It is difficult to classify telecommuting as a trend – it is more than that today. We encounter telecommuting in almost every position we source, even some where you wouldn’t expect to find it. Managers must have the skills to be effective with their team even though they may not seem them face-to-face on a daily basis.
ManageSmarter.com offers up Talking Telecommuting which provides some excellent tool suggestions for a manager faced with a geographically-dispersed sales force. The example company is Cisco which obviously has some powerful tools for keeping remote workers informed. Check out this proprietary tool:
Cisco ensures it’s easy for mobile workers to find and use internal company information. It does this with help from a proprietary tool, Cisco Storybuilder, that automatically stitches together PowerPoint modules to create a complete “story.” Strict operational procedures for content freshness, and requirements for documenting notes mean remote teams can benefit from the latest content in one streamlined location. When Karl, a Cisco sales manager in Singapore, needs to prepare for a meeting, he uses Storybuilder to create a presentation. He reads up on the current talking points for his particular area without needing to chase people down in San Jose.
Wow, what I would give for that capability.
On a much more rudimentary level comes this final point from the article:
Flexibility. Mobility works best when it’s supported by a variety of mediums. Everyone has a phone and a PC, but you have to move beyond e-mail to encompass a corporate instant messaging standard and smart phones. It may seem counterintuitive to provide more forms of communication, and run the risk of employees losing focus, but it turns out employees on average wind up being more productive and responsive.
That is key – offer more forms of communication. We are far from cutting edge in our technology, but simply using instant messaging and smart phones has been a huge benefit to our productivity. This is a low bar to clear and almost every company can offer these capabilities. And should.