CAL

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CAL
Increase Profitability Through Remote Team Working
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Successful distributed teams

• What are the management skills needed?
• How can I help remote workers remain focused and
  feel part of the team?

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Management skills

• A new way of working
• Good management practice
• Delegation and empowerment
• Building an effective team
• Policies
• Training

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Management
A new way of working

• Different challenges
• Different team dynamics
• A change in culture

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Good Management practice - Traditional

• Good management will always be good management
• Listening
• Being clear on objectives
• Delegating

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Good management practice - New

• Think team, not just office.
• Make meetings fit for purpose and a priority.
• Be flexible on all aspects of operation except
  customer requirements and quality.
• Set SMART Key performance indicators and service
  level agreement.

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Delegation and empowerment

• Top down
• Start with the CEO and board
• Seen in action
• Dont just talk about it!
• Set policy
• Have staff policies reflecting responsibilities
  and
  authorities
• Flexible
• Change happens, be ready
• Learning from mistakes and review

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Building an effective team

• Team sum greater than total of its parts
• Find individuals strengths and make best use of
  them
• Harder to recognise in remote environment
• ... But DOUBLY important!

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Policies

• Working hours
• Home working
• Security
• Recruitment

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Training

• Management teams
• No silver bullet
• To think about flexibility and learning
• Commitment, not just another training day

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How to help remote workers remain focused and
feel part of the team?

• Avoid the danger
• Smart processes
• Getting it right
• Case Studies

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Why individuals become de-motivated

• Feelings of isolation
• Changes in home situation
• e.g. kids on holiday?
• Tasks not a good match for skills?
• Not getting the support they need?

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Dealing with De-Motivation

• Slow process ongoing checks
• A change is as good as a rest (Move back into
  office environment?)
• Building personal development plans
• Work with team members for knowledge transfer

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Smart Processes

• Identify process flows
• Create flexible answers
• Work with your team and clients
• Review

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Knowing youre getting it right!

• Signs
• Feedback
• Productivity
• Absenteeism
• Reduced staff turn over

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Case study 1 District Council

• Needs
• Recruitment in specialist skills
• Meeting Service level agreement
• Challenges
• Any changes have to be low risk and staged.
• Identifying improvement with zero impact on
  budget

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Case study 1 District Council Outcome

• Changes
• Formed smart working steering group
• Created policies for recruitment
• Creating a training program
• Benefits
• Strategy driven by the client
• Seeing improvement with zero impact on budget

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Case Study 2 Consultancy Practice

• Needs
• Maximising chargeable engagement
• Providing traceability at account level
• Challenges
• Lots of geographically dispersed associates
• Making the most of limited specialist staff

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Case Study 2 Consultancy Practice Outcome

• Changes
• Board level endorsement of mobile and home based
  working
• Changed business processes across teams
• Empower and then encourage effective knowledge
  management
• Benefits
• Lower operational overheads
• Smarter use of resources
• Rise in productivity

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Thank you
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Group discussion

• What do you see as the major obstacles to the
  adoption of smarter working?
• Revolutions start with small steps, what do you
  see as the easiest first steps to smarter
  working?
• How important is the adoption of smarter working
  to UK business?