Managing Work

For many managers, overseeing teleworkers is not very different from overseeing people who travel or have field assignments. These managers may already have systems in place to maintain communication with and to monitor work progress of employees away from the central office. But, for managers who are accustomed to having each staff member present in the central office, telework may require some new approaches to management and communication. Management by results, rather than management by visual observation, works best with teleworkers.

You may feel uncomfortable if you’re not able to see your staff working. But, remember that observing individuals “working” at their desks doesn’t necessarily guarantee that they’re producing. It doesn’t enhance their work quality nor ensure that a project is finished on time. You see them on the telephone, but they could be talking to a friend. You see them at the computer, but they could be doing personal work.  Even though a person is in the office, it doesn’t mean they are being productive because as we all know, there are many office interruptions that can get in the way of accomplishing work. 

What DOES enhance your staff’s performance is a combination of clearly defined instructions and performance criteria, interim checkpoints, and regular feedback. These supervisory techniques focus on the results of a person’s work rather than on the process. When you manage by results, you know teleworkers are working because you are watching what they accomplish regardless of their work location.  

Assessing Job Responsibilities and Tasks

Every job is made up of a collection of tasks.  Working at an alternate site may be better suited for some tasks than for others. For instance, teleworkers whose jobs include using a drafting board may need to do all their drafting on days they’re in the central office. However, these same individuals may find that writing, analysis, and research tasks are ideally suited to the quieter, less distracting environment of the alternate site. Some teleworkers save certain tasks that they set aside for their telework days. Others do the same tasks no matter where they’re working.

Measuring Performance

No matter where your staff work, the two of you must have a thorough shared understanding of what constitutes successful performance of their job. A major requirement for successful telework is the establishment of performance criteria used to measure job performance. If you are fortunate enough to have well-established criteria for each staff, use this section to test the reliability and accuracy of those criteria.

Management by Results

For some supervisors, their biggest concern with telework is, “How will I know my teleworkers are productive?” The best way to answer this question is to ask yourself, “How do I know they’re productive now?”  For many jobs, productivity can’t be completely quantified. Rather, it’s necessary to use subjective assessments of quality, along with the more objective measures of timeliness, quantity, and cost, to judge productivity. These criteria are the same for judging the productivity of any employee – regardless of whether they telework or not.

Management by results is an approach to measure job performance by focusing on results (outcomes and deliverables). Many organizations that offer telework support management by results because it is a tool managers can use to fairly evaluate employees whether or not they actually observe work performance. Management by results follows these steps:

R is for Review: Review current job tasks and responsibilities. Together with your employer/supervisor discuss and agree on these.

E stands for Establish: Establish measurable outcomes and deliverables.  

S for Specify: Specify who receives or monitors the outcomes and deliverables, and when interim checkpoints and due dates will occur.

U is for Use: Use language that avoids subjectivity, vagueness and interpretation. Be clear and specific to avoid misunderstanding about what is required.

L for Link: Link outcomes and deliverables to organizational goals. It is important that we understand the importance of our work functions in relationship to the organization’s goals, mission, products and services.

T stands for Track: Track performance results.  How do you track your performance today? Do you use performance appraisal forms? Monthly reports? Tracking results allows you to compare from review period to review period how you are doing.

S is for Schedule: Schedule ongoing evaluation and revise as necessary. This applies to both ongoing, formal evaluation of your job performance and the Management by Results process. Make changes to each of these as appropriate.

Metrics criteria for successful performance

The most difficult step of management by results for managers to apply is E – Establish measurable outcomes. What we have learned through experience and discussions with both managers, supervisors, and those managed and supervised, is that clearly stated and mutually agreed upon success criteria are not often discussed or are never mentioned. As one supervisor said, “‘It is extremely rare to find any valid or validated standard of performance on any level.  Some units may have some fragmentary standards and some directors may think they have them [but don’t].” ^[1]

When will you know how well your staff have performed their work/job? How will you know? What criteria will you use to measure job performance? How do you assess progress now when you’re away from the office – at meetings or on trips? A few examples of what to look for when identifying measurable outcomes are quantity, quality, customer satisfaction, time, cost, details, methods or steps required to complete a task.  

