Franchisors share their secrets for managing remote teams.

Organisations have increasingly recognised that their culture can give them a competitive advantage because, unlike strategy, it cannot be easily duplicated. Great franchisors have always known this and have become adept at building culture across their distributed teams. The many business leaders whose workforces have been forced by the pandemic to start working from home have much to learn from these franchisors.

Traditionally, organisational culture was signalled by workplace settings and the interactions of the people working in them. But even before the pandemic, that was changing. The pandemic has caused the trend to spike but even in places where lockdowns and other restrictions have been lifted, 89% of those working remotely said they would still prefer to work from home at least part of the time, according to a Boston Consulting Group survey.

Many businesses which have allowed their employees to work from home are reporting increased engagement and productivity. That’s all well and good for individuals. But what about the team dynamics that are the foundation of many organisations’ competitive advantage? How do you provide team members with the sense of belonging, involvement and sharing that are so important to organisational culture? When they’re sitting alone in their home offices or bedrooms, how do you get them to spark ideas off each other?

Some time ago, I participated in a Franchising Best Practice Study Tour where we identified some of the world’s greatest franchises, including McDonald’s, Ford and Caterpillar, and sat down with their top management to find out what makes them great. Two key findings emerged. One of these was that they all of these exhibited strong organisational culture – despite the fact that they operate right across the globe. McDonald’s talked about ‘McFamily’. Caterpillar said their dealers ‘bleed yellow blood’.

How do they do it? And what can other franchises and businesses learn from them?

In Part 2 of this Blog,  I’ll reveal how these and other best-practice distributed businesses are able to:

• Build ownership and the feeling of belonging in remote franchisees and employees
• Foster team spirit and camaraderie in distributed teams
• Develop cross-functional collaboration
• Increase trust among team members
• Stimulate the conversations that drive ideas and innovation
• Onboard new team members
• Increase individual and team productivity and the business’s bottom line

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