When organizations and individuals start having conversations about workshifting, the discussion seems to naturally gravitate toward how to manage a person who isn't sitting around an office all day. It's a reality and unfortunately, this is where the workshifting concept can often get stuck.

A basic tenet of workshifting is being able to manage yourself. That's not to say people who work in offices can't manage themselves, but I've heard from many people over the years that they need an office to visit each day. Because working from home or the local coffee shop can sometimes be a distraction. And having an office away from home keeps them focused.

So I thought it might be interesting to start a discussion on qualities of self-management. Obviously, they apply whether you're in a workshifting arrangement or not. But if you are considering asking for a workshifting arrangement, this might be food for thought. And even if you find these are qualities you need to work on, that doesn't mean you won't be successful in workshifting. It just means you need to reflect a little and perfect your ability to self-manage.

The first quality is knowing yourself. It's about understanding your strengths and weaknesses. Being very honest with who you are. Let's face it - we're not all rock stars at everything.

There are a few ways you can spend time learning about yourself. I always say there are three ways to learn - hearing it, seeing it and doing it.

1. Ask for feedback. Talk with people who have a sense of your working style and ask them for feedback about your strengths and areas for improvement. If you don't have anyone you can ask right now, think about prior performance appraisals you've received and use that feedback.
   
   Once you get feedback, take the time to process and evaluate it. I'd caution people not to immediately dismiss it. You might agree with all of it, parts of it, or none of it. But think it though, make the decision for yourself, and then decide what you will do with the information. Do you need to create an action plan to work on something that was mentioned?
   
   
2. Read books about developing strengths. One terrific book is called, "Now Discover Your Strengths" by Marcus Buckingham. In the book, there is an opportunity to take an assessment that can help you define your personal strengths. Great way to create your own path of self-discovery.
   
   If you have ever taken any assessments in the past, this is a good time to take them out and review them. Consider the results and, like the process above, evaluate what you need to focus on moving forward.
   
   
3. Step out of your comfort zone and do something you haven't done before. For example, if you're apprehensive about public speaking...go out there and volunteer to do a public presentation. Use the evaluations from the sessions to improve. Then do it again.
   

Stepping back to assess and evaluate our personal strengths and weaknesses is a valuable exercise not only for workshifting but anytime. It allows us to keep ourselves focused and positioned to adapt as necessary.

Next up, how self-management and our careers are intertwined.

Photo Credit: Valerie Everett

Much like the shirtless dancing guy in the amusing but compelling video above, workshifting is a physical movement--but instead of flailing your arms, you seamlessly move the location of where you do work. One day, you're meeting your manager online from a coffee shop.  And the next, you're prepping a client presentation while sitting at an airport gate.  This is all possible thanks to the World Wide Web and its wondrous ways of allowing us to use remote technologies.

• www.workshifting.com ;)
• "Work Unchained: Workshifting and the Competitive Edge of the Anywhere Office" [podcast, eBook]
• "Leading Virtual Effectiveness: Four Strategies for Effective Communication in a Distributed Workforce" [eBook]
• "The Top Ten Strategies for Managers of Mobile Workers" [white paper]
• "Presenting the Business Case for Web Commuting" [white paper, podcast]

It's always cool to get questions from readers.  This one asks about jobs that allow workshifting:

"I would like some information on how to begin searching for occupations which allow workshifting.  Is there a well-maintained website listing potential companies/occupations in which workshifting is allowed/encouraged?"

I wish there was a one-stop shop of companies that offer workshifting.  And, if there is...I'm not aware of it.  My initial thought is each organization has their own unique corporate culture.  And jobs, while they may share the same title or some of the same responsibilities, aren't identical.  So even within the workshifting environment, not every workshifting situation would be exactly alike.  

One of the first things to consider when it comes to positions that include workshifting, are the actual responsibilities of the job itself.  Ask yourself are the tasks associated with the position ones you can do from anywhere at any time.  

Also consider what you would need in terms of equipment, workspace, etc.  I've seen people say, "All I need is a laptop."  And when they actually started doing the work, the list got much longer.  Understanding what is required to truly get the job done will make any conversation about workshifting go smoother.

After you know the details of the position, there are several places online where you can begin to look for openings.  Although none of these come with guarantees about workshifting, they are a great start:

Use lists to research organizations that might offer workshifting.  Examples are Fortune's 100 Best Companies, the Great Place to Work Institute and the Society for Human Resource Management's Best Small and Medium Companies to Work for in America, Working Mother 100 Best Companies and Brazen Careerist's Top 50 Gen Y Companies.   Most of the companies made their way on these lists because of their progressive thinking and creative human resources policies.

