Think
about how you track your team’s performance in the office: if everyone’s hard
at work at their desks from nine to five, and you can see (almost feel) that
everything’s getting done, then that’s a success, right?
If
you’ve already started working from home in the last couple of weeks, I’m sure
it’s become clear that keeping track of your team like that is impossible when
working remotely. The issue is that most managers are unconsciously accustomed
to tracking their teams’ inputs. That
is, so long as they can see time and effort being put into the job, meetings
are happening and people are staying behind to finish up things, then they’re
not too concerned with what comes out the other end.
That
might feel a little shocking, but ask yourself, when was the last time you
really checked that the work you and your team were doing was really the
greatest contribution you could make?
In
the world of remote working, most of the
methods you had of tracking inputs have gone. As a manager, you’re isolated
from your staff and can’t tell if they’re really at their desks during regular
office hours, or if they’re off having a nap, or catching up on Netflix.
Here’s
what you need to realise: that doesn’t matter!
It’s
time to reassess your measures of success, so you focus on the quality of what
is being achieved (the outputs), not the way the work is done (the inputs). That
way you won’t find yourself doubting your team unnecessarily. Either the work
is being done, or it isn’t. There are some roles that still require specific
tasks in a certain order. However these days most things can be achieved in a
multitude of different ways, and your way, even if it is the best for you, may
not be the best for everyone else (especially now that most of are working in unfamiliar
ways and places)
Instead
of hounding your employees several times a day to make sure everyone’s at their
computer, take stock of the work that’s being produced. Is everything being
completed on schedule, and to the same quality as you’d expect in the office
(or near enough, as people need time to adapt to remote working)? Are your
clients or key stakeholders happy with how everything is being handled? Are
they getting what they need, when they need it?
If
yes, then your team is still working well, despite being at home. They don’t
always need to be at their desks at the same times as they would in the office,
because we all adapt to remote work in different ways, best suited to our own
personal situations. What matters is that their performance hasn’t dipped. The
more control they feel about how they can organise their time, and make it work
with the other pressures in their life, the more focused, engaged and resilient
they will be.
When
you find yourself saying no to these questions, that’s when you go back and
look at the inputs. Make sure that there is a clear understanding of what is
expected, and that they have the belief that this is still possible now that
their working conditions have changed. You
may need to spend some time rebuilding clarity and belief, as the current
situation and changes in how we work can easily create wobbles. I
It is worth remembering though,
that in the short term at least, it is likely that the change to remote working
might be the only factor causing the dip, which can only be
resolved through support (probably a mix of psychological, managerial and technological!)
and allowing employees the time to adjust.
The
key to tracking performance remotely is to redefine what ‘success’ means to you
and your team. Previously, unconsciously, you might have related it to inputs
and how long your people spend on tasks. Be wary of this, as it can lead to
(very ineffectual) presenteeism, where the only focus for your team is putting
enough face time in with you to appear busy.
Define
success in terms of output-driven KPIs,
that connect the work your team do with your team’s
purpose. The purpose of a team or business unit is not measured in numbers of
meetings,
reports delivered on time, or how many
calls made; these are just inputs designed to help you hit your goal.
By
defining measures around what you want to achieve and not how you think it
needs to be done, you can allow the team to find their own way. So, no matter
when, where, or how your team chooses to work, you can be confident that
they’ll perform as well outside the office as in it.
