Managing the Mobile Workforce: Leading, Building, and Sustaining Virtual Teams

288 Pages·2010·2.07 MB·English

by  David Clemons

Praise for Managing the Mobile Workforce
“This dynamic group of workers represents the future of work. Under-
standing how they work, the tools they need to be successful and the
dynamic nature of their workflow is essential for today’s business lead-
ers. Work is no longer about location; it is about communication.”
—Brent Lang, president and C.O.O., Vocera Communications
“Clemons and Kroth make a compelling argument for the speedy
adoption of the officeless office. Their thoughts on how people
management, as opposed to technology management, will determine
success for an organization is truly insightful.”
—James D Johnson II, senior director of marketing,
Avery Dennison
“This is a great read for anyone in the field of business, technology, ed-
ucation, human resources, community development, and government.”
—Patricia Kempthorne, president/CEO, Twiga Foundation, Inc.
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NDF
MANAGING
THE MOBILE
WORKFORCE
Leading,
Building, and
Sustaining
Virtual
Teams
DAVID CLEMONS and
MIChAEL KrOth, Ph.D.
New York Chicago San Francisco Lisbon London Madrid Mexico City
Milan New Delhi San Juan Seoul Singapore Sydney Toronto
Copyright © 2011 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Except as permitted
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ISBN: 978-0-07-174465-2
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Contents
` Acknowledgments v
` Introduction: Why Should You Read This Book? vii
Part One: Thinking Strategically about
the Mobile Workforce 1
` Chapter One: Moving to Mobility 3
Creating Mobile Urgency—Let’s Get Started!
` Chapter Two: Discovering a New Workforce Paradigm 21
Check Your Assumptions about the Future at the Virtual Door
` Chapter Three: Presence 51
Being There Even When You’re Not
` Chapter Four: Trust or Bust 71
Breaking Trust Is the One Thing That Can Immobilize
a Mobile Workforce Faster Than a Dropped Call
` Chapter Five: Strategic Leadership in a Virtual World 93
Creating Sustainable Competitive Advantage
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iv � Contents
Part Two: Performance Management and
the Mobile Workforce 117
` Chapter Six: Autonomy or Not Autonomy? 119
That Is the Question
` Chapter Seven: The Mobile Performance
Management Process 137
Reducing the Distance between Manager and Worker
` Chapter Eight: Hiring and Preparing Great Mobile Talent 157
Getting the Right People on the Virtual Bus
` Chapter Nine: The Eight Principles Model 183
Motivational Tools for Mobile Leaders
Part Three: Technology, Tools, and Teams 205
` Chapter Ten: Keeping Up with the Phoneses 207
Using Metaskills to Keep Pace with the Increasing
Evolution of Hardware and Software
` Chapter Eleven: Developing Your Virtual Team 221
Reconfiguring the Process
` Notes 245
` Index 257
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ACk nowledgments
t
his book is a direct result of many passionate people who shared
their ideas and experience with successful working models
regarding the global mobile workforce. As a result of our inter-
views with thought leaders and global enterprise executives and man-
agers, we have captured solid advice to offer anyone wanting to deploy
a mobile workforce.
We want to thank the creative team at Achieve Labs who gave
their time and advice regarding content and design, including, Dave
Jansik, Taylor Clemons, Heather Jones, Lehi Wayman, Megan Sut-
ton, and Jon Marecki. Also, we owe much to Janet Caldow, Camille
Venezia, and those who provided advice and coaching during the ini-
tial stages of writing chapter formats and styles. It’s amazing what we
learned along this process, it was a complete turning point.
The University of Idaho has been generous in giving Michael time
to write this book, and his colleagues have been both encouraging and
helpful. Jerry McMurtry and Charlie Gagel were not only supportive
but also instrumental in making it possible for Michael to participate
in the writing of this book.
There are many people who shared ideas and helped us to con-
nect with people to interview. We want to especially thank Patricia
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vi � ACknowledgments
Kempthorne, who took a personal interest in our book and introduced
us to several people we interviewed who we could never have con-
nected with otherwise.
Our new friends at McGraw-Hill have been wonderful. Mary
Glenn and Emily Carleton were the first people there who believed in
this book and moved it forward, and we have been so lucky to work
with Mary Therese Church, Ron Martirano, and Daina Penikas,
who are true professionals and highly skilled in their work. They are
easy to work with and have added so much value to the book.
Finally, thanks to our families and friends, who are our bedrock.
Our wives, Violet Clemons and Lana Kroth, have seen us through all
the late nights and weeks and months of writing, patiently supporting
us and motivating us to complete our project. Thank you for your love
and great support. Now we can get on with our family plans!
From David:
Michael Kroth, my mentor and friend, has been the anchor needed
for this book project and without him this book would not have been
completed on time or at the level of professionalism accomplished.
My gratitude for his patience and inspiration to all of us, as well as
his positive cheerful attitude for steering the project to completion, is
immeasurable.
From Michael:
When I began this project I felt like I was a fairly good author. David
Clemons opened my eyes to writing possibilities I had never imag-
ined. He has been an inspiration to me, helped me to dream about
what this book could be and do far more than I would have otherwise.
David has also been fun and easy to work with, and has deep integrity,
which is very important to me. His enthusiasm is absolutely energiz-
ing. Most of all, he has deep experience in the world of mobility, and
I have learned so much from him, not only about this book, but about
life and leadership, every time we meet. It has been an honor and a
pleasure to write this book with my friend, David Clemons.
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IntroduCtIon
B
uilding a mobile workforce can be a competitive advantage for
your company. It can also be a powerful threat in the hands of
your competitors. In a global market for talent, the best employ-
ees can work anywhere. Do you have job alternatives that will appeal
to workers of the twenty-first century? Does your corporate strategy
envision a mobile workforce? Are you prepared to lead one? Do you
have the capability to find, get, keep, and support mobile workers?
Is your organization technologically savvy—do you have the meta-
capabilities to keep up with the constant technological innovation that
will require new hardware and software regularly?
If you want to get a leg up on the competition, you should read this
book. If you want to provide the most flexibility for your workforce
and options for yourself as a leader, you should read this book.
It has been estimated that the number of worldwide mobile work-
ers will reach one billion by 2011, which includes nearly 75 percent
of the U.S. workforce.1 These new, technology-enabled workers will
have unlimited, global job opportunities and easy access to companies
that will value them. The question you need to answer right now is,
do you have a mobile workforce strategy that is compelling enough to
attract the best talent to your company, and then to keep them?
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