Find Twitter hashtags that can narrow your search.  Career Rocketeer published a post titled "Top 100+ Job Search Hashtags on Twitter".  Hashtags included on the list are #freelance, #home-employment, and #work-life.  All good places to monitor for potential openings that might be conducive to workshifting.

If you have a specific company, do a direct search of their company profile on LinkedIn to see if they mention anything about encouraging virtual teams, telecommuting, teleworking, etc.
Lastly, keep in mind that a position not workshifting today could be workshifting tomorrow.  Organizations change all the time and if you find a job that you really like, maybe the best approach is to do a great job and figure out a way to sell the company on allowing you to try workshifting.  Write a business case and ask for a trial period to show how it could work. 

If you or your organization are exploring adding workshifting jobs, The Office of Personnel Management and the General Services Administration have established a website, Telework.gov, to provide access to information about telework in the Federal Government.  Even if you weren't looking for a government job, there are resources available for individuals and employers about teleworking.  I found the self-assessment to be particularly interesting.

The most important factor in finding a workshifting occupation is understanding - yourself, the job, the company, the culture and how it can help the business be successful.


Photo Credit: Daniela Vladimirova

Many articles have been written about the personality traits needed to be a successful workshifter. Most stress the importance of finding people who are flexible, adaptable go-getters and disciplined workers. But in my opinion, the traits of those people who manage workshifters are equally important. A strong relationship between managers and workshifters is one of the most important elements in a sustained remote working environment.

I'm lucky because two of the three people who supervise me also work out of their homes and as a result understand the situational factors that influence a workshifting environment. But I know this isn't the case for everyone. As a workshifter, the people who manage you are often the only lifeline you have to the office and sometimes even clients and customers. It can quickly become frustrating if you're stuck with a manager who isn't in tune with your unique needs or tries to control every move you make.

As a result, it's important for organizations to not only focus on the workshifters that are part of the team, but also the managers who oversee them. Identify the people who have a management style that best supports worshifters, and provide them with the freedom they need to successfully manage a remote workforce.

From my perspective, here are some of the traits I've found to be most important in people who manage workshifters:

1. Be an over-communicator. In my opinion, there's no such thing as communicating too much with a workshifter. Workshifters are not around to hear the back and forth about ongoing projects in the office, which is valuable information they're missing out on. Make sure you keep your remote team in the loop. Develop mechanisms that will help them stay informed without having to constantly call their office cohorts to get the information they need.
   
   
2. Be a team builder. Feeling a part of the team is important to the success of workshifters. It increases motivation levels and helps reduce feelings of isolation. Managers who are natural team builders will succeed in acting as a bridge between the culture within the office and the remote team.
    
3. Don't micro-manage. Excessive scrutiny increases stress, fosters insecurity and doesn't empower workshifters to contribute their own ideas. It also gives the impression that that you don't trust them. Managers need to figure out a way to monitor the workshifter without micro-managing them. Build trust. Emphasize deliverables instead of actions.
   
   
4. Be responsive. Appointing your busiest employee to manage a team of workshifters is probably not the best idea. Workshifters who don't hear back from their manager until the end of the day will become frustrated at their inability to move projects forward due to lack of information. Managers need to make a conscious effort to be responsive and make themselves available to their team. 
   
   
5. Be curious. Take time to understand your workshifter's world.  It's easy to build relationships with the people you see every day in the office. For offsite employees this becomes more challenging. Workshifters who believe their managers do not understand their world will feel unsupported and skeptical about their managers' ability to give performance feedback. Managers should go out of their way to get to know workshifters and make them feel more connected. Visit each other's home office. Share family photos. Meet regularly.
   
   
6. Be flexible. Workshifters are a self-motivated, autonomous and dedicated group. This means that managers must look at workshifters as individuals and not as a group entity. Understand each individual's unique needs and motivations and how to respond to them.
   

Do you have any other traits that you would add to this list?

Photo Credit: Round Indigo Rock

In any relationship, trust is a critical part of the foundation. For Workshifters and the companies that employ them, working arrangements must be based on mutual trust to be successful.

Businesses need to trust their telecommuting employees aren't slacking off and are actually working when they say they're working. Workshifters, on the other hand, need to be able to trust that their physical absence from the office doesn't isolate them from the team and negatively impact their chances for growth within the company.

So what builds trust? Here are some tips from a Workshifter's perspective that may help:

For Managers:

• Maintain a sense of teamwork. Feeling as though they're part of the team can often be one of the most challenging aspects from Workshifters. Find ways to create and sustain a sense of camaraderie among your employees. One way to do this is to schedule regular team meetings, by phone, video conference or other methods.
  
