Managers who want to take advantage of a networked world must get used to the idea of supervising "virtual teams," but the payoff is worth the investment, according to two federal executives who have made teaming work at their agencies.
Virtual teams are made up of employees who work in different offices or from their homes. In order to set up such teams, managers must adapt to new ideas of the workplace, said Howard Myers, an associate with consulting firm The Kiviat Group, at the FOSE technology conference in Washington on Thursday.
The first obstacle to overcome in forming virtual teams is the idea of telecommuting. According to Myers, some basic telecommuting concerns include whether employees will work too much or not enough, whether work should be measured in hours or in output and whether or not telecommuting actually means less managing.
Despite these doubts, telecommuting can enable productivity and save money, Myers said. He also said it is a great recruiting tool and predicted that the government will continue to push telecommuting initiatives in the future. Already, Rep. Frank Wolf, R-Va., has introduced a bill (H.R. 2556) that would give a tax credit to employees who telecommute to work .
So far, though, the government has been sluggish in adopting telecommuting, Myers said. Only 25,000 federal workers telecommute, but more want to, he argued. Early telecommuting leaders include the General Services Administration, the Departments of Energy, Agriculture and Interior, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the Army, Navy and Air Force.
In addition to telecommuting issues, personnel policies are another big concern in setting up virtual teams. Managers are often unclear about how much supervision they need to provide, how work should be rewarded, and how they should lead virtual teams.
At the Army Materiel Command, the key to success is to measure and reward employees for products and services they deliver, said James Buckner, the agency's chief information officer. "Workers should focus on product delivery, versus hour delivery," he said.
Leadership skills, as always, are important, but they take on a new meaning with virtual teams. "Leading by example is not as effective in the virtual environment," said Buckner. "You've got to apply mentoring skills across the wires."
Robert Whiting, deputy director of human resources at the Agriculture Department, said his agency is familiar with the unique personnel issues raised by virtual teams. At USDA's National Plant Data Center, for example, 90 percent of interaction is via teleconferencing, e-mail and video conferencing. "Some of the team members have never met each other in person," Whiting said.
USDA has established clear goals and measures of success for teams before they begin their work. The goals are very specific about what the teams will accomplish. Such early legwork helps avoid frustration later on, Whiting said.
"The bottom line is virtual teaming is happening. You can get productivity gains if it is carefully monitored and tracked," said Buckner.
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