Managing Leadership^®

There are two basic elements to managing when the manager and employee are not co-located. One involves the management techniques employed; the other, the manager’s attitude.

In this situation the manager should focus on managing by objectives. It is best if the manager and employee(s) meet to discuss the nature of the work in general, the degree to which it is interconnected with or dependent on the work of others (whether other work-groups in the company or vendors), the possibilities regarding what can be done, and the support requirements or logistics. They should then set objectives for the job as a whole, followed by logical intermediate objectives. These will be largely job-based, that is, objectives that reflect the job, specifically.

Next they should agree on appropriate points for progress checks to be conducted. These will also be job-based, but will additionally incorporate any issues regarding outside factors that have been identified, such as the need to be ready for a vendor delivery, or to be ready to integrate with a parallel effort by another work-group. These objectives are also intended to ensure that any problems are identified in time to be rectified, if necessary. And, by the way, just because they are being determined jointly at a common meeting, they don’t have to be agreed by consensus – the manager has to have the final say – they should just be explored and surfaced in a joint conversation so that the manager can use the employee(s)’s perspective and expertise to be more sure nothing is being missed and the employee(s) has an understanding of the manager’s needs and concerns that goes beyond specific step-by-step instructions.

Finally, they should establish the best way to determine if the objectives are being met: will the manager come to the site at each of the check-points to personally supervise? Will the onsite employee(s) call/fax documentation demonstrating the state of progress? Bear in mind that today’s technology allows photos to be taken and sent in an SMS phone message or attached to an email. Videos can even be taken.

This brings us to the next point regarding management technique: communications. These should be open and frequent. Assumptions that intent has been properly communicated and understood, and that it will therefor be properly carried out, are so frequently proven wrong even when everyone is co-located that special care should be taken when they are located separately. Any time a manager issues new instructions or specific guidance, the employee(s) should be required to restate it back to the manager in his/her own words to ensure that the communication has been successful. Moreover, the manager should do this as well, when receiving requests or progress updates from the employee(s). (This, of course, is a standard and highly effective, though woefully under-used, communication technique that is helpful in any circumstance, including co-location.)

Communication can be done by reporting data and narrative relation of facts pertaining to the job. But there should be frequent teleconferencing as well, in the absence of site visits by the manager (visits to the manager from the site, by the employee, are not as satisfactory). High-quality desktop and even lap-top computers can be purchased these days for $500-$1000 and essentially free video conferencing capabilities are available through outfits like Skype; there is no reason why managers and off-site employees can’t video teleconference no matter where they are.

That’s all great, but there’s one more hurdle, and it’s the most difficult one: the manager’s attitude. Having determined what objectives, met in what way and according to what schedule, constitute successful progress and job completion, the manager should take the same lesson he or she is giving the employee(s). Do not insert into the mix non-job related issues that cannot be supervised. In particular, a manager cannot successfully manage an off-site job if he or she is worrying about whether or not the employees are fully and productively occupying their time, or are “skating” and “getting away” with something. If the manager has determined that the objectives and schedule constitute a productive and profitable result for the company, then the manager must leave it at that for this job (barring another joint meeting to consider the issue with the employee(s)). If the manager learns things in this regard, such as how much work really can be done in a given time during specific stages of the job, then these should be incorporated into the next off-site management experience. But don’t harass off-site employees with questions and pressures that are not otherwise related to what has been determined to constitue job-success. This will indicated quite clearly to the employees that they are not trusted, and they will act accordingly.

—

Please take a moment to subscribe – we’ll be glad to have you join us!

Technorati Tags: management techniques, managing by objectives, logistics, communications, Communication, teleconferencing, Skype