Remote employee management across 4 states.

[DPayne]

It's been a while since i've logged onto this forum, i've been busy setting up a publishing company from scratch. Well we have had a tremendous year and now are operating in 4 states.

I've got a team of about 30 people I'm going to be managing starting this month (all remotely). I've got the help of my partner and right now we're running a combo of bi-weekly conference calls and gotomeeting type setup. Of course they can always call our office and email us for any questions/needs.

I want people with experience in managing a remote sales force to respond to this post only, I don't need barnes and noble book theory.

We've got team leaders on the ground in each area, and they will be our go-to person for the entire team.

Is there any tips from remote employee management veterans that you can give me? I know this is going to be a step out of my comfort zone for a few weeks, but shortly after that i'll be comfortable with it (which means time to grow more!).

Any tips on how to pull this off will be appreciated.

[irshad9]

Hi everybody,
I am new to this site.I hope this site will help me to understand quickly.
I would like to say "hi" to all members,Welcome to the forum.

[DPayne]

Hi everybody,
I am new to this site.I hope this site will help me to understand quickly.
I would like to say "hi" to all members,Welcome to the forum.

Wrong section chief

[BrendaLR]

Wow! No replies?

Well, I've worked for and have owned companies where people worked remotely. I'm assuming you mean in a telecommuting capacity or something similar. Here are some successful actions that I've used or have seen used.

1. Use statistics and quotas.
If you can find a way to put a quantity on production, you can have your people turn in daily or weekly reports that display their statistics. Example for sales: Number of contacts made, number of pitches, number of closes, dollar value of sales, etc. You could easily use these statistics to debug inadequate production or fortify and increase things that work.

Put a daily, weekly, monthly quota on each of those statistics and you can very fairly communicate your expectations to your people. It's important to quota those activities that lead up to the end production, which helps you to work as a team with your people rather than coming across as a "slave master," so to speak. What I mean is, if you only pound on Dollars, but don't coach people in a REAL manner on what it takes to get the dollars, you could end up creating a rift between your team and management. I hope that makes sense. The quotas should also be realistic, but it should also be a challenge. That instills growth and reach into your staff.

2. Have an open line for communication somehow. If people are working remotely, there is a tendency for them to feel isolated. This can lead to many undesirable results. Having a support line where staff are free to communicate, get help, feel like a team is very beneficial.

3. If you're working with sales people, more than likely you're paying on commission, which is good. But for anyone else reading this, finding a way to set up your pay system is key. Paying by the hour isn't that great. Paying with a low base and bonuses based on production (statistics above) is better. Whatever you do, reports are essential.

4. Periodic team meetings (if appropriate) are very helpful. This is that isolation thing. It really helps the crew to get together once in awhile to meet and greet and talk shop. Sharing ideas, successes, and tips really helps. Most people want to do a good job and these meetings, if made into a positive experience, really help with morale. These days there are video conference services you can use so meetings can be held frequently without people even leaving their location. Technology is amazing.

5. Wait! One other thing: Contests and production games are great for creating team morale. Each team leader can report standings to their individual teams and create a spirit of fun competition. Some people think it's silly, but it helps to keep things light, yet focused and can really increase production.

Anyway, I hope this helped!

[Lucas_gm]

Having worked in this way, I would like to add to the above: special attention in selection of profiles. For these cases would be advisable to find staff with hight capacity for self-motivation and proactivity.

Greeting
Lucas.-