There’s a real passion around working from home these days. Surveys report 80% of employees want to work from home at least some of the time. Like it or not the work-from-home trend will continue, despite what executives and managers might want or like.

This is because not all managers trust their people to work unsupervised.

They’re used to managing butts-in-seats. The question asked by these suspicious managers is almost always:… “How do I know they are working now?” Despite the doubting Thomas’, workers at home take 10 minutes fewer breaks and often work 6 days a week.  According to Pew Research, 65% of teleworkers who use remote technologies such as video conferencing or instant messaging think online tools are a good substitute for in-person contact.

One of the great fears of employers is the loss of accountability of workers, but the reported productivity increases offset that fear to a great degree. What’s needed are new solutions to a new way of working and bringing people together. This will require the adoption of new management behaviors from improving communications skills to training in empathy.

Nonetheless, the show must go on.

Giving workers access to transparent leadership communication and action are central to the changes that must occur.  This includes management establishing measurable objectives that are being monitored periodically. The Society of Human Resource Managers suggests the following ways to help managers be more effective with remote workers.

  1. Set expectations early and often.
  2. Be organized and flexible
  3. Adapt the length of your meetings
  4. Track your employees’ progress
  5. Emphasize communication
  6. Remember to listen
  7. Build connections and be available to your team
  8. Provide a way to collaborate
  9. Resist the urge to micromanage
  10. Celebrate success

The One Page Business Plan’s cloud-based business planning and results reporting tools aid in most of these 10 areas.  Here’s how….

Based on the vision and mission of the company, objectives and action plans must be not only well developed but executed on a timely basis.  In turn, results must be reported and performance gaps closed.  These activities require collaboration between the company, supervisors, and associates.  Regular reporting of results and progress by employees is essential to moving forward in meeting the mission and achieving the vision.

The One Page Business Plan’s Performance System 1:1 check in feature is just the tool to help leaders keep track of associates’ progress on objectives and action plans and helps associates stay on course.  The plans become transformational as associates and supervisor discuss hard facts in an organized manner.  Employees can use the preloaded templates to effectively write objectives and action plans and then report them graphically in an organized and easy to understand manner. Both the supervisor and associate can see on a computer screen the status of progress of the employee on the various objectives and action plans for which the employee is accountable.  Viewing results and discussion of them either via video conference or over the phone creates a meaningful and targeted dialogue between the two parties.  If the associate is ahead of plan, the supervisor can praise the work.  If the associate is behind plan, then the two can troubleshoot bottlenecks to get progress on track.

For the supervisor, a view of each plan owner’s plan and results are dynamically visible across their organizational chart.  Therefore, the two parties are literally on the same page as the discussion occurs.  And the system will keep track of any changes or comments written by the employee and manager right in the system.

In a sea change moment such as the one precipitated by the pandemic, the One Page Business Plan Planning and Performance System is the perfect tool to help keep associates on task and the supervisor informed of progress… all online. Allowing both employees and managers to maintain control and accountability!