Managing from home

[creighton0123]

In a few short months, my husband and I will be moving to another state for his job. Currently, I am planning on keeping my job and working from home (a change already approved by my CEO and manager).

 

At the time, I will shift from managing four employees in an office + 4 other remote employees) to manage all of my employees remotely.

 

Wondering if anyone else has this experience and what tools and methods you personally used to be successful, while maintaining the same level of performance you currently have.

 

If it helps, I am a manager in software operations and support.

[GunslingerRoland]

Most employees perform better in a home environment as far as individual tasks go. Especially in information technology and other professional fields, work should always be judged by output, not input (i.e.. Time seen at a desk)

 

The biggest thing is when team work is required, or even when it isn't, keeping a fully engaged team, as that connection to others plays such a big part of long term satisfaction in a place of work.

 

Online conference meetings can be helpful, hopefully everyone has headset and camera. If everyone is in the same general area planning regular get together, such as lunch once a month is good, but if you aren't even in the same state, that is obviously not an option. I can't say I've ever supervised or been supervised directly by someone out of the City.... I think it would be difficult for me long term.

[introverted1]

I work from home (in IT) and manage others. My team is geographically scattered, so everyone is remote to at least a few others. We rely on Skype for business, GoToMeeting/WebEx, email, and phone calls. It's a culture shift, but now it is second nature.

 

Will your team all be in one location with you as the odd one out, or is the team also remote? Are you managing exempt or non-exempt staff? At what level of experience?

[Arabella]

I'm an IT manager with a local team and one remote person. My own manager is remote.

 

Personally, I have a great relationship with my manager and we communicate via phone and IM all the time. No issues.

 

As for my team... I don't think I would be able to manage them if I were remote. I am new to the position, and there are a large number of interpersonal issues that still need to be addressed. If I wasn't in the office every day, things would go south fast. My one remote employee has been remote for years before they hired me, and she values her job too much to cause problems.

 

So, I think it can work but ultimately depends on how good your relationship is with your employees, and how long you have been with them. If they respect you and you generally have a mature team, it will probably be just fine.

 

-A