Better Management of "Mobile Workers"
20 November 2012
Read by 1490 persons
Remote collaboration is increasingly important and will need to be expanded further with the implementation of the regionalization process. Companies must master the tools to effectively manage their mobile employees and gain competitiveness.
Managing remote employees is not easy. It requires managers to have a certain level of expertise. The challenge is significant: by advocating for wide regional coverage, the company relies more on remote collaboration to achieve good results with a smaller team. To do this, maintaining good relationships with these mobile employees, also called "Mobile Workers," is a "must." Good communication and better treatment (well-being is increasingly becoming an undeniable criterion for retaining good profiles) are essential.
"Mobile Workers," mainly representing a company's sales force (sales representatives, technical sales representatives, medical representatives, etc.), are required to submit daily reports and hold virtual meetings with their superiors. This is where managers must demonstrate their skills. They must convey important messages, while retaining the attention of their interlocutors and, even better, getting them to adhere to the objectives set by the company and strengthening their sense of belonging. Beyond regular meetings, which mainly take place once a month, managers must make their employees understand that they care about them despite the distance, hence the interest in virtual meetings (videoconferences, instant messaging, email, etc.). To do this, the words used must be carefully chosen, as one or more misplaced words can cause demotivation. As a result, the employee becomes vulnerable and, consequently, easy prey for headhunters who are waiting for the best moment to poach good employees.
Beyond communication, these virtual meetings also save the company time and money. Because of technological advancements, employees can raise any problems encountered and receive an immediate answer, reducing decision-making time. In addition, this type of open discussion improves collaboration and enhances exchange. Thus, the development of new technologies further promotes the emergence of good ideas and encourages innovation.
Another factor not to be neglected: these virtual meetings also allow the manager to measure the degree of involvement and responsiveness of mobile employees. Beyond the numbers, these meetings prove to be a valuable source of information for managers. The same applies to telephone conversations; superiors must carefully analyze the conditions under which the exchange took place, hence the importance of not relying solely on emails and being satisfied with written reports sent remotely.
Increased responsiveness, good remote communication, better use of new technologies... are all elements to be exploited to create geographically dispersed but united teams, manage employees without seeing them, and above all, promote active remote collaboration.
Reading
Ramez Cayatte, Dunod
"Managing a Remote Team: 8 Best Practices to Meet New Challenges"
Geographical dispersion of teams, new technologies, cross-functional projects, telecommuting, partnerships... Management is increasingly often done remotely, which implies moving from a logic of presence to a logic of objectives, with new organizational and communication methods. From a relational point of view, managing dispersed employees requires specific skills to recreate connection.
Based on real-life stories, this book offers the essentials of best practices, methods, and tools to successfully manage your remote team:
• understanding your remote employees;
• building and maintaining trust;
• defining the rules of the game by consensus;
• integrating local specificities;
• mastering electronic communication;
• strengthening relationships, both individually and as a group.
Whether you are a beginning manager or newly faced with remote management, this book will show you how to maintain both individual efficiency and overall motivation.
Bertrand Déroulède, ESF Publisher
"Managing Remotely with Confidence"
Remote management is an increasingly common practice today in networked or international companies. This type of management is complex because the remote manager manages a high degree of uncertainty. Misunderstandings are exacerbated by distance; decisions can be "distorted" due to local specificities.
The remote manager is therefore led to answer the following questions: How do you get a virtual team to cooperate? Can the expectations of remote employees be met? How do you develop the skills and talents of employees? How do you control remotely and build relationships based on trust and respect for specific rules of the game? How do you optimize the use of communication and information tools?
Team managers, project managers, business leaders, this practical guide will help you understand the specificities of remote management and successfully manage in an atmosphere of trust.
Nadia Dref.
Lematin.ma
Published November 18, 2012.
Posted online November 20, 2012.
Managing remote employees is not easy. It requires managers to have a certain level of expertise. The challenge is significant: by advocating for wide regional coverage, the company relies more on remote collaboration to achieve good results with a smaller team. To do this, maintaining good relationships with these mobile employees, also called "Mobile Workers," is a "must." Good communication and better treatment (well-being is increasingly becoming an undeniable criterion for retaining good profiles) are essential.
"Mobile Workers," mainly representing a company's sales force (sales representatives, technical sales representatives, medical representatives, etc.), are required to submit daily reports and hold virtual meetings with their superiors. This is where managers must demonstrate their skills. They must convey important messages, while retaining the attention of their interlocutors and, even better, getting them to adhere to the objectives set by the company and strengthening their sense of belonging. Beyond regular meetings, which mainly take place once a month, managers must make their employees understand that they care about them despite the distance, hence the interest in virtual meetings (videoconferences, instant messaging, email, etc.). To do this, the words used must be carefully chosen, as one or more misplaced words can cause demotivation. As a result, the employee becomes vulnerable and, consequently, easy prey for headhunters who are waiting for the best moment to poach good employees.
Beyond communication, these virtual meetings also save the company time and money. Because of technological advancements, employees can raise any problems encountered and receive an immediate answer, reducing decision-making time. In addition, this type of open discussion improves collaboration and enhances exchange. Thus, the development of new technologies further promotes the emergence of good ideas and encourages innovation.
Another factor not to be neglected: these virtual meetings also allow the manager to measure the degree of involvement and responsiveness of mobile employees. Beyond the numbers, these meetings prove to be a valuable source of information for managers. The same applies to telephone conversations; superiors must carefully analyze the conditions under which the exchange took place, hence the importance of not relying solely on emails and being satisfied with written reports sent remotely.
Increased responsiveness, good remote communication, better use of new technologies... are all elements to be exploited to create geographically dispersed but united teams, manage employees without seeing them, and above all, promote active remote collaboration.
Reading
Ramez Cayatte, Dunod
"Managing a Remote Team: 8 Best Practices to Meet New Challenges"
Geographical dispersion of teams, new technologies, cross-functional projects, telecommuting, partnerships... Management is increasingly often done remotely, which implies moving from a logic of presence to a logic of objectives, with new organizational and communication methods. From a relational point of view, managing dispersed employees requires specific skills to recreate connection.
Based on real-life stories, this book offers the essentials of best practices, methods, and tools to successfully manage your remote team:
• understanding your remote employees;
• building and maintaining trust;
• defining the rules of the game by consensus;
• integrating local specificities;
• mastering electronic communication;
• strengthening relationships, both individually and as a group.
Whether you are a beginning manager or newly faced with remote management, this book will show you how to maintain both individual efficiency and overall motivation.
Bertrand Déroulède, ESF Publisher
"Managing Remotely with Confidence"
Remote management is an increasingly common practice today in networked or international companies. This type of management is complex because the remote manager manages a high degree of uncertainty. Misunderstandings are exacerbated by distance; decisions can be "distorted" due to local specificities.
The remote manager is therefore led to answer the following questions: How do you get a virtual team to cooperate? Can the expectations of remote employees be met? How do you develop the skills and talents of employees? How do you control remotely and build relationships based on trust and respect for specific rules of the game? How do you optimize the use of communication and information tools?
Team managers, project managers, business leaders, this practical guide will help you understand the specificities of remote management and successfully manage in an atmosphere of trust.
Nadia Dref.
Lematin.ma
Published November 18, 2012.
Posted online November 20, 2012.
