CEO GUIDE TO THE VIRTUAL WORKPLACE: TIP SHEET
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Get good gear.
Investing in the right equipment can help keep workers productive at home and on the road. For instance, good headsets keep hands free while eliminating headaches, a common ailment for workers who spend a great deal of time talking on the phone. They're also easier on the neck. |
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Encourage small talk.
Discussing personal life with colleagues isn't a waste of time--it's how people build trust and loyalty. Some companies set up online discussion forums or arrange outings so virtual workers can mingle.
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Help them stop. The trouble with most virtual workers isn't that they slack off, but that they don't know when to call it a day. That's one reason they're 16% more productive than tethered counterparts. But that extra work can lead to burnout. Encourage employees to have personal lives.
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Create space. When telecommuters do come into the office, they want to be seen, not stashed away in a corner. By setting up temporary offices, companies such as IBM and Sun help employees stay productive, and they've saved hundreds of millions of dollars in real estate costs.
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Set goals. Management by objective, rather than oversight, is crucial with a distributed workforce. This may mean revamping performance management systems. The best virtual managers set objectives for both individual employees and teams.
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Neglect training.
Most companies don't teach executives how to manage virtual workers, and managers often don't communicate enough with direct reports. That can leave home-based employees feeling isolated, says Colleen Garton, author of Managing Without Walls. Garton says managers should check in each day with virtual workers.
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Assume it's a fit.
Some workers simply need a busy office environment to stay productive, and most new employees should become acquainted with their jobs and the corporate culture before working from home.
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Lose track. Even employees who work out of the office should notify managers and co-workers of their whereabouts. Calendar-sharing software can help teams keep track of each member's schedule. Status icons in instant-messaging software can also help co-workers know whether a far-flung colleague is available.
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Forget face time. Certain activities such as brainstorming work best when team members are together in one room. Know when it's time to convene the troops.
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Virtual Workplace Dos and Don'ts
How to reap the benefits of encouraging employees to work from outside the office — and avoid developing a disconnected workforce
By Rachael King
There are plenty of reasons to release workers from the confines of the corporate campus. Studies show that virtual workers, when compared to their office-bound colleagues, tend to be more productive and stay with a company longer. Letting employees work outside the office can also help companies save big bucks on real estate. IBM, for example, saves about $100 million a year by letting 140,000 employees work from home, on the road, or at client locations.
But the benefits can be fleeting unless executives prepare for the transition. "It is not a slam dunk," says Ann Bamesberger, vice-president of Open Work at Sun Microsystems. "It involves a shift in the way you manage." Sun and IBM uncovered the advantages through years of trial and error. Here is some of their hard-won wisdom:
