In today's modern business world, the workforce extends far beyond the walls of the office. Particularly in specialty fields like consulting, web development, customer service, and marketing, thousands of jobs are being filled by virtual employees. In the United States alone, more than 44 million professionals work off-site (International Telework Association and Council, 2004).
For companies of all shapes and sizes, a virtual workforce has become an essential and efficient part of the business. To overcome geographic challenges, these four steps are vital to remote worker management.
Clearly define your expectations
As soon as you start telecommuting arrangements with any employee, be sure to communicate the parameters of the job. You may want to set deadlines for assignments or require telecommuters to work a certain number of hours per week. How quickly do you expect external members to respond to requests? Should they be available during specific hours by email, IM, or phone? You may want to put these expectations in writing so that you and your employee can refer to them in the future.
Set small goals within a big project
Trust is a key ingredient between the hiring manager and the outside employee. In addition to conveying the expectations for managing telecommuters, you may want to set small, frequent goals to keep them on track. This is vital for projects that span months, especially when a client requires deadlines and results. Online systems are also available to help remote workers postwork logs and share documents, which could help evaluate their progress on a project.
Make an effort to touch the base regularly
Projects can often fail due to a lack of regular communication. While you don't want to micromanage, you need to maintain a strong connection with the telecommuter. Also, be sure to keep outside employees in touch with the entire team, so everyone is on the same page. When you schedule team meetings, you can ask remote workers to call in for discussion. In this way, any question can be addressed and the whole group can better collaborate.
Use technology to your advantage
There are many low-cost tools that you can use to connect remote workers with the rest of the company. For example, you can use email, instant messaging, and similar communication tools to keep in touch frequently. For meetings, you can take advantage of telephone, web, or video conferencing systems. As mentioned above, you should consider using an online system to share files, work logs, and other important data with remote employees.
The information age enables companies to achieve even more. With these crucial management skills, you can ensure that you get the most out of remote worker management. By understanding the essential steps of telecommuting management, you can rapidly grow your business in more ways than ever before.
The Center for Competitive Management (CCM) gives you, today's business professional, the information you need to stay on top of your career. CCM is dedicated to providing you with the information you need to be successful. Our products include audio lectures, training resources, research articles, and more.
Author Bio:
Maximus Yaney is a disruptor, entrepreneur, engineer, and avid inventor. A serial dreamer and company builder, Maximus is Co-Founder and CEO of Kangaroo; Co-Founder of Mohawk; Founder, CEO, & CTO of Titan Aerospace; and an ex-Googler.