“Management By Objectives” Has To Replace “Management By Observation” As More Staff Are Being Transferred Out Of The Office To Work From Home.

Some wise guy said that “Work is something you do, and not something you have to travel to”. Probably correct in the spirit that many individuals drive to work, and as soon as they reach the office, they grab a coffee and read the paper for fifteen minutes. This mythical word “work” has become linked with a place we go to, rather than an action we have to carry out. “Honey I’m off to work.” or “That’s the work calling” are turns of phrase which have seeped into our subconscious over the years. In any case the positions are changing as more and more office staff in Online Jobs are being asked to Work From Home.

With this exodus from the office, managers are now met with no physical staff in the building and therefore no quick way of knowing what their workers are working on(or not working on) as is the case. Internet Business has always been like this, so maybe other market sectors need to review how these web based companies manage their workers. Chances are that they have taken on board “Management by Objectives” to set goals and assess their staff by. It makes sense, as managers cannot see what their workers are doing if they now Work From Home some thirty odd miles away.

This shift to remote working is a massive adjustment for managers as well as staff. The belief that lots of managers will have, is that their workers will be less productive if they have no face to face supervision. Well that may be the case, but in a normal office it is estimated that over an hour a day is squandered by staff chatting at the photocopier or with smoking breaks etc. It is actually up to the manager and the employee to sit down before they exit the office and set out some procedures, some goals and some regular times to assess progress. Whether you see eye to eye with Management by Objectives or not, it does seem a way of ensuring both parties know what requires to be done and by when. How it is accomplished is another matter, and I think some latitude needs to be given to employees who Work From Home. It is a big adjustment for them, notably if their previous Online Jobs were in a sizeable office with lots going on and lots of social interaction.

Unquestionably without some form of suitable appraisal scheme, personnel that work in some form of the Internet Business, may be ignored for promotion, because they are no longer seen back at HQ. That is where first rate MBO’s can be utilized to compare personnel doing comparable work, regardless whether their Online Jobs are in the main city office or far off in a suburban semi-detached house. It is a new mode of working so there will be errors, but optimistically lessons will be learnt. After the preliminary bedding in period, managers could find that remote employees are in reality more productive. One such survey from CompTIA found that two thirds of ventures indicated that productivity had risen.

So although not beyond question, it does seem that productivity might not be as big an issue as managers thought. One thing is for sure managers in any type of Internet Business will have to rely on their staff to do what is called for and it’s up to them to manage them accordingly through “Management by Objectives”.

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