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Guest post by: Jo Romano Become an Author

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Managing mobile or remote workers is considered one of the principal challenges among companies when establishing a virtual office. This is due to the fact that the nature of a virtual business is somewhat difficult to supervise because the operations and transactions are based entirely via Internet. This may be the reason why many of these organizations are reluctant to engage in such field of endeavor. While manifesting hesitancy, they are, however, just allowing this view to hold them back from reaping the bountiful benefits offered by a virtual business.

Are you confident that your virtual employees are as productive as those that you physically encounter working at their desks? Do your wonder if remote workers are less productive because of the lack of physical supervision? Each of us may have different views, but one thing is certain, the above questions are not the questions we should be asking. One cannot be certain that an employee is productive or not. The more powerful question is:

What is the evidence being produced that shows productivity?

Although virtual leadership is challenging when it comes to managing virtual teams, there are many techniques available to smoothly run a virtual business and enjoy the fruits of its benefits. Among these techniques and actually the basics in managing mobile workers are: looking for the results rather than activity, maintaining a good communication, scheduling meetings and online conferences, and ongoing feedback and support. These virtual team techniques will help you manage your mobile workers and virtual teams successfully.

Looking for the Results, Not Activity. A task is not accomplished until it is done. As a virtual team leader, you must know how to distinguish between activity and productivity. An employee who is working eight hours a day and six days a week but does not complete specific, measurable and attainable goals within a given time-frame is certainly not productive. On the other hand, a remote worker whom you cannot see and finishes tasks assigned to him is a far better employee. You can measure productivity rates through reports accomplished, number of calls completed, and number of support issues resolved, and other related virtual tasks.

Maintaining a Good Communication. Among the important factors for a successful virtual team is effective communication. Take advantage of the use of technology to stay connected to your remote workers and maintain a good collaboration with them. Having a consistent weekly check in meeting and goal planning session is one way to promote ease of communication.

Scheduling Meetings and Online Conferences. In any organization, meetings are one of the essential cores to maintain the stability of a virtual business. With online conferences, remote workers can share valuable information, be updated on developments, give reports on progress, and explore ideas, promote business plans and find better alternatives to any problem.

Ongoing Feedback and Support. A good feedback system will serve as an inspiration for every virtual team member. Do not ignore the importance of timely, affective, charge neutral feedback systems. Teaching team members effective and human feedback techniques, give employees the resources they need to support management and each other. This also maintains a good relationship between management and the workforce.

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