The virtual manager needs to communicate, create trust
By Douglas Gantenbein
Remote workers can be more productive and have greater job satisfaction than those working in a main office. But managing virtual workers is a challenge that demands communication, trust, and the appropriate tools to succeed.
In Summary:
| • | Managers should find ways to communicate regularly in a "neutral" setting. |
| • | Intuitive software and hardware tools facilitate remote work while ensuring security and simplifying training. |
| • | Creating trust between employees and managers is critical. |
Michael Amigoni supervises more than 300 employees. But he rarely, if ever, sees them. Amigoni is the chief operating officer of a company that manages call centers for the financial and healthcare industries, and that also performs specialized auditing. The growing difficulty of hiring enough qualified workers led the company to find employees who could work out of their homes. But Amigoni doesn't see that as a managerial problem. "I probably know more about how our people are doing than if they were right here," he says. He does so by constantly measuring his employees' work and seeing to it they get both positive feedback and constructive criticism.
 | If the mobile tools are difficult to use and take a lot of training, then people won't use them. |  | | Patricia Wilkey
Director of global desktop and mobility, EDS
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Not every business can measure its employees' productivity as easily as call centers can. But business leaders do agree that managing by objective and output is perhaps the best way to ensure success.
Telecommuting, virtual work, remote work—whatever the label, for a manager the definition is the same: employees who are a mile or 10,000 miles away from a company's main office. Although the inability to walk out of an office and see their workers causes anxiety for many managers, it shouldn't. Studies from organizations such as consulting firm Work Design Collaborative show that companies offering remote work cut real estate costs and enjoy productivity increases of up to 30 percent. Employees like the gains in work-life balance—and the absence of long commutes—remote work can bring. And some of the world's leading companies encourage telecommuting, including British Telecom, AT&T, and IBM—where nearly half its workforce do their jobs at home, on the road, or at a virtual office.
As virtual work becomes more standard, managers must learn how to adapt their skills accordingly. Experts in the new virtual workplace say there are three key steps to becoming a better virtual manager.
Give employees the best mobile tools
Over the past several years, there has been a big change in the tools people use to work remotely. Instead of a desktop and telephone that the employee perhaps already owned, companies now may supply laptops and other mobile devices, such as a smartphone. Along with those tools, the most robust Internet connection possible is mandatory. With the right bandwidth, employees can easily send and receive the large Microsoft Office Word, Microsoft Office Excel, or Microsoft Office PowerPoint files that are the common currency of most work projects. That also expedites access to team worksites based on Microsoft Office Groove or Microsoft Office SharePoint Server.
But those more sophisticated tools pose two big challenges for a company: how to offer technical support to the people using them, and how to ensure that remote workers follow the same security guidelines mandated in the company's main offices.
Microsoft is helping companies in both areas, says Patricia Wilkey, director of global desktop and mobility for the global information technology (IT) consulting firm EDS. Windows Mobile 6, for instance, works on a range of mobile devices, giving users a single interface and greatly simplifying support services while also making it easier to ensure consistent security.
Microsoft Office Live Communications Server, meanwhile, can help employees use familiar tools such as Microsoft Office Outlook to easily reach their peers or managers, regardless of their location. "That's key," says Wilkey. "If the mobile tools are difficult to use and take a lot of training, then people won't use them."
Another useful service is a unified calling number that directs employees' remote office, wireless, and even corporate office numbers through a single number that forwards to the appropriate location. These digitally-based services, which are offered by companies such as Cisco Systems and Intellicomm, also allow users to send faxes or voice mails to recipients within e-mails.
Manage for success
Ten years ago, managers said that working with remote workers was one of their biggest difficulties, says Catherine Cramton, an assistant professor and remote work specialist at George Mason University in Washington, D.C. "The tools really haven't ameliorated that fundamental challenge," she says.
Cramton offers the following advice:
| • | Develop a communications strategy. Probably the most important aspect of successful remote work is communicating well. Managers should take the lead in this area. If the burden is on the employee to initiate communication, says Cramton, it can seem as if the employee is boasting about what he or she has accomplished. At the same time, as a manager, you don't want to convey that you are constantly "checking up" on an employee. Regular communication sessions that are "neutral" in content ensure that no one feels pressured. |
| • | Get together when possible. Cramton likes to see work teams meet personally when possible, preferably at a location where part of the team is performing its job. That gives them a chance to see and understand the environment in which their peers are working, and allows for important social interaction and information sharing that might be lacking in a remote setting. |
| • | Commit to success. Managers have to work hard to ensure remote employees succeed by visiting remote worksites to observe employees, solving problems before they become problems, and so on, says Cramton. Moreover, managers should ensure that all employees have equal access to promotions and career advancement opportunities. |
Managers must also remember that not every employee is a perfect candidate for remote work, adds Debra Dinnocenzo, a consultant and the author of 101 Tips for Telecommuters. Successful remote workers have good communication skills, are comfortable working alone, have solid technical skills, and have the ability and initiative to manage their time and priorities to meet deadlines and achieve goals.
Trust is the key
Ultimately, says Dinnocenzo, it's vital for managers and employees to trust one another, which is more difficult from a distance. "If you don't trust each other, then you can't work well together," she says. To build trust, managers must be responsive to employees—don't ignore e-mails or telephone calls. "If you're my boss and you say you're going to talk with me but then don't follow through, that erodes trust," Dinnocenzo says. "In the virtual world we can't see that perhaps a person is busy, and instead our default position is 'they don't care.'"
Dinnocenzo also suggests managers of remote workers copy an in-office practice: Celebrate success. Companies that meet goals or break sales records will have a party Friday afternoon. Do the same virtually, she says, using videoconferencing or other tools. It's not the same as being in the same room, of course, but the act of bringing people together to mark an achievement goes far toward making people feel like they belong.
Douglas Gantenbein writes often on technology for Microsoft. A journalist for more than 20 years, his work has appeared in Business 2.0, Scientific American, Popular Science, and other magazines.
