Training To Telework - Industry Trend or Event

Home Office Computing, March, 2001 by Jeffery D. Zbar

Managers and employees prep for the rigors of remote work

WHY DOES ANYONE NEED TO TRAIN TO work at home? It's not hard--wake up, fire up the computer, work eight hours, log off for the night, and report frequently to your manager. And what about managing remote workers? A piece of cake--trust them, check in often, and check their work just like you would any other employee.

But a telework day differs from a traditional workday--employees may not know what's expected of them when they work remotely, and managers don't always know how to handle someone who's not physically in the office. That's why successful telework programs invest in training sessions for both manager and employee. But the key to any successful training program should focus on communication strategies between employee and manager, says Lilly Platt, president of Legato Consulting, a Newton, Mass.-based telework consultancy.

Communication remains one of the least-discussed elements in corporate telework education programs, says Platt. The focus usually stays on the physical elements of telework--workspace and information (IT) needs. However, any concerns about workstyle--including hours worked or the need to run personal errands on telework days--should be freely aired during training sessions in order to build trust between managers and employees, says Platt.

Taking Training Seriously Merrill Lynch is one company with a consistent training program for teleworkers and their managers. Before she began teleworking last June, Alexandra Miller, a vice president with Merrill Lynch's Work/Life Strategies team in Somerset, N.J., participated in two hours of teleworker training with seasoned telework administrators, followed by four days in the company's simulated telework environment--a lab that prepares employees for the realities of working from home. That was followed by two additional hours with the telework trainers to discuss what she learned during the exercise.

Supervisors Brace for Changes But Miller wasn't the only one who trained for telework. Her supervisor, Bernadette Fusaro, also a vice president in Merrill Lynch's Work/Life Strategies team, took a refresher course on managing teleworkers. When Fusaro began to telework for Merrill Lynch in the 1980s, she was taught much of the same communications techniques that Miller recently learned. Fusaro believes her 15 years as a teleworker have helped her to empathize with Miller's needs as a relatively new teleworker.

In her refresher training sessions, Fusaro learned how to better manage an employee over distance, and how to address non-teleworking employees' concerns regarding team members' alternative work arrangements. Fusaro refreshed herself in how to measure her teleworkers' performance by objectives and results as opposed to number of hours worked in the office--the way traditional managers measure performance.

Means of Measuring Since Miller and Fusaro are 35 miles apart three out of five days in the week, they've learned to communicate, but also how to deliver on goals and expectations. "Expectations were discussed and negotiated ahead of time," says Fusaro. "It required a conversation, and people forget they need to have that kind of important conversation."

Once each separate training session was completed, Miller and Fusaro jointly participated in a one-hour training session to further discuss what they learned and their expectations of how telework would work for them.

Ways to Connect During training, Miller was urged to get into the habit of providing regular status reports when working outside the office, and hold face-to-face meetings whenever she was in the office. The combination of these two strategies ensures that projects continue to progress as expected while keeping her in front of her manager and peers, Miller says.

When they're both in the office, Fusaro and Miller build bonds with one another and with team members in face-to-face meetings where each member presents a monthly project status report. To help Fusaro and team members keep track of everyone's whereabouts, Miller developed a "Life Calendar" in Microsoft Excel.

Miller knows that Fusaro treats her just like any other non-teleworking employee and keeps her in the loop at all times. Miller has received favorable performance evaluations, a raise, and in January she was promoted to vice president.

Training Tips

Teleworkers need to be trained to:

* Provide regular weekly written status reports

* Hold face-to-face meetings whenever they're in the office

* Respond quickly to messages from coworkers and managers

Managers need to be trained to:

* Set objectives and evaluate results of projects teleworkers take on

* Learn how to trust their teleworking employees

* Keep teleworking employees in the loop with constant communication

The Mobile American

Large companies--1,000 employees or more--struggLe to manage the growing number of mobile staff workers, remote branch offices, and teleworkers. A typical Large U.S. company supports 96 remote locations around the world and 450 telecommuters, according to a new study by Cahners In-Stat Group, a Scottsdale, Ariz.-based high-tech market research firm. By 2004, says Cahners, the average large corporation will need to manage approximately 153 remote branch offices and 660 telecommuters.