Do you have staff with jobs that seem like they don’t have measurable outcomes or deliverables? In Kenneth Blanchard’s book “Putting the One Minute Manager to Work,” a question is posed about what if someone says that there is nothing about their job that is measurable. The response is, “When a person tells us that, we suggest that maybe we should eliminate the position and see if we’ve lost anything.”  He goes on to say, “It’s amazing how interested they suddenly get in establishing ways to identify goals and measure performance in their jobs.” Perhaps that is our greatest challenge with Management by Results, breaking down jobs into measurable pieces (tasks and responsibilities).

Applying Management by Results to Different Teleworkers

Telework can work for employees in many job classifications and with varying levels of expertise. Experienced, motivated, independent staff in jobs such as project engineer or speech writer may need little supervision—just as they do now—and their telework will require you to make only a few adjustments in your supervisory style. Other staff who are a little less experienced and independent may require more diligent supervision when they telework—just as they do now.

Independent employees often have responsibility for entire projects or have spent years in their current positions and thoroughly understand their responsibilities. In these cases, telework may have little effect on how you approach the workload of your staff member. Continual work delegation may not be appropriate, and managing these employees might simply entail checking on deadlines, holding update meetings, and offering assistance when requested. However, even with staff possessing this level of independence, it’s still important to set clear expectations and to define ways to assess if these expectations are being met.

With less independent teleworkers, you’ll need to be more involved in work delegation and to develop a certain level of trust. You must trust that teleworkers want to make telework work and will be motivated enough to get their jobs done. In addition to management by results, you can adopt other management techniques to build a higher level of trust. Start the teleworker off with smaller projects and more frequent check-in times (required meetings, memos, telephone calls, electronic messages). As teleworkers succeed, give them more responsibility but still keep frequent checkpoints. By assessing progress, you’ll be able to see exactly what the individuals are or aren’t doing with their working hours. Be careful not to require too much documentation, or your teleworkers may feel you don’t trust them. Also consider any significant differences in reporting standards between teleworkers and non-teleworkers as only temporary, just as a step to get telework up and running.

Providing Feedback

Effective communication is necessary for successful telework. Communication is especially critical between managers and teleworkers when measuring work performance. Work expectations should be understood and, when concerns arise, they should be addressed immediately to ensure that a smooth working relationship continues.  The teleworker will have to be just as responsive as before to needs of clients and co-workers, but may use new approaches to meet the same needs.

Every manager knows the importance of giving feedback. Employees want to know if they’re doing a good job, and they also want to know if they aren’t meeting your expectations.  Feedback is especially important for teleworkers. Many teleworkers are concerned that they won’t receive any feedback and that one day you’ll tell them they can no long telework.

Here are a few basic points to keep in mind when giving feedback:

• Make feedback a regular, scheduled component of your relationship with an employee.

• If there’s a reason for unscheduled feedback, do your best to give feedback soon after you notice the reason.

• Give the feedback in private and make sure you have time to talk.

• Remember to balance positive and negative feedback, so that teleworkers don’t feel their entire performance is suffering. Keep the feedback in perspective.

• Limit the discussion to a few key areas at a time. By limiting the discussion, teleworkers can assimilate the information and focus on what they’re doing well and on what they can improve. If you give comments on too many topics, teleworkers may feel overwhelmed with deficiencies or may not believe your praise.

• Discuss the work, not the worker. Also, stick to actions to which you have first-hand knowledge, not what a co-worker has observed.

• Be direct about expressing your expectations. For example, if you must schedule a meeting on a telework day, tell the teleworker whether you expect him or her to attend in person or via audio conference, or that it’s not necessary to attend.

Setting Work Schedules

Teleworkers look forward to more flexible working hours as a benefit of telework. It allows them to schedule their days according to productive periods and personal needs. While some positions may be bound by specific work schedules, many teleworkers and supervisors may be able to create some degree of flexibility.

In designing the expected work hours for teleworkers, try to balance the needs of the organization with the needs of the employee. Ideally, clients and co-workers can reach the teleworker, and the teleworker can retain some flexibility in work hours. One option is, of course, to have your teleworker work an identical schedule to that of the central office. This is convenient for you and the teleworkers’ clients and co-workers, but doesn’t offer the teleworker additional flexibility in their schedules.

A common compromise requires that the teleworker be accessible by telephone at least 4 hours in the telework day. These are called “core hours” and are within your organization’s standard 8-hour work day. Teleworkers with school-age children often prefer core hours from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. This enables them to start early, take a break when the children come home from school, and, if necessary, return to work later in the evening.