  
• Assess the needs of your remote workers to determine the tools they need to succeed. This isn't going to be the same for everyone, so I recommend addressing these needs on an individual basis. If you demonstrate that you're invested in their success it will go a long way in establishing trust.
   
• Share organizational knowledge. Develop tools to keep your Workshifters plugged in. Whether it's Google Docs, a server that's accessible via a VPN client or other applications, remote workers need to be able to access organizational knowledge anytime and anywhere to be successful.
   
• Finally, be accessible to your remote team and make it a point to connect on a regular basis. This will go a long way in building the relationship with your Workshifters and building mutual trust.
  

For Workshifters:

• Establish a consistent routine so coworkers know when and where to reach you. Being predictable in your actions will build trust with the people who aren't able to observe you work every day.
  
  
• Be responsive. This is even more important for Workshifters than our office counterparts. After all, your colleagues will probably begin to wonder what you're up to if you haven't returned phone calls or checked your email all day.
   
• Deliver as promised. Although this is a bit of a no brainer, I feel it's still worth mentioning. One of the quickest ways to build trust, after all, is to deliver quality work when promised and on a consistent basis.
   
  
• Finally, go beyond emails when you're communicating with your coworkers. We all send and receive hundreds of emails a day. Go out of your way to build stronger relationships with the people you work with by picking up the phone or making time to stop in the office, if possible.
  

What are some of the tactics you've used to build trust?

Photo Credit: vagawi

As someone who's been workshifting for more than 15 years, and also as someone who during that time has managed workshifters for a number of organizations, I've seen the good, the bad, and the ugly when it comes to successfully supporting remote employees. Here, a few suggestions and observations from the trenches:

• Workshifting isn't for everyone. Although most companies will see significant benefits from allowing employees to work from home and/or the road as needed or desired, some employees simply aren't cut out for the independence and discipline such a set-up requires. Many people (especially mature adults who've been in the workforce for a while) know that about themselves--given the choice, they will opt to go into an office everyday for the companionship, sense of purpose, or even just because they don't trust themselves to be productive at home. Other employees may want to workshift but are clearly ready to do so. It's a manager's job to recognize when an employee shouldn't work from anywhere but the office, and support any employees who fit that group.  Alternatively, you could know what traits you're looking for ahead of time and hire for those workshifting qualities.
  
  
• Sometimes, a transition period is needed. Letting people work from home one or two days a week is a good way to trial the new way of working, and make sure that it's a good fit for everyone--not just the workshifting employee, but also his or her manager and colleagues. However, for the transition to succeed, workshifters must be given the technology and business model support they would get if they were workshifting full time.
  
  
• Speaking of which, make sure you give workshifters the technology they need to work from somewhere other than a corporate office. These will likely include a notebook PC, mobile phone, access to IM and conferencing tools, and a headset.  Ensure that you have a remote support option in place to help them at a distance.
  
  
• Shift your reward system to focus on results, not time spent on any given project, or any given workday. Workshifters get used to the freedom to work anytime and from anywhere pretty quickly; as long as they're getting the job done, don't stress about how or when they're doing it. (That said, if part of their job is meeting with clients or participating in conference calls, you should expect them to be available at the necessary times to do so.)
  
  
• Assign workshifters to small working teams whenever a project supports collaborative work--and make sure you mix up the players often. Working with one or two colleagues on a specific task ensures remote employees get to know one another better--and having a solid relationship will help the team be more collaborative and engaged even when they're not working together on anything specific. Audio, video and web conferencing can help small teams work effectively across physical and cultural boundaries.
  
  
• Leverage social networking tools to keep people connected from afar. This, too, will help far-flung employees get to know each other better, and stay in touch even when they're not actively working on a project together. That reaps rewards when the time comes for favors, support and collaboration.
  
  
• When possible, meet in person. If you can't afford to bring an entire group together on a regular basis, encourage team members to meet live in small groups whenever they happen to be in the same place--at conferences, on client calls, etc. This will help people get even more out of their virtual meetings during the rest of the year.

What are some of your tips that you have found useful for managing workshifters?

Photo by: joelogon

Today we have a guest post by James Ware.  James is the co-founder of the Work Design Collaborative and the Future of Work program.

We all know there is a virtual explosion of distributed/mobile/flexible work occurring across theeconomy, including large organizations, small businesses, and free agents/entrepreneurs. In fact, our research suggests that fully 15% of the U.S. workforce now spends one or more days a week outside a corporate facility. We project that number to grow beyond 25% within five years.Yet managing mobile workers and distributed teams is an enormously difficult challenge. When your staff is working at great distances from each other, keeping them focused on their tasks and connected with each other and the larger organization often seems nearly impossible.

