Working Virtually

Transforming the Mobile Workplace

Trina Hoefling

• Publisher: Stylus Publishing
• Year: 2017
• eBook ISBN: 9781620362945
• Edition: 2
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Human Resource Management

Remote working is the new reality, and transactional work – provided by freelancers, contract employees or consultants – has increased exponentially. It is forecast that as much as half the labor force will be working independently and virtually by 2020.Most organizations are still grappling with how to effectively manage their virtual staff and how to effectively support and motivate them – an increasingly urgent task as more Millennials join the workforce, bringing changed attitudes to work satisfaction. This book, the fruit of the author's three decades of experience planning and implementing remote working environments, provides expert guidance for anyone planning a shift to remote working, managing teams of teleworkers, or themselves working in a virtual team. Working Virtually is for the executive leading changes in an enterprise that is preparing for virtual work or seeking to improve current performance. It offers tools to assess readiness, advice on creating appropriate reward policies, and strategies to adapt performance management processes to be more team-driven and technology leveraged. Working Virtually is written to and for the virtual leader who wants to establish high performing virtual teams. It provides an understanding of the roles and responsibilities of managing a virtual team, offering a wealth of advice on creating the conditions for collaboration, motivating team members, and identifying and defusing problems. Working Virtually is for the professional who works remotely from home, on the road, or in an office with remote colleagues. It is for anyone who wants to succeed in this new work environment by developing skills and networks to create a sustained and satisfying career path.With this new edition providing a 360° view of the roles and objectives of all stakeholders in the virtual workspace, this book uniquely provides readers with a rounded picture of the policies, processes, work habits, and commitments needed to achieve the shared goal of high performance remote teams.

PART ONE

VIRTUALLY MOBILE, ORGANIZATIONALLY ATTACHED

“We are all virtual leaders, whether we have the title or not. We are all virtual team members, whether we’re in charge or not. We all work from wherever we are, digitally connected, whether we telecommute or not.”

—Trina Hoefling, Working Virtually: Managing People for
Successful Virtual Teams and Organizations, first edition

I

VITAL MIND-SET SHIFTS IN A MOBILE WORLD

“Learn how to see. Realize that everything connects to everything else.”

—Leonardo da Vinci

“It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is most adaptable to change.”

—Charles Darwin

“The most dangerous place to make a decision today is in the office. I run most of my business from my phone. . . . Everything is connected, collaborative, and mobile.”

—Ulrik Nehammer, CEO, Coca-Cola

How we think defines what we see and how well we lead. Our mindset limits or opens us to adapt. In 1996 Atlanta, Georgia, hosted the Olympics. Coca-Cola brought my company in to prepare for traffic congestion since their offices were located near Olympics events and hotels. We developed a temporary telecommuting work plan. Concurrently, we conducted a Telecommuting Readiness Assessment to see if this could be a pilot program from which Coca-Cola Corporate could implement a fuller virtual work solution.

The Olympics initiative went well, but they were not ready for telecommuting. The infrastructure, job analyses, and capabilities were in place. The culture, however, was not. In the mid-1990s, status and prestige were obvious at Corporate. Office grandeur, tailored suits—image mattered culturally as well as implicitly; it was a reflection of status.

No change plan could quickly change the hearts, minds, and egos of upwardly mobile managers. It was too much to go against a cultural norm that was, quite literally, grounded deeply in that building. Instead of saying no to telecommuting, however, leadership decided, “No, not now.” Culture, especially perks such as large offices, had to change first to break a strong career incentive that was deeply woven into their way of being. Once perks began to decouple from office spaces, mind-sets changed, followed by cultural shifts. As years passed, Coca-Cola changed. It got virtual. CEO Nehammer, quoted at the beginning of this chapter, is a global leader, not in downtown Atlanta. The CEO is a virtual worker.

Visionary Leader or Nineteenth-Century Executive Mind-Set?

The German Post Office held the first management conference in 1882, for CEOs only. The conference was for one purpose: to help CEOs not be afraid of the telephone. Nobody showed up. The invitees were insulted; the idea that they should use telephones was unthinkable—telephones were for secretaries.

The same story applies to executives not long ago about the personal computer. Today, everyone has multiple devices—computer, tablet, smartphone, all backed to the cloud—that simplify our smart lives. Technology is no longer science fiction; we’ve become the Internet of Things. The iPhone broke through in record time, an indication of the pace with which we adapt today. It took 76 years for the telephone to reach half the population. The smartphone did it in less than 10 years.¹ The iPad penetrated even faster. Ninety-six percent of workers use the Internet, e-mail, and mobile devices to work; 81% of employees spend an hour or more on work-related e-mail during the workday.²

Our behavior has shifted individually, and so has the virtually mobile, smart organization. The way Coca-Cola used the Olympics to explore a more virtual workforce is laudatory. It adapted its culture to fit the mobile workplace. Despite its entrenched incentives, Coca-Cola’s leadership saw what needed to happen—shift mind-sets to fit today’s world—and it successfully changed. How much has your mind-set shifted to match a virtually mobile work world?

