🎒 Microlesson

🪞 Reflect

Whom do you trust more—the coworker who takes initiative to address a problem or the coworker who waits for someone else to step in? 

💡 Concept

Being proactive means taking initiative and making things happen instead of just reacting to events or expecting someone else to resolve an issue. Proactiveness is especially important in distributed teams because it’s one of the ways remote team members can demonstrate their commitment and reliability to each another, even if they don’t spend much synchronous time together. 

Consider the following reactive behaviors. What impact do you think they have on team performance and culture? 

• A coworker is unable to accomplish a task by the due date and waits until the due date to inform the team of the expected delay. 

• A team member takes time off without canceling or rescheduling a meeting that was already on the calendar. 

• Someone on the team lacks access to information they require to complete a task and does not request access. 

• You realize that no one is taking notes in a meeting and decide not to mention it or volunteer to document action items. 

• You are confused about the instructions for a task and don’t seek clarification. 

Being proactive indicates that not only are you able to manage your own time and priorities, you also care about the needs of others and the needs of the team.

🎬 Take Action

To practice being more proactive, try the following actions: 

• Ask for help as soon as you encounter a problem you can’t solve.

• Volunteer to take on a task, such as taking notes during a meeting. 

• Send an update on a current project or task you’re working on before being asked.

• Ask a team member if they need support with a project (and follow through if they request help!). 

• Add an agenda to a meeting if there is not one already written.

• If something comes up that keeps you from following through on a promise or responsibility, send a message or add an update providing visibility into the situation. 

• Keep your calendar up-to-date and review it regularly to identify any potential schedule conflicts before they happen.

✅ Check In

🧠 Keep Learning

Learn more about developing task-based trust with self-management in the Workplaceless Remote Work Certification course.

🎁 Learn with your team!

Refer our weekly microlessons to your team members to learn as a group! Just follow the instructions in the section below to get started.