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Spotting the early signs of failure

First of a two-part series

By Jeff Zbar
Net.Worker, 04/09/01

As a teleworker and manager of a telework program, Debra McKenzie knows a telework program is only as good as its teleworkers. Trouble is, not all teleworkers are destined to succeed.

McKenzie's seen some teleworkers become unfocused and lost, others who overwork until they burn out. Along the way, McKenzie has developed a keen sense for spotting the signs of potential telework failure - before they manifest in failure itself.

"We've been able to keep the numbers down of people who don't work out," says McKenzie, director of Alternate Work Solutions and 13-year veteran teleworker with Lexis-Nexis Publishing in Dayton, Ohio. Some 2,200 of Lexis-Nexis's 8,000 worldwide employees participate in some manner of telework.

Spotting failure in a telework program is essential to ensuring its long-term success. Just as not everyone is cut out to telework, not everyone knows they're not cut out - until they're settled in to the home office.

Warning signs of an impending teleworker implosion might include:

Performance objectives aren't being met. Each teleworker and manager should be in agreement on what the baseline performance output should be on telework days - or at least be able to measure output for a time period that includes telework.
Call volumes to co-workers rise. If a worker starts calling the manager or co-workers more frequently than laid out in the telework agreement, or if call content shifts primarily to nonwork issues, the worker could be suffering isolation. Of course, the worker could be seeking simple peer interaction, which is allowable. "You have to be careful what you're tagging as a warning sign," McKenzie says. If productivity slips or calls are followed up with additional calls to flesh out details that should have been covered originally, that could be a warning sign of unproductive telephone time.
Teleworkers are AWOL. If a manager or co-workers call the teleworker, and they're frequently not around to receive the call, this could be a sign of distractions at work. Outline minimum work hours in the telework agreement, and make certain in-office co-workers know those hours. Teleworkers being AWOL could breed resentment among the troops. Telework is a three-way street: the teleworker, the manager and the co-workers have to respect each other and feel the other is carrying their respective load. If office-based co-workers feel the teleworker is slacking, that could lead to backlash and caustic team chemistry and performance reductions - and even threaten the entire telework program. Worse yet, company morale could plummet and good in-office workers could quit rather than work with peers they feel aren't carrying their load.
Look for signs of burnout. What time are those e-mails coming in from high-performing remote workers? After midnight? Before sunrise? Does the teleworker rarely break for lunch, consistently work through the weekend - even when it's clearly not expected? Are they always accessible, and seem to work early and late? Do they shun the corporate hive and the bonding of peers? Workaholism in the remote workplace can be as detrimental to teleworker success as nonperformance, McKenzie warns. Overwork can lead to burnout, which can strip the team of valuable members.
Know the team. As a manager, know your teleworkers and in-office workers. Know their workstyles, their personalities, and keep a keen eye out for slippage in productivity or morale.

"It takes a manager who can notice something's different about workers' performance or habits," says McKenzie, who manages 50 people on her team. "I need to ask questions to see what's going on."

So you've spotted warning signs of impending failure in the telework program? How can you remedy the situation? Next week, we'll discuss salvation for the slipping teleworker.