As organizations grow, more and more leaders find themselves managing geographically dispersed teams. What that means is, your team members may be located in various offices throughout the U.S. or even globally.

Maintaining communication within a team can be challenging in any situation, but the more teams are split amongst many offices, it creates major challenges in maintaining relationships and being a mentor to the members of your team.

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Many companies offer digital communication tools that give leaders the ability to maintain contact with their teams, build relationships, and give public recognition between in-person interactions. These tools aren’t meant to replace in-person or telephone communication, but they can extend the lines of communication to add a unique addition to our day to day team interactions.

As a leader, there are several ways to mentor your team using enterprise social networks.

1) Empower Your Team

Take advantage of social streams to share kudos for your team members. Post updates on your company’s social network to praise employees for behaviors that lead to positive results.

Some internal networks also offer badges and awards. Use these awards regularly to reinforce positive actions and compliment results.

2) Drive Motivation

Enterprise social networks are a great place to have discussions about the “why” behind your business and individual roles. By starting and facilitating these motivational conversations, you’ll be an inspiration to your team and even to yourself.

3) Reinforce Training

Don’t let your team’s training become an after-thought. Keep what they’ve learned top of mind by reinforcing your training messages in ongoing social conversations.

You can also publicly praise those who implement the lessons shared in training.

If your company does not have an enterprise social network, here is a list of 10 enterprise social networks to improve your global communication.


Krystal Profile

Krystal Covington, MBA

I’m a connection expert. What this means is, I use the principles of human connection to help people communicate better.

I help businesses better communicate with their clients and employees. I also help individuals to become more influential by understanding how to connect with others and build a powerful network.

I have about 10 years experience influencing others through sales, marketing, and corporate communications roles.

My experience includes communications work for a top Global 500 Company and providing coaching and communication services to small businesses nationwide.

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