Is your company planning to transform your team or a part of it to home-based workers? This type of cooperation has lots of advantages. It improves the flexibility of the workforce and reduces costs. Callcentre.co.uk published a few tips on how to deal with managing a homeworking team.
1) Choose the right people
Your people have to know what is expected from them, know the downsides of working at home and be able to control their time. You cannot just convert office workers to homeworkers. Homeworking is not for everybody. The manager of a homeworking team should work from home too, not only the team, so that he can better understand their problems.
2) Think about the processes
Practices used in offices do not work for home-based teams. These practices need to be re-engineered for homeworkers. Think about what face-to-face processes can be virtualised. Do not use the same technology and communication tools that you use in the office. Try to find specific tools which are suitable for your remote team.
3) Change informal communication
It is not enough to change formal communication, you have to do the same with informal communication. For example, think about how you can use Skype, which is often used to communicate at traditional offices. You cannot overlook homeworkers.
4) Make a handbook
Summarize all important information in a handbook in which you describe procedures and rules. Publish it on your Intranet so it is easily accessible and you can make any changes which might be necessary in the future.
Give your homeworkers a printed "if-then" list that will explain what to do if problematic situations arise, such as a power failure. Be sure that every employee has an alternative, such as working from a neighbour, family member or friend.
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