Federal managers adapt to virtual workplace
As the number of federal workers participating in telework programs increases, many managers are finding that out of sight does not mean out of mind.
"It really all comes down to good management," said Stan Kaczmarczyk, director of the General Services Administration's Innovative Workplaces Division. "Manage the results, not the process and not the day-to-day activities of the people. If you manage the results and you have milestones along the way, you don't need to manage people on a daily and hourly basis."
Kaczmarczyk was a panelist last week at an online seminar sponsored by the International Telework Association & Council (ITAC), where members discussed how to have successful telework arrangements and manage the performance of remote workers.
Rep. Frank Wolf, R-Va., pushed through legislation three years ago that required agencies to expand their efforts to create teleworking opportunities for federal employees. Now, according to a Jan. 2003 report by the Office of Personnel Management, 5 percent of the federal workforce participated in teleworking programs during 2002, an increase from 4.2 percent in 2001.
In the OPM study, management resistance, usually the main culprit cited for the lack of federal teleworking, fell from the top of the list of barriers to expanding telework programs in the federal workplace. OPM found that agencies used internal training to gain acceptance from managers. That training was needed to help move beyond what one seminar participant described as "eyeball management," where managers feel if they can see the employee and the employee appears to be working, then that employee has earned his salary.
"A lot of that approach of eyeball management is really the follow up of the legacy of the farm and the factory," the participant said. "We have to break that legacy and rethink our ideas about what management is about."
Managers should demand responsibility from teleworkers, as well as define expectations so there is a clear understanding of what needs to be done. Communication and trust are also key to managing in a virtual environment, as well as a good sense of what technology is needed to support the work employees are expected to do at remote locations. "You don't need to pay for an extra phone line or high speed modem access if it isn't needed," Kaczmarczyk said.
Finally, if managers are still struggling to supervise teleworking employees, they need to leave the office.
"If you are a manager and you can't figure out how to manage people when you can't see them, then the best thing to do is to telework yourself, because now, all of a sudden, you can't see anybody," Kaczmarczyk said.