1. Leading Telecommuters in the IT World
Emily Sams, 2013
Want to create a stir about leadership in the 21st century? Take away the coveted telecommuting
benefit from your organization.
Yahoo’s recently appointed CEO, Marissa Mayer’s decision to require employees to physically
“show up” at an office has generated a lot of debate around leadership in the modern era. The
extensive research I recently conducted as a master’s candidate at St. Catherine University is
extremely relevant as many argue over the advantages and disadvantages of telecommuting.
As an IT professional earning a degree in Organizational Leadership, I examined successful
organizations that openly allow telecommuting to identifyeffective leadership practices that
make virtual work, work.
As a mother of two small children trying to keep it all together, I will admit I had a bias toward
telecommuting. Eliminating my commute would give me back two very stressful and
unproductive hours of each work day.
While Mayer’s reasoning for eliminating the popular work from home benefit at Yahoo, it’s
important to keep in mind from an organizational leadership perspective that not all companies’
goals focused on trying to compete with Google for innovation. Some organizations want to
simply remain afloat during tough economic times; others are trying to recreate their brand to
keep up with the fast changing market place.
Regardless of organization goals, my research shows that leaders in the information technology
field are focused on retaining talented employees.
According to a recent dice.com survey (website for placing IT Professionals,) talent retention is
the name of the game for leaders in IT. In order to meet the goal of retaining talented
professionals, telecommuting not only keeps people happy, but saves the company money. “On
average,one seat at the office is saved per three telecommuters.” (Erlanger, 2011)
Because many organizations do not formally permit telecommuting it can be difficult to measure
the impact to organizational goals, such as profitability and productivity.
Luckily industry leader Cisco Systems not only has a formal telecommute policy but also studies
the impact to the bottom line, productivity and employee retention.
2. According their website, Cisco saves nearly $200 million annual as a result of their telecommute
policy. In addition to a fiscal advantage, Cisco also reports improved productivity, stating that 60
percent of the time saved by telecommuting is spent working and 40 percent is spent on personal
time.
Whether you are in favor or telecommuting or believe should be done in an office, the results of
my research are beneficial to those leading virtual teams.
1) Consider each telecommuter as an individual. Traditional management approaches are
not effective in a virtual environment. Each telecommuter brings their own set of skills
and knowledge. Some may be familiar with the organization’s culture and working
remotely will be a seamless transition. Some may be new to the organization and need on
boarding and exposure to the corporate culture in order to be successful in their role.
Another consideration for leaders in a virtual environment is cultural awareness. Work is
being performed globally andit can be difficult to pick up on nonverbal cues when a
majority of communication is being done via instant message or web meetings. Be aware
of cultural differences.
Does saying “yes” on a conference call mean the employee is agreeing to perform the
work or simply showing respect? Be aware and sensitive of cultural differences on a
virtual team.
2) Measure results and manage deliverables. Micromanaging is ineffective in most
situations and is even more so with information technology professionals. These are
intelligent, technically skilled people who thrive on the intellectual stimulation they
receive from their jobs. They are self-motivated and have an opinion on how their work
should be done. They are the experts. Treat them that way! Ask for their feedback on
project plans and deadlines. Incorporate them into planning schedules whenever possible.
Effective leaders in a virtual environments focus on communicating what needs to be
done, and then supporting the team meet deliverables.
3) Be Flexible and Accessible. Many tools exist today to enable leaders to support their
team no matter what the geographical boundaries. Smart phones, instant messaging,
email, and desktop sharing are a few examples of technology virtual leaders should be
using to keep in touch with team members.
3. Because a lot of IT “work” happens outside of traditional 9-5 business hours, its
important telecommuters are able to get in touch with their leader if things do not go as
planned, which is often the case with information technology.
4) Share the Vision. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Mahatma Gandhi, Abraham Lincoln, and
more recently Steve Jobs, were effective leaders because they were able to paint a clear
picture of what they wanted for the future.
Communicating the CIO’s strategic plan, sharing organizational goals and pointing out
how the telecommuter’s individual contributions align with a bigger picture will help
them to stay focused and engaged.
All of the leaders I spoke with favored over communication versus assuming the
telecommuter received a message.
In conclusion, leaders in the information technology field face many challenges.
Telecommuting solves a few of the major issues. By allowing employees to telecommute,
the organization can expand the geographic area from which recruiting can be done. They
can also take advantage of a low cost, proven way to retain talent.
Whether it is working from homea few days a week or a full time telecommute
arrangement, it’s critical we move our organizations forward to become more effective in
leading a virtual workforce.
