Managing & Teaming in a Virtual World

When Telecommuting's Not Working

Your monitoring your telecommuters as approriate for their job. Everything's OK with Mary but it's not working for John. What does it mean… it's not working?

When I ask managers the opposite, in other words, how do you know when it is working? And have them answer very quickly…I gain some insight into their management style. Many first say, the employee is meeting their goals. Some will say, they're happy in the telecommuting situation. Some will say, they're productive. And some will say, they're not goofing off.

Whatever "working" means to you (and please do define it before you take on telecommuters), what will you do if comes to a point that it isn't working? How will you know? When will you know? What will you do?

Looks for a trend. You determine for the job what the trend should be. A week, a month? If the trend indicates "it isn't working," take action immeduately. Ask questions. Explore what might be going on. Coach. If after a period of time, you have determined and communicated, it still isn't working, action needs to be taken. Action needs to be based on the guidelines of your company, i.e., bring them into the physical workplace, put them on a performance improvement plan, etc.

 

Is Your Employee Telecommuter-Ready?

Tony, a student from our November workshop, coined the term "telecommuter-ready" during an after class discussion. The term refers to the readiness of an employee to undertake a telecommuting work option.

Does the employee have the right stuff? Just like selecting a candidate for any job, there is some art and some science to predicting whether an employee will be able to perform up to your standards while working from home or some other offsite location. Yes, it is a prediction. And you only know after the fact if it worked.

I'm sure you know some of the obvious "readiness" characteristics: can work independently, routinely meets their goals, works well in a team, etc. But I'd like to raise some awareness about the less obvious…

Don't assume a high performer in the office will be a high performer in the home environment. Chances are good but not certain. Why? A high performer like any performer, has an ecosystem around them in which they operate. Change that ecosystem (people, physical environment, feedback, energy, equipment, etc) and their performance may change. This can be true for low performers as well, but is more true for middle performers where there is a greater amount of variation.

 

Managers Need to Step Up to the New World Order

From time to time, I hear a manager lamenting about the amount of time it will require to manage telecommuters. Frankly, when I hear this, I wonder how effective this manager is at managing his or her onsite organization. Why? Because at its essence, managing telecommuters should be fundamentally no different than managing anyone else….if you are performing the principles and practices of good management. If not, then you bet it will be more work; the work the manager should have been doing all along. "How much work" is all relative to your starting point.

The problem is that many managers have been a bit lax in performing the principles and practices of good management. When the organization is co-located, deficiencies in management approach can be compensated for by other means, especially informal communication means. However, as soon as people are no longer co-located, the lack of physical presence reduces the opportunity for informal communication, and thus the effects of lax management practices cause negative impact if managers don't step up and improve.

Let's think about it. Setting expectations, monitoring work, managing performance, rewarding & recognizing, building teams & work flow, motivating, learning & development… Which of these would a manager do or not do whether an employee was a telecommuter or not.

In today's world, managers need to manage a wide variety of employee work options. The day of managing only co-located personnel is over; whether it's remote employees at other locations, telecommuters, free agents, hotelers, or part-timers. Let's help our managers close the gap on their skill sets to make this new world order a win for our organizations.

Who Cares If They Are Watching Oprah?

"What if they are watching Oprah? What if they are working in their pajamas?"  I've heard this a number of times from managers of telecommuters. My response is "Who cares?  Do you ask similar questions about your in-office workers? Maybe they're watching YouTube. Maybe they're chit chatting all day. Maybe they're watching Oprah streaming on the web."

The telecommuter, just like any other employee, is expected to achieve results. If telecommuters, a.k.a. employees, can meet their established goals and objectives while watching Oprah, wearing flannel, or wearing fuzzy bunny slippers then let them have at it. The things that distract from or focus people on work is so highly dependent on an individual's characteristics and traits that it is unfair to mandate this particular "how" for the work to be done.  TRUST... BUT VERIFY.

What Words Do You Use?

Susan and five of her co-workers were sitting in their manager's team meeting. A few team members who are telecommuting had called in on the speakerphone. Telecommuting was on the meeting agenda that day. Susan's manager discussed it with great enthusiasm, explaining how only high performers would be allowed to participate in this work option. She explained the policies and objectives for the telecommuters as well as the folks left behind. She firmly outlined how communication paths would be established to ensure telecommuters' voices would be heard. Lastly, she described a formal telecommuting kick-off event that would include balloons and pastries.

How do you think Susan and her in-office co-workers felt? How do you think the telecommuters felt? Many times, in our fervor for telecommuting, managers mistakenly polarize their teams and appear to coddle or favor telecommuters. The telecommuters and the non-telecommuters. The high performers and the not so high performing. The focused-on and the not focused-on. The folks at the forefront. The folks left behind.

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