Remote work is a passion of mine. Since 2007 I’ve worked remotely in multiple jobs and in multiple capacities. Yikes — that’s 7 years of self-discipline, Skype calls, and lunchtime showers.
While I do not have any direct reports, I’m a Senior Project Manager, which means for every one of my 33 projects, I manage a copy writer, designer, data manager, implementation specialist, and client team — none of whom are in the same state as I am, let alone down the hall.
I’m always looking for ways to improve team work, manage better, and communicate clearly. All of these skills need to be at a different level when there’s no face-to-face, but some of them can translate to an office environment.
Jana Rhyu wrote a blog post on LoopUp that hits several familiar points on managing remotely that I’d like to share with you.
1. Hire the right people
Jana gives some tips on what “the right people” are. You can probably guess “autonomous self-starters” lead the list of good remote employees, but did you know that introverts are some of the best remote employees? Extroverts tend to shrivel without that face-to-face and introverts shine.
Our method of hiring the right people includes a company favorite interview, affectionately called the “Why You Don’t Want to Work Here” call. People think that working from home will be a cakewalk, until they get on this call with a random five people from across the various departments of Fire Engine RED. We tell them things like “your home will be your workplace, so some days you might hate your house,” “your friends will not understand/believe you’re working when they have a day off and try to swing by,” “your spouse will try to ask you to do errands because you don’t have a commute,” “you’ll check your email before you eat breakfast and later realize you’re starving and it’s suddenly 2pm,” and “your boss will still give you work because s/he can’t see your full plate.” It’s a relatively fun call, but a sobering one at the same time.
What would you have on your WYDWTWH call?
2. Get the right tools
Tools for telecommuters are tools for everyone. If you don’t have an IM program in your office, you might consider bringing one in. Shoot a message to a colleague when she’s on the phone and get a response, or ping someone on another floor to see if they got your file.
Google Docs is something I can’t live without. Even in an office it just makes sense to have certain documents shared and thus have the newest version accessible (and editable) on the go.
The list in the article is longer and I definitely use every one and a few more. Ask any MP team member of mine who had a long commute spared for a group project.
3. Communicate regularly
The curse of telecommuting isn’t a lack of communication, but rather an over abundance of communication. Christine Shealy wrote about The Communication Loop and I can tell you that with all your team members able to reach you on your IM, your cell, your home phone, your email, Skype, and by text, that loop gets closed! You can be on a client call but you’ll still be expected to respond to an urgent message about another client.
I’m not sure I’d recommend all the regular meetings in the blog post (what’s the point of a bi-weekly call if you already have a weekly meeting?) but regular meetings to go over progress, outstanding items, and potential problems is a must.
Meeting just to meet, however, is a pet peeve of mine. In very busy seasons with dozens of projects going at once, I understand meeting every other day to keep each ball in the air. Still, it’s great practice to cut unnecessary meetings to once a week so as to not negatively impact productivity.
4. Set the tone
“Be willing to get and give feedback” is the most important on this list, followed closely by “be direct”. I’ll let you read through these points and comment below on what’s most important in a remote or office environment.
Link to the original blog post: http://loopup.com/blog/communicating-effectively/managing-remote-teams-top-4-tips/
Matt – This is a great article. I too have spent my entire career working from home as well (I am still waiting for the day where us “work from homers” stop getting dressed up to come to class). Recently, I have begun attempting to transition into an office environment 2-3 days per month, so that when I do have to sit behind a real desk one day, it won’t be such a culture shock.
I agree with all of your points except for one portion of point number one; the point that extroverted employees don’t function as well in remote environments. For 3 out of the past 7 years, I have managed direct reports remotely. My teams have ranged from 2-14 people and spanning the entire country. While this has been a rewarding experience, it has also been the single most challenging aspect of my job. Managing entry level people remotely proved much more difficult than managing mid-senior level folks, but one thing I did notice is that the types of problems that I faced remained consistent regardless of the level.
My biggest challenge in managing a remote salesforce is understanding what their daily activities are and to your point, knowing when their “plate is full.” I can see when they are online, and I can see what they copy me on, but outside of that, I must rely on a monthly sales report (which is not an accurate representation due to yearlong sales cycles), and antidotal information directly from the employee. Neither of which accurately paints a picture of their schedule or workload.
To overcome the challenge that comes with distance was not easy. I had to go against everything that my upbringing and my gut has ever taught me. I had to learn how to trust. I was forced to trust my hiring decisions as well as trust my employees, who are now agents of the company. This may be easy for some, but for me, this was a skill that took years to implement properly.
Now, finally, to the point that I personally feel is not accurate in my field. I have learned, through trial and error that introverts don’t function as well in a remote environment. Again, I am speaking specifically to sales and marketing functions. That said, introverts tend to be less direct, less aggressive and less willing to ask for help when they need it (I know I am going to get slammed for this gross generalization, but I did need to make it as it is my experience). Those three traits make it difficult for that employee to get noticed in a large organization. An employee that is not getting noticed is not as promotable. This makes managing them even more challenging as career development is an important part of management.
Introverts also tend to be more difficult to manage, as there is no upward management from them to provide closed loop of feedback to me, when I am sitting 3000 miles away. Though this is not necessarily the employees responsibility, the ability to be open and direct with a supervisor makes for a more productive and happier work environment. So to me, this is very close to a must have skill.
So, to sum up this counterpoint, I am able to say that maybe the personality type needed for a remote employee depends on their job function. I know that for my management style, when in a remote situation, I am looking for the extroverts. No offense to introverts, you guys rock too.
Steve, I hear you. Maybe it is sales positions, but our company is mostly introverts (according to Meyers Briggs) and has been that way for years. I, like you I’m sure, am NOT an introvert. I’ve read other articles that speak to the telecommute/introvert type which I’ll find to share, but yes, I’m probably over generalizing.
Matt – In defense of introverts, and keeping with my theme of TED talks, this is a great talk entitled “The Power of Introverts.”
She does touch on all of the points that you and I discussed above. It is definitely worth a watch.
http://www.ted.com/talks/susan_cain_the_power_of_introverts
Matt and Steve,
Interesting posts, thanks for the back and forth. I agree with most of the article and Matt’s original points about how to keep in touch and stay connected while working remotely.
My question for you guys is: do you see with your colleagues or direct reports that they’re able to ramp faster or take on more responsibility any quicker since you’re remote? I think this can go either way, but I’ve found that many times when I’m away from the office (and not as easily accessible), my direct report seems to figure things out on his own as opposed to asking me for guidance. I think working remote can give people the freedom and leash to make their own decisions (and in effect ramp faster, create more value, etc), for better or worse. What have you seen?