Israel Business Management

The phenomenon of the remote worker or virtual employee is one that cannot be ignored. The high cost of a physical office is a huge expense on a corporate balance sheet. Finding the best talent may fly in the face of hiring locally.

I recently spoke with a CEO, who claimed that his business was successful due to their virtual office structure. It did not allow for people "dropping by" to say hi during the day or "water cooler talk".

On the other hand, I have worked with managers that felt if the employee was not in the office, they could be doing anything. I have a fundamental problem with this as you must trust your employees. If you cannot trust them, there was a problem in your hiring process.

In today's global economy, can you afford to only have people that are working in your facility?

I look at this in two ways:

1. Can you manage the remote worker?

Companies have had managers managing employees that are not seated in their eyesight for years. If you had a sales manager that had local sales teams in multiple countries, they had to be managed remotely. This brought about challenges of communication and collaboration. I believe tha email, cell phones, Microsoft SharePoint (a collaboration system) and more have made this much easier.

A skilled manager still knows how to motivate an employee not in the headquarters. He/she can write emails that require action to be taken and can then analyze that action for results. The manager is a leader that does not require eye contact, but can still instill the feeling that the employee will want to follow him/her into the market.

2. Can the worker work in a remote setting?

First, I do not believe this is for everyone. It requires discipline and scheduling.

The employee must make their own work space in the home, where they cannot be disturbed. I remember running a conference call a number of years ago and hearing a dog barking in the background. My immediate response was how would a customer or partner feel if they had heard the dog barking in the background.

Some people will tell you that you need to get dressed for business each day. Though I am more of the laid back dress mode, I could see how some people can gain from this discipline.

In yesterday's post, we mentioned the use of webcasts within a call center setting. This can be a great tool for those working from home as well. Use the virtual tools to create the illusion of the office, where traditionally someone would meet you.

There is so much more to add to this post, that I will break it into multiple blog entries over the next few weeks. I also believe that if you learn to be a good remote manager, your local management style and skills will improve as well.