Teleworkers may want to work 8 consecutive hours, but not necessarily 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. This is called “flex-time.” Flex-time enables organizations to maintain consistent employee schedules while allowing flexibility in the work day. For example, employees may start work at the same time every day, sometime between 7 and 10 a.m., and end work at the same time, between 4 and 7 p.m. Computer programmers may want to work evening hours, when they can more easily access the mainframe.

Finally, some jobs require little coordination of work hours with others. If your teleworker usually writes and edits magazine articles— turning in their work to you for review once a week—it may be solely up to the teleworker to accomplish that goal in whatever hours are convenient.

Addressing Telework Issues

It is common to experience the need for adjusting to the changes that telework can cause. Once you have created telework agreements, it is important to pay attention to potential problems that might arise. This section offers information to help you keep your work team on track while some team members are working in remote locations as well as ideas to help assure your success as a telemanager.

Maintaining your team

Many managers believe that it is easier to maintain a close team when all employees are in the office each day.  The truth is that many times, workers are out of the office at meetings or serving clients much of the time. It is common today for virtual teams to be spread across the country and the world. In these situations, managers need to explore new methods to maintain team cohesiveness. Implementing telework can be the stimulus for you to take the time to plan activities to support teamwork. This section focuses on three areas: keeping the team connected, dealing with resistance to telework from non-teleworkers and creating cross training opportunities. In the long run, telework can be a management strategy that will benefit your work group, your customers or clients, and your entire organization. 

Keeping the team connected: The first step to maintaining your team is to meet with your staff so you all can share expectations about telework. Invite teleworkers, co-workers, and all support staff. Make it clear that suggestions are welcomed and that the meeting is an effort to address concerns before they become problems. You and your teleworkers should already have identified some strategies to ensure that non-teleworkers and support staff will not be adversely affected, including strategies for message taking, notifying others of telework days, and contacting teleworkers. Include a discussion of how best to maintain and strengthen the team’s communication.

After this initial meeting, track how the team feels about telework by having ongoing discussions with individual staff members and routinely bringing up telework at staff meetings. Assure the non-teleworkers know that each teleworker is still very much part of the team, neither more nor less important than any other team member.

Meeting topics might include:

• What tasks can be completed while teleworking

• Which employees will telework

• How telework will be implemented

• How teleworkers will notify the work group of telework schedule

• How team members can reach teleworkers on telework days

• Questions and concerns

• Process for addressing future issues and concerns

• Use of the teleworkers’ office or workspace when teleworking

• Potential cross training opportunities

When a teleworker will be teleworking more than 2 days a week, team building may include focusing on other activities such as:

·  Scheduling staff meetings on days when the teleworker will be in the central office

·  Creating a telework buddy system[2]]

·  Scheduling social events (e.g., going out to lunch or celebrating team member birthdays, etc.)

·  Non-work related events (e.g., the company picnic, company sports teams)

Resistance from non-teleworking co-workers

Non-teleworkers may be concerned that they must assume some of the central office tasks normally performed by teleworkers.  Telework must benefit the organization as well as the teleworker, therefore it is important that teleworkers make an effort not to allow their telework arrangement to inconvenience other staff. If some additional work falls to non-teleworkers on telework days, teleworkers can be encouraged to offer help to non-teleworkers. 

Frequent and clear communications is vitally important. Make sure that non-teleworkers feel comfortable calling teleworkers at their telework office. Let non-teleworkers know that you and the teleworker expect them to let you know if the telework arrangement is negatively impacting their work.

Non-teleworkers can often benefit indirectly from a telework arrangement. They may have fewer distractions when teleworkers are away from the office, and may also have faster access to scarce in-office resources such as computers, printers, photocopiers, and conference rooms.

Cross training opportunities

If a teleworker is the only one who knows particular informa­tion or who can repair certain equipment, their absence could cause prob­lems for the organization.  Avoid these potential problems by cross training another individual in key areas. Cross training can not only be a benefit to telework arrangements but it can also help your team function effectively when staff are away for meetings, vacations, illness or other situations that take them out of the office. Some non-teleworkers find that the ability to be cross trained on new duties in the work group is a benefit to their career development. Cross training also extends the skill depth of the work group.

Think about the answers to these questions:

·    What does your work group currently do when staff members are not in the office? How would cross training help prepare for these situations in advance?

·      What does your organization currently do when there is staff turnover or a crisis?

·      How would cross training improve your work group and their ability to provide customer service?

·      How would individual staff benefit from learning another team member’s job?

