遠程辦公的管理藝術
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????親愛的安妮：我領導的團隊有12名品牌經理，他們有人似乎讀過您的專欄文章，其中提到如何說服不情愿的上司批準下屬在家辦公，因為我最近就收到了許多這樣的請求。問題是，其中有幾位提出要求的下屬在團隊中的資歷最高，但我認為，他們并不適合獨自在家辦公。反而是幾位新團隊成員，可以輕松完成這種轉變。 ????根據之前在一家公司遠程辦公的經驗，我很清楚要想高效率地在家辦公，一個人必須具備某些個性。有的人具備這種個性，但有些人雖然在工作中表現突出，卻不見得具備這樣的特質。我該如何對某些團隊成員說“不”，同時批準其他人的申請，才能避免在團隊中造成莫名其妙的緊張氣氛？您或您的讀者有什么建議嗎？我曾向公司人力資源部門求助，但他們只是看著我，好像我有兩個腦袋一樣。——B.B. ????親愛的B.B.：你說的對，并不是所有人都能在家把工作做好。有的人認為他們最終可能會得上幽居病。咨詢公司Vitesse Consulting的CEO薩尼?馬格斯基專門為其他公司設計遠程辦公政策與具體做法。之前，馬格斯基曾經營一家有40多名員工的公司，其中大多數遍布在美國的20多個州，甚至國外。馬格斯基表示，其中有一位員工“完全依靠跟同事的互動獲得能量和自信。”作為遠程辦公者，“她非常懷念辦公室友情，以至于遠程辦公最終讓她變得消沉。” ????求職網站Telework Recruiting的負責人帕梅拉?拉?喬伊亞指出，如今，“外向性格的人可以通過Facebook進行各種日常互動，因為大多數人在社交媒體上投入的時間要多于和同事面對面交流的時間。” ????此外，獨自遠程辦公需要具備一系列技巧。拉?喬伊亞說：“其中最重要的技巧是，你有沒有能力在沒有其他人參與的情況下做出決策。有些人在沒有日常監管的情況下感覺非常不舒服。他們需要這些額外的壓力，才能做好工作。”只不過，只有等到這種壓力消失了，他們才會意識到這一點而已。她補充說：“此外，在家辦公的人尤其需要以結果為導向。如果有鄰居或孩子試圖打斷你的思路，你必須能夠果斷地拒絕他們。獨自工作需要有超常的專注能力。要全身心投入工作當中，幾乎相當于一個人要具備創業者的思維。” ????馬格斯基說：“最有效率的遠程辦公者都做事主動、井井有條。”此外，“樂于做出改變和接受新技術，也會有所幫助。在我之前的工作當中，許多人并不愿意學習如何使用新工具，比如協作軟件等，這就很成問題。” ????馬格斯基認為，資歷與一個人是否適合遠程辦公沒有關系。她認為，你并沒有毫不猶豫地就批準所有的申請，這是正確的做法。她說：“管理者必須考慮每個人過往的記錄。如果你觀察某個人在辦公室里的行為，發現他需要一定的監管，或者需要大量飲水機旁的社交，或者他總是很難按時完成工作，這時，鼓勵他們在家辦公必將導致他們走向失敗——或者最后又不得不回到辦公室，這也非常尷尬。” ???? |
????Dear Annie:I lead a team of 12 brand managers, and some of them seem to have read your column about how to persuade a reluctant boss to let you work from home because lately I've been deluged with requests. The problem is, a couple of the people asking are those with the most seniority but who I think are not well-suited to working alone, away from the office. Meanwhile, one of my newer team members could make the transition easily. ????From my own experience working from home at a previous employer, I know it takes a certain personality to telecommute effectively. Some people have it, and some other strong performers just don't. Do you or your readers have any advice on how to say "no" to some team members and not others without causing a lot of weird political tension here? I asked our HR department for help, and they just looked at me as if I had two heads. -- Besieged in Boston ????Dear B.B.:You're certainly right that not everybody is cut out to do their best work home alone, and some people who think they'd like it end up with a bad case of cabin fever. Shani Magosky is CEO of Vitesse Consulting, which specializes in designing companies' telecommuting policies and practices. In her previous job, Magosky ran a firm where most of her 40-plus employees were scattered over 20 states and abroad. One of them "got all her energy and confidence from interacting with peers," says Magosky. As a telecommuter, "she missed that daily camaraderie so much that it turned out to be her downfall." ????Pamela La Gioia, head of job site Telework Recruiting, points out that these days, "extroverts can rely on Facebook for some of that day-to-day interaction, since most people spend more time on social media than talking to their colleagues in person anyway." ????Still, working alone demands a particular set of skills. "The most important one is, can you make a decision without input from anyone else?" La Gioia says. "Some people really struggle without daily supervision. They need that extra bit of pressure to do their best work," and they may not realize that until it's gone. "You also need to be extremely results-oriented, and assertive enough to push back when someone -- a neighbor, a child -- tries to interrupt your train of thought," she adds. "Working alone takes an extraordinary ability to focus. It's almost an entrepreneurial mindset of total commitment to the work." ????"The most productive telecommuters are self-starters, and very well-organized," Magosky says. It helps, too, to be "comfortable with change and new technology. In my old job, I had a few people who were reluctant to learn to use new tools like collaboration software, and it was a real problem." ????Seniority, Magosky notes, has nothing to do with any of this, and she thinks you're right to hesitate to say "yes" to every request. "Managers have to look at each person's track record," she says. "If you can see from someone's behavior in the office that they need a lot of supervision, or a lot of water-cooler socializing, or they have trouble meeting deadlines, then encouraging them to work from home is just setting them up for failure -- or for having to crawl back to the office, which is embarrassing, too." ???? |
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