In the world of telecommuting, employees operate more like independent contractors who have access to the same facts and information that their superiors do. In an attempt to take advantage of the increased productivity and commitment that can follow, more organizations are turning to employee involvement as a basic part of a telecommuting program.
The world of telecommuting almost resembles an episode from Star Trek. In every episode, Captain Kirk loses control of his ship and then gets it back on course by the end of the episode, a goal we all identify with. Traditionally, authority was vested top-down, and a manager’s practical power derived from the control over resources, the proprietary information one possessed and the sanctions one could impose.
Employee InvolvementTypically, employee involvement means that a team of employees replaces some of the boss’s authority by controlling matters from scheduling to deciding how to get the job done. Attention needs to be focused on designing jobs to take advantage of important job characteristics that are likely to be positively received by employees.
In this type of environment, “just do it” does not carry much weight. Managers must be trained to facilitate the employees’ authority and find substitutes that help make direct supervision unnecessary. For example, highly professional subordinates who know how to do their tasks do not need a leader who initiates structure for them and tells them what to do. A foundation of trust must be created early on in the relationship between the worker and manager. Once established, the manager can stop supervising and start leading.
Under traditional forms of organizing, where control is everything, endless meetings, detailed reports, and a thirst for more data become tools for minimizing surprises. There is an equally strong tendency for managers to try and bring all the resources important to success within their direct control. Business unit boundaries are defined to minimize resources interdependencies across business units.
In the telecommuting environment, the boundaries of control are blurred and less precise.
Managers need to manage by objectives and results rather than monitoring. Management by objectives enables employees to see the company’s overall direction and to better understand how they fit into that direction. Managers of leading companies feel that defining the job expectations is the first thing to do.
ConclusionSuccess or failure to achieve objectives can become part of the performance appraisal system and the designation of salary increases and other rewards. When it comes to evaluating off-site employees’ work, two primary criteria should be quality of work and completion of projects. Since a major fear of telecommuters is being passed over for promotion and advancement, ensuring a fair system for them will only assist the program.
Other articles in this series:Telecommuting
Information Technology and Telecommuting
Value and Telecommuting
This article has been extracted and modified from Chrispin, B.R. & Fisher, D.M. (1997). Managing telecommuters: An out-of-bounds experience. "Proceedings of the 26th Annual Meeting of the Western Decision Sciences Institute, Hawaii, USA. March 25-29, 1997."