We've written previously about the "anywhere office" and the growing desire, if not need, of most knowledge workers to tune in and log on from anyplace at any time. But being connected technically is actually only a small part of the solution.

The most frequent objection we hear from managers concerned about the possible loss of shared knowledge and corporate culture when workgroups start operating more virtually is the fear of reduced accidental meetings at the coffee pot or in the hallways. They worry that distributed teams will suffer from a reduction in the serendipity that so often leads to important business breakthroughs--those unplanned, spontaneous conversations between people who don't interact normally in the course of doing their jobs.

More importantly, however, is the need to keep team members focused on common goals. One CEO several years ago posed essential questions about leadership of a distributed workforce:

"How do I know that our 5,000 employees spread out all over the globe are focused minute by minute on doing the things the company needs them to be doing? How do they know in the moment that they are making the decisions and taking the actions we want them to? And how do we know what they're thinking?"

There is no simple answer to this fundamental challenge, but here are four basic principles for connecting distributed team members with each other and the organization at large:

Use Highly Participative Approaches in Distributed Work Environments

People who are involved in decisions affecting their work are much more likely to go along with them. That doesn't mean that you have to get 100% buy-in before doing anything; just being asked about their views will go a long way towards satisfying most people, even if in the end their manager doesn't agree. It's primarily a matter of valuing staff ideas and acknowledging their individual perspectives.

Define and Publish Formal Policies and Procedures for Distributed Work

As soon as you allow employees to work remotely you are opening a can of worms, including legal issues, financial disputes, and potential misunderstandings. Legally, when an employee who is working at home trips over a rug and breaks an arm, is he or she eligible for workers' compensation? Who will pay for the home office furnishings, the telephone that is being used for work, or the Internet connection? And when is the employee expected to be accessible to other employees and management?

It is critically important to treat employees consistently--in all matters, of course, but particularly as they move into flexible work programs. Nothing will stir up employee anger or legal action more quickly than the discovery that some of them are receiving different levels of financial support or being held to different work schedules.

Establish Explicit, Tangible Measures of Individual and Team Performance

This is the single most important thing you can do to keep distributed team members aligned with company goals and each other. Formal performance and productivity measures (here are some tips on being a productive workshifter) serve several important functions:

• They establish clear guidelines and common expectations about how each distributed employee will be measured and rewarded.
  
  
• They help create an atmosphere of accountability in both directions and across the organization.
  
  
• They provide senior management with clear evidence of how cost-effective (or not) the distributed work arrangements are.
  
  
• They help shift the dominant management culture away from managing time spent on tasks to focusing on the results produced.
  

 "Managing by walking around," which was a common rule of thumb in the 1980's and 90's, has deep common-sense appeal in that it encourages managers to be visible and to interact regularly with their subordinates.  In that context, however, "interact" generally meant face-to-face communication (though it also often included peering, uninvited, over employees' shoulders to scrutinize their work).

But clearly that kind of interaction just can't happen in a distributed environment. It's absolutely essential to replace such close-in monitoring of employees' actions with a focus on the results they produce.

Develop Formal Agreements about Regular Interaction

One of the inevitable consequences of working in a distributed team is that members just don't see each other or their managers as often as they do when they are co-located. Yet we all know that more frequent interactions generally lead to higher levels of trust and greater comfort with other team members.

But with distributed teams frequent face-to-face interaction just isn't feasible. However, there are several critical points in the life of a team when being together in-person can make a huge difference:  at the very beginning, as the team converges on a design solution, and as it winds up its work and disbands.

For managers of distributed teams the bottom line is really very simple: Make the invisible visible for team members--be proactive in reaching out and paying attention to the personal/social side of your team's members, no matter where they are physically.

For more information on connecting and engaging distributed teams, read the full whitepaper.

Recently I had two more team members that started workshifting full time.  One moved to San Francisco and the other to Oregon.  This can be a little bit like tearing off a Band-Aid.  The sting of reality can hit quickly.
 
The transition from a fully supported employee, with things such as a creative culture, big brain peers, office chatter and laughter, a gym, a kitchen, stellar IT support, etc., to a coffee shop or home office, can make for a rough landing.  As a manager, it's important that the person making the transition understand that it's not always as glamorous as it appears.
 
What I have found really helps is to team them up with other remote employees or at least make the introductions.  In the case of the San Francisco workshifter, she has a counterpart in the city and we happen to have an office there as well.  Based on her personality type, she should make a very easy transition.
 
