Effectively supervising teleworkers you can't see
Teleworkers enjoy the workplace luxury of tackling assignments and even establishing their own hours without a hawk-eye boss peering over their shoulders. But how can one effectively manage job autonomy and performance metrics when you are the boss and can’t physically see your subordinates? Honesty about employee hours possibly arises, as does the ability to impose project benchmarks. Monitoring also poses questions since the employee enjoys the right to privacy in his or her home. So what is a boss to do?
Real-time management
Keeping tabs on one’s staff from miles away is easier than expected, published reports show. Specifically, supervisors can tap into a plethora of technological programs and applications to maintain a “watchful eye” on their telecommuting staff as though they were just steps down the workplace hallway.
Initially, a supervisor wants to ensure his company hires the right person for the telecommuting position. Individual traits, such as organization, diligence and the need to achieve can help a supervisor select a successful teleworker, according to a Canadian study, “Predicting teleworker success: an exploration of personality, motivational and situational, and job traits.”
A set of ground rules, or written agreements outlining the employees’ responsibilities, also can help supervisors officially establish work expectations, according to Business Management Daily. This can include the supervisors’ plans to monitor the employees. A written and signed agreement also can allow supervisors the access to monitor the employees’ work-related activity via instant messaging programs, according to PCWorld.com. Further, Microsoft Outlook offers a login status so supervisors can see that an employee is working, but out of (the standard) office. Citrix Systems also offers XenDesktop, a program that users also can use to monitor employees daily activity, notes PCWorld.com.
In some cases, state law dictates whether the supervisor must notify the employee he is being watched. The website telecommuting360.com notes this agreement also allows the signing employees to acknowledges the supervisor’s right to:
- Inspect computer files and other work-related documents used by the employee.
- “Monitor computers and telephone lines during work hours without notice.”
- Possibly inspect the teleworker’s work space.
Ensuring employee performance benchmarks
The ultimate goal of a boss is to ensure his employees meet performance metrics and project benchmarks set forth by company objectives. To do this, communication is key.
Fortunately, modern technology affords telecommuting supervisors to maintain managerial control while giving employees the opportunity to seek project clarification or communicate benchmarks with the employees. Skype, Gmail and other web conferencing outlets are available for virtual teams to map out their work success. Regular telephone connectivity can further streamline communications and works faster than an email or instant message for those communications s that incite follow-up questions.
Project management software also simplifies scheduling while tracking project assignments. There are scores of different programs, from web-based to collaborative ones. First-time users can glean a basic understanding of the different programs and associated features provided through a Wikipedia entry to determine which fits a company’s needs.
Telecommuting the employer’s touch
Employee success often directly correlates with the company’s ability to satisfy its workforce. Teleworkers are no different in this regard, according to WorldAtWork speaker, Rose M. Stanley in her advisory article, “Five Ways To Manage What You Can’t See.”
“Keep the teleworker involved and create a cohesive work environment for both the teleworker and those in the office,” Stanley wrote. This translates into keeping the teleworker apprised of all impromptu meetings and special occasions, as well as acknowledging them during conference calls, conveying potential promotions and, perhaps most importantly in a work-centric era, not expecting them to be on-call 24-hours per day.
Stanley adds: “With a careful plan, the right tools and the right people, managing employees with any kind of work arrangement will be a success.”
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