For many employees, there's no greater perk than working from home. Workers appreciate the opportunity as well: a University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign study found that remote workers often go above and beyond what's expected of them, and are "good citizens" in an organization — positive, cooperative and friendly to their peers.
As a manager, it's helpful to re-examine your telecommuting philosophy from time to time for a few important reasons. You want to make sure your remote workers can always receive the info they need, feel fully engaged as part of your organization, and stay as productive as possible.
So how do you ensure these goals are met? Let these research-proven tips be your guide:
Make sure an employee works best off-site.
Research from the University of Alabama at Birmingham found that self-disciplined workers with certain distinct abilities deliver the best remote work results. Specifically, you want your telecommuter to be a highly motivated member of your team as a whole, to be good at multitasking, and well-scheduled, so he/she is dedicated to work for a set number of hours without being tempted to take lengthy personal time breaks.
Review your telecommuters' performance periodically; if you notice any lack of consistency, talk to your worker to find out if he/she might be better suited to a more structured routine in the office.
Ensure excellent access.
Double-check that your telecommuters have complete access to all technology and materials they need to perform well. Provide Skype access to every office presentation and meeting, never neglect to send a team email, and provide an in-office point person your telecommuters can contact in case of questions, concerns or IT issues — that's the fastest way for solutions to be coordinated.
Keep things inclusive.
An intriguing study from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee found that telecommuters, as a rule, don't feel disconnected from the companies they work for (and you can do a lot to facilitate this by letting them Skype into every meeting as active participants, of course).
Interestingly, the study found that these workers actually preferred less communication from their organizations, as fewer emails specifically allowed them to concentrate more effectively on their tasks. Definitely check in daily with your telecommuters, but try following this study's lead and doing it over the phone (the study's respondents found phone conversations with their managers to be most effective and helpful).
Be flexible about scheduling.
Researchers from Brigham Young University found that remote workers will achieve a solid 19 more work hours on average per week than their office counterparts if they're allowed to manage their own time on the job.
Allow your staff members to start at 5 a.m. and finish at lunchtime if they choose, or work late into the night if that's what they prefer — it's all relative as long as they're bringing you great results. Your telecommuters will best understand when their concentration is at its sharpest.
Coordinate mutual deadlines.
When you don't have face-to-face interaction with a member of your team, miscommunication can happen without anyone meaning for it to. To eliminate any confusion that may cause work delays, set clear deadlines for all of your remote workers in writing at the start of each week — and commit yourself to delivering everything they need on deadline as well.
Providing this kind of easy clarity will let your remote workers get on with their work promptly. In a nutshell: telecommuting works best when you streamline the process as much as possible and trust your talent to deliver. Help them do their best work, and they will!