TABLE 1.1
Mobile Work Mind Shifts

1. “Best Fit” Environment

2. The Network Is the Workplace

3. The Paradox of Meaningful Work and Looser Employment Ties

4. Reward Collaboration Over Individual Expertise

Organizations and leaders who are ready to thrive virtually adapt to create the best fit workplaces that support their people in achieving the organization’s mission. As Table 1.1 shows, best fit considers the virtual and colocated work environment, organization culture, and teams structured in ways that fit the work being done.

Mind Shift #1: “Best Fit” Environment

In a virtually mobile organization with collaborative capabilities, the work space is decided on “best fit” environments. Offices and team spaces are resources, not status symbols. People don’t think of a designated work space (except their computers and devices), and work is an ongoing event based on responsibilities, not a physical place. Organizations are learning to do the following:

•Transform a virtual workforce into a functioning virtual organization with viable teams who find meaning and satisfaction from the work and colleagues—across time and distance—while producing results.

•Design business operations and work spaces to be more collaborative and responsive to what workers need.

It may seem counterintuitive that groups can link more cohesively across time and space than happens typically in person, but it is counterintuitive only if you believe face-to-face interaction is essential to develop team trust. Face time can quicken relationship development, but it is not essential and potentially not even best, depending on the work performed. Many organizations function in a matrix today, meaning that managing multiple relationships is a core competency for everyone, not just managers or executives. Team members belong to multiple teams simultaneously—based on function, project, and customer initiative. Showing up for multiple team meetings by web conference, without leaving one’s workstation, is a significant time-saver. Talent availability and bandwidth are, more than ever, less limited by a physical workplace.

“Best Fit” Organizations

“Best fit” organizations integrate operationally. Enterprise solutions enable people to work together in many ways, such as face-to-face conference rooms (colocated office space) that are web enabled (allowing virtual participation). This means an equal opportunity for integration of a distributed talent pool. Some teams are obviously virtual, fitting their organization structure to accommodate distance, but other teams are less obviously so. In today’s global marketplace, for example, most executive teams are virtual already, made up of leaders based on value, not place. Even if executive offices are colocated, executives usually have little face time, but connect virtually on a frequent basis. Department teams may be wholly colocated, blend office workers with telecommuters, or be completely virtual. When organizations realize how integrated and virtual we already are, redesigning office space and business processes for best fit happens naturally with little curve.

“Best Fit” Teams

How a team structures itself depends on the team’s purpose. One structure does not fit all. Traditionally, employees were members of one “fixed” department and perhaps on committees, maybe stretch assignments. Today, multiple team memberships are common. Organizations are made up of networks of teams, and team members are connectors in those networks.

Agile teams form and reform readily. The proverbial revolving door of rolling entry and exit needs leaders to jump-start team relationships. Seldom does a team begin and end together. You know you’re a twenty-first-century worker when you’ve worked for five organizations in two years without changing desks! Team members are recruited for their expertise and influence, not based on hierarchy. Teams often share leadership and are somewhat self-directed. And most teams are, at least partially, virtual.

The First Path of virtual teams facilitates the fast formation and agility of high-performance teams because it follows the principle of best fit. Members fit a team based on multiple factors, such as expertise, functional (perhaps political) representation, professional fit, or simple availability. Team membership may shift based on project stage or assignment to a customer or value stream. The team may include workers who go to a traditional office, telecommuters, and traveling employees.

Teams are also increasingly made up of members who cross organizational boundaries, including customers, strategic partners, contract specialists, or vendors. Cross-organizational alliances require “fitting” knowledge-sharing infrastructure to be secure while encouraging open sharing and protection of organizational boundaries, such as intellectual property and proprietary processes. Fitting includes facilitating easy cooperation across permeable organization boundaries while managing risk and learning to quickly fit together and be effective fast.

All this serves to increase team and organizational leaders’ need to manage, onboard, and coach differently, enabling people to work where and how best fits them. In the coordination of team activities, the team members develop a way of working together that “fits” them.

Do you think Best Fit?

Mind Shift #2: The Network Is the Workplace

It is no longer necessary to go to a place to perform basic functions— buy, sell, train, collaborate, or recruit. LinkedIn has virtually replaced the long-form resume. Organizations can distribute organization learning fast through knowledge-sharing networks and online learning platforms. Integrated organizations leverage intellectual capital, making it available through the digital network. Virtual work gives organizations the agility to increase speed, expand expertise, and access strategic opportunities to better meet customer demands—with less expense.

Design thinking is evolving as business leaders rethink how to structure the organization into a network of collaborating teams. Virtual work is no longer a last resort to ...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright page
• Table of Contents
• Foreword
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction: The Network Is the New Workplace
• Part One: Virtually Mobile, Organizationally Attached
• Part Two: Will Virtual Work Here?
• Part Three: Essential Virtual Competencies
• Part Four: The Threefold Path of High-Performance Virtual Teams
• Part Five: From Me To We
• Part Six: Expand Emotional Bandwidth
• Index
• Also available from Stylus