For the Oregon workshifter, it's just the opposite.  No counterparts, no office.  In this case, it's worth it to take the time to let them know about the challenges people can face when they make the transition out of the nest.  The following withdrawal symptoms are fairly common:
 
1.  Lacking a sense of team and comradery
2.  Fear that the lack of "face time" will hinder their career
3.  Adjusting to conference call or web conferencing etiquette (inability to raise hand)
4.  Missing the corporate culture
5.  Lack of IT resources
 
To help with the transition, it always good to explain that the symptoms are normal and can vary depending on the person.  I know I sound like an advertisement for the latest anti-depressant, but it's true.  The best thing to do is to take the time to understand what type of person they are, and give them what they need.  It could be a call once a day or a regular video call so you can add a human element.  Scheduling regular visits to the office, even if they don't or can't make it, are very important.  It says to the workshifter that I value the relationship.
 
On that note, the importance of "face time" can't be underemphasized.  Depending on the person's level or job responsibility, it's good to visit the mother ship at least once a quarter.  If for nothing else, to reconnect with your peer group at a personal level.  Because at the end of the day, its all about trust, and the relationships that are being built.
 
What's your advice for someone about to leave the Corporate nest?

Photo by: biggertree
 

As of October 2009, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) figures place national unemployment numbers at 9.8%. These numbers are that much more pronounced and dire for young people. BLS says the unemployment rate has increased among 20-24 year olds by 50% since August 2008. In August of this year, roughly 15% of people in that same age bracket and 10% of 25-34 year olds were out of work.

Indeed, Generation Y, also known as the "'Net Generation" or "Millennials," face the toughest job market in decades. That's a tough pill for a group of young people who were raised during boom times and for whom invincibility has been a common and cohesive feeling.

These 76 million Americans born between 1979 and 1995 tend to have distinctive attitudes toward work, including where and when it ought to be performed.

• Sixty-three percent of Gen Y women placed the highest importance on accomplishing personal goals; 23% who stated professional goals were tops.
  
  
• Fully one-fourth of these women indicated that they would prefer to have flex scheduling and the ability to set their own work hours in lieu of a 10% increase in salary.
  

While unemployment has hit this 'Net cohort harder than others, they may bounce back faster than older workers would; as technology is their native tongue, which allows them to work remotely, saving employers money on overhead, sick pay and losses related to traffic and weather-induced delays for traditional employees.

Some companies are jumping on the remote working and flex-time bandwagon, with a program called "ROWE," or "results only work environment." Businesses on board with ROWE included Best Buy and Gap Outlet headquarters, and the City of Minneapolis. Workers at these companies "work wherever they want whenever they want, as long as the work gets done."

Under ROWE, "productivity isn't judged by how many hours someone puts in the chair but rather the quality and quantity of their work."  This attitude was echoed across all age groups in data from a survey conducted late last year by the polling company™, inc./WomanTrend for Citrix Online.  More than half (56%) of respondents revealed that they were never able to work remotely, also referred to as "Webcommuting," though nearly three-fourths (73%) of American employees wanted the ability to do so at their current or next job. Gen Y workers (those aged 18-29) were more likely than most to "never" be able to work from a location other than the office (60% vs. 56% overall).  In addition 18% of Gen Yers were willing to sacrifice up to 5% of their salary to work remotely, an astonishing figure considering the year-long economic downturn and bleak employment prospects for that age group.

Gen Y has grown up doing what they want from where they want, and being "forced" to commute and work from the same place at the same time each day belies both their flexibility and productivity.   However, in the aforementioned survey, 56% of 18-29 year olds said they were unable to work remotely as their "job functionality required them to be on site." This was the most of any age group. At the same time, 62% agreed, either "strongly" or "somewhat" with the statement "I would benefit from a fast and affordable way to meet over the Internet with colleagues located anywhere, and share our computer files, presentations and other information just as if we were in the same room." This indicates a strong desire to work from somewhere other than the office.

According to "career doctor" Randall S. Hansen, PhD , this newest crop of workers "has no interest whatsoever in working in a cubicle -- not because it is beneath them, but because they feel advances in technology should let them be able to choose to work from home, Starbucks, or anywhere there is a Wi-Fi connection."

Another tremendous advantage of shifting work from a traditional brick-and-mortar to an alternative and more convenient venue for the employee (if not the employer) is that talent can be recruited from around the world, not just around the corner. Additionally, there is evidence that the type of flexibility achieved through Webcommuting increases employee satisfaction and retention. With Generation Y remaining informed and entertained, communicating and transacting on the computer, working seems the next natural step.

Photo by: Justin Levy