopefully, these leaders become advocates for trust in their teams and ensuring each employee feels comfortable, remains motivated, and has the tools they need to succeed.
This sounds like maybe it would fall more into an HR role than a Operational one. If the focus of the role is to ensure that people in remote positions have everything they need to succeed, then I don’t see a problem with it. However, if the role become more of checking in on remote workers every hour as sort of a baby sitter, then I can see how that can turn into micromanaging. Like Kiana said, I guess it depends on how the company / leader handles the role.