Planning for Success

These are management practices that will make your telework program successful:

·  Respect the Telework Arrangement.  Give oral and written signals to all staff (teleworkers or not) that you take the telework arrangement seriously and that you expect them to as well. Avoid teasing teleworkers about “goofing off,” or attempt to make them feel guilty for working at home. Teleworkers are already anxious about how you and the rest of the work group will view telework. Teasing can just add to that stress. Another way to show your respect for the telework arrangement is to avoid asking the teleworker to come into the office on a telework day—as far as the needs of the organization would reasonably allow.

·  Maintain Your Meeting Schedule With Your Teleworker.  It is tempting to postpone weekly meetings or to extend time between meetings. For telework to succeed, you need continual communication. Consider the use of teleconference calls for some staff meetings; it works well for impromptu or urgent team meetings.

·  Check in with Non-teleworkers and Clients. Non-teleworkers and clients also need to be satisfied with access to and service from teleworkers. Make sure they feel free to let you know if there are problems, and check with them from time to time to see how the telework arrangement is working for them.

·  Give immediate, honest feedback. Because the teleworker is out of the office one or more days each week, problems should be dealt with immediately. Waiting one work day may mean waiting 3 or 4 days before the teleworker is in the central office and you can resolve the problem. By then, the immediacy of the feedback will be gone, or you may forget to provide it—until the same problem arises again.

·  Career development for teleworker. When an employee teleworks one or two days per week, there may be little change in their career development process. However, when teleworkers are away from the central office 3 or 4 days per week, they may face the problem of  “out-of sight, out-of-mind”. The key to assisting in a teleworker’s career development combines good communication with equal opportunity for advancement. Good communication will help teleworkers keep current on office activities, developments, and new opportunities. Discussing opportunities with your teleworker also will help them move toward future prospects. Remember that teleworkers will be interested in staying in the forefront of people’s minds. You can help them do this by giving them an equal share of high-profile activities, such as making important presentations or conducting research projects.

·  Review the Telework Arrangement.  Integrating a review process into the telework arrangement can help you to evaluate performance. Teleworkers are often anxious about their performance. A review process gives them important feedback early in the program. One type of review process is your organization’s standard performance evaluation. But, if this evaluation is annual, it may not provide timely feedback for the telework team. A second type of evaluation can take place by rewriting the telework proposal and agreement 6 months after telework begins. The specific needs of the teleworker or supervisor often change after a few months. The number of telework days each week may no longer be optimal, or the telework site may no longer be available. This may present an opportunity to amend the individual telework agreement, or it could be cause to terminate the telework arrangement.

There will be an initial adjustment period before telework becomes a work routine. It may take a few months for employees to set new routines for telework days. Until the new routines are familiar, expect a few rough spots. For both new and experienced teleworkers, the best approach is to be candid with them about your concerns. Meet with them as soon as you notice a problem. Make suggestions and ask the teleworker for ideas. Revise the telework agreement, implement the changes, give telework another chance, and reassess it in another month or two. Careful consideration is in order to determine if, in fact, telework becomes an obstacle to goal attainment or getting good management results. Exercise caution by not faulting a telework arrangement – making it the scapegoat – for other underlying problems (e.g., poor communications among the team and/or clients).

If your efforts still aren’t successful, it may be time for the employee to stop teleworking. Make it clear to non-teleworkers and others that no stigma is attached to the return to the central office. Telework is neither for everyone nor is it for the same person all the time. In fact, most teleworkers who stop teleworking do so for reasons other than performance such as a change in job duties, a change in supervisor, distractions at home, or because they miss the social interactions of the central office. If you think the reasons why telework is not working may be temporary (such as a short-term crisis at work requiring your teleworker’s onsite presence), you may want to leave the door open for future telework opportunities.

Finally, these pearls of wisdom based upon experience:

      Managing Telework

·  Being open and flexible will allow you and your organization to get the most from telework – telework is a dynamic work option.

·  Focus on the results of work performed not where it is performed.

·  Know, express, and agree on what constitutes successful job performance.

·  What makes a good teleworker is a good employee.

·  Look for telework opportunities to improve marginal employees’ performance.

·  Be sensitive to the impact telework has on non-teleworkers

·  Communicate in a timely, candid, and constructive manner with employees.

Opportunities for discovery

·  Be aware of the opportunities presented with each form of telework (satellite, home office).

·  Envision telework as a solution to a problem(s).

·  Discover what’s in it—telework—for you, the manager.

·  Try teleworking for yourself.