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.
