THE CONFERENCE ON SUCCESSFULLY MANAGING REMOTE WORKERS

In this conference you'll learn...

Even managers who have already launched their telework teams often wonder if they´ve done what´s necessary—what their employees and company really need—to make the arrangement a success. In this session you´ll gain a detailed understanding of exactly what telework is and what makes it work. You´ll know the principles and be able to set a strong foundation for your own program.
You´ve already developed a successful management style, but it´s based almost entirely on interacting and working with employees face to face. Your leadership challenges multiply exponentially once you have to rely on everything from implicit trust to technology to fill in the space between you and off-site workers. This session will help you weave what already works for you as a supervisor with new and different demands as a long-distance facilitator.
Your off-site program is underway and working, but what kind of output are you getting? As a manager you have to know the answer ... for each participating employee, the team and the overall teleworking concept. This session shows you how to measure what´s actually been accomplished and where you should be going next.
Out of sight can´t be out of mind when it comes to ensuring employee safety, compliance with local and national governments and tax and accounting issues. Responsibility, when it comes to home and other remote offices, can be a murky subject. This session explores the complexities involved and will leave you with clear answers about just what you need to have covered.
The best managers are the best coaches. But when it comes to teleworkers, you´ll have to become even more in tune with what your employees need and react sooner when performance problems begin to occur. This session will show you how to become proactive in your coaching efforts, so your worker, your team and your company all become beneficiaries.
The phrase "location, location, location" applies to more than real estate. It´s also relevant to remote team managers who need to consider and evaluate the best options for where work gets accomplished. This session provides an overview of off-site workplace options and the basic technology required to send work to them.
Technology enables telework to happen, but it´s only a benefit if the hardware and software closely match the needs of your workers. How you choose to manage and communicate with those off-site employees also plays a significant role in your connectivity considerations. This session explores the basic infrastructure options, along with some of the latest innovations to become available.
Company secrets, proprietary information and sensitive data all take on additional significance when you consider their floating around the country on their way to and from remote workers´ offices. How does your company broadcast what´s necessary to get the job done without putting company security at risk? This session examines what you should be concerned about and how to safeguard your critical information.
You want the focus to be on the work and remote workers to apply their expertise to the company´s best advantage. Unfortunately, the same technology that makes telework possible can bring productivity to a screeching halt if there´s a glitch in the system. Here´s an in-depth look at how to provide the technological support to keep things flowing.
Those who work outside the office, and those who manage them, have distinctly different needs from headquarters-based employees and supervisors. All successful telework programs recognize these differences and address them through early and ongoing training. This session highlights what´s needed and how to provide it for your team.
You´ve been developing a vision for what your company wants from its teleworkers, and, as a manager, you´ve solidified your own expectations. But for effective communication, you need to understand how your remote employees see the arrangement and themselves as its practitioners. This session will enhance your view and understanding of your team members ... and lead to better interaction.
A manager has to use every tool at his or her disposal to keep off-site employees informed, prepared and feeling like a vital part of the organization. You´ll need to encourage these workers to make use of the same means to pull in the news, views and vision on their own. This session will help you understand information flow and how to use it to your mutual advantage.
Communication is a management skill and talent that´s tested every time you come in contact with an employee. When that worker is not present for face-to-face encounters, your communication challenges multiply dramatically. This session will help you hone your remote communication techniques and guide you toward more productive written and verbal exchanges.
Even your most off-site and out-of-sight teleworkers will come into the office for regular meetings, but you´ll still face considerable challenges in building and maintaining your long-distance relationships. Those close connections, though, will come with time and proper attention to both their and your needs. This session further explores how to encourage ongoing communication and make the most of all the channels you have available.
While endless boring meetings are surely one of the things your telecommuters will miss least about the office, the need and usefulness of meetings can´t be overlooked. The difference will be in how your remote team connects and in how you make the most of these collaborative sessions. This session will explore exactly what it takes to pull your teleworkers together and how to make the remote rendezvous productive and profitable for all involved.
¥ Teleconferencing do´s and don´ts
¥ Using Web conferencing and whiteboard technology
¥ Videoconferencing: What it takes to make it a reality
¥ 4 tips for more effectively managing teleconferences
¥ How to modify your in-person meeting style to the virtual meeting format