Better Manage Your Remote Employees

If you manage a firm that hires off site employees, you’ve probably spent some time wondering what you can do to make sure that your offsite employees maintain an adequate level of productivity and success, and that their work ethics don’t falter. As an offsite employee manager, you must communicate clearly what expectations you require of your remote workers, not only with this include key milestones, but deadlines and time management as well.  According to some leading professionals in this area, “The milestones should be firm and short term to ensure that work is acceptable, timely and coordinated with on-site employees. Feedback on progress should be specific, measurable, timely and action-oriented. Above all, your remote workers should feel that they can easily seek out a supervisor for advice, counsel and input.” 

One of the best ways to ensure that your offsite employees maintain a certain level of professionalism is to require them to keep track of the time they spend on the job. Unfortunately, this process can be a bit of pain for off-site managers. A company called Chronotek has developed a great phone in time management program. If you’re struggling to keep track of your off-site employees, phone in time sheets may be just the ticket. Basically, your employees will dial a number when they arrive to work and dial again when they leave, thus allowing you complete access to an accurate and computerized database of your employee’s time management records. What could be easier?

Let’s continue on and look at some of the other ways off-site managers can improve productivity and accountability in their remote employees. 

To further ensure accountability, managers must make sure that goals are clearly stated and put into writing. This will guarantee agreement among all people involved.  One well known statement comes to mind: “If you don’t know where you’re going, you’ll probably end up somewhere else.”

If you start off on the wrong foot, chances are you’ll end up in a disastrous circumstance. Being an off-site manager means being tough, goal driven, but also fair and organized. Consider phone in time cards in order to improve accountability and organization in your off site and remote employees. We can guarantee that you’ll be impressed by the ease of use and the accountability provided by the process.