Table Of ContentPRAISE FOR THE VIRTUAL MANAGER
“This lucid and concise book contains much common sense about the
realities of managing colleagues you cannot see. Sheridan reminds us that some
timeless human virtues—the ability to listen, to empathize, to communicate
clearly—are needed in the modern globalized corporation as much as (and
perhaps more than) ever.”
—Stefan Stern, director of strategy at Edelman in London, visiting professor
of management practice at Cass Business School
“This insightful book contains actionable advice and fascinating case studies
that will help managers effectively manage, empower, and engage their virtual
workers. Kevin Sheridan’s best practices for motivating and engaging the virtual
workforce are both thought-provoking and illuminating.”
—David Shadovitz, editor of Human Resource Executive
“A passionate evidence-based argument for why virtual working not only
improves performance through active employee engagement but also makes
better use of time, reduces absence levels, and is also good for the
environment.”
—Mick Marchington, professor of Human Resource Management at
Manchester Business School and coauthor of Fragmenting Work
“This insightful book recognizes that ‘work’ is not a place, but instead it’s the
act of value creation that can happen anytime and anywhere. With this shift
comes the need for a new set of guidelines, skills, and resources, not just for
individuals and teams, but for their managers too. The Virtual Manager is
packed full of smart ideas that leaders can use to build an effective and engaged
virtual workforce, and leverage all the benefits that remote working has to
offer.”
—Jennifer Rosenzweig, research director, The Forum: Business Results
Through People, affiliated with Northwestern University
CUTTING-EDGE SOLUTIONS FOR
HIRING, MANAGING, MOTIVATING, AND
ENGAGING MOBILE EMPLOYEES
THE VIRTUAL MANAGER
KEVIN SHERIDAN
Copyright © 2012 by Kevin Sheridan All rights reserved under the Pan-
American and International Copyright Conventions. This book may not be
reproduced, in whole or in part, in any form or by any means electronic or
mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage
and retrieval system now known or hereafter invented, without written
permission from the publisher, The Career Press.
THE VIRTUAL MANAGER
Edited and Typeset by Kara Kumpel
Cover design by Ty Nowicki
Printed in the U.S.A.
To order this title, please call toll-free 1-800-CAREER-1 (NJ and Canada:
201-848-0310) to order using VISA or MasterCard, or for further information
on books from Career Press.
The Career Press, Inc.
220 West Parkway, Unit 12
Pompton Plains, NJ 07444
www.careerpress.com
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Sheridan, Kevin, 1960—
The virtual manager: cutting-edge solutions for hiring, managing, motivating,
and engaging mobile employees / Kevin Sheridan. -- 1
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-60163185-5 (pbk.) 1. Telecommuting--Management. 2. Virtual
work teams--Management. 3. Employee motivation. 4. Organizational
effectiveness. I. Title.
HD2336.3.S54 2012
658.3’123--
dc23 2011043023
I want to dedicate this book to the millions of virtual
employees and virtual managers around our globe, who
both struggle and succeed in bridging the management
and human gulf between each other; the very genesis for
this book was to help in that meaningful purpose. I look
forward to and invite hearing about your success stories after
implementing the best practices discussed in the book.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I give incredibly heartfelt thanks, praise, and recognition (a key Driver of
Engagement featured in Chapter 4) to the many HR Solutions marketing team
members who made this book possible: Ashley Nuese, Kristina Anderson,
Michael Savitt, Melissa Herrett, Amelia Forczak, and Lisa Henthorn; these
talented individuals are certainly helping me to think as, and aspire to become, a
great virtual manager.
Deep thanks to my wife, Barb, and my two young daughters, Morgan and
Hannah, for their love and support while I was oftentimes very virtual, writing
this book somewhere other than home.
Special thanks to Maryann Karinch, who was instrumental in making this
project a reality.
Lastly, some of the most pertinent best practices in this book came from the
many employees at HR Solutions, who have consistently taught their senior
leaders the important best practices of letting go and building trust.
CONTENTS
Chapter1
A New Way of Doing Business: Virtual Teams
Chapter 2
Building Trust in Virtual Teams
Chapter 3
Qualities of Top Virtual Employees
Chapter 4
What It All Boils Down To: Employee Engagement
Chapter 5
The Top 10 Employee Engagement Drivers: Maximizing Them for Virtual
Workers
Chapter 6
Overcoming Challenges: Changing the Location Without Changing
Organizational Principles
Chapter 7
Managing People You Can’t See
Final Thoughts
Notes
Index
About the Author
CHAPTER 1
A NEW WAY OF DOING BUSINESS: VIRTUAL
TEAMS
Business, more than any other occupation, is a continual dealing
with the future; it is a continual calculation, an instinctive
exercise in foresight.
—Henry R. Luce, author
When organizations look to the future, the most innovative and successful
leaders realize the potential that virtual workforces have to change the face of
business. Increasingly, leadership and organizations are viewing “work” as
something you do, rather than somewhere you go. As organizations expand
across the nation and the globe, remote labor forces are becoming vital to
business success. Currently, 82 percent of Fortune Magazine’s “100 Best
Companies to Work For” already have virtual work policies. That number is
expected to rise as time and technology advance.
As working at a distance continues to take root, virtual workplaces may soon
become more common than physical office spaces,1 especially when you factor
in the past growth rate. Each year, the population of virtual workers grows, and
observing this pattern contributes to the belief that virtual workforces are here to
stay. The trend toward virtual work is, in fact, gaining such a hold in the
workplace that colleges and universities are beginning to introduce programs
dedicated solely to best practices for virtual work. To remain up to par in this
increasingly distanced world, managers must consider the increasing demand
and necessity for a virtual workforce.
Remote workforces help maintain an organization’s competitive advantage.
Distance employees contribute to higher profits, larger market shares, and an
ambitious edge. Prior to incorporating remote workers into your organization, it
is imperative managers understand every facet of the virtual workforce in order
to establish the most successful virtual teams.
WHAT IS A VIRTUAL WORKER?
Virtual work has not always looked the same. Remote jobs were originally
referred to as telecommuting, reflecting the most commonly perceived benefit of
such work: reduced commute times. As employers began to view
telecommuting as benefitting more than just commuters, telework was adopted
as a broader term. The most recent phrase, virtual work, is an all-encompassing
term meant to refer to entire populations who are working together, separately.
For the purposes of this book, I will be all-inclusive in my definition: A virtual
employee is anyone who works remotely or in a different location than her
manager or peers. A virtual manager is a leader who manages employees in
various locales.
Whether referred to as telecommuting, teleworking, or working virtually,
there are multiple types of virtual employees. Currently, the remote population
ranges from 15 to 30 million people, based on a five-year study of trends in
distance working.2 The large range is due to these varying definitions of virtual
workers:
An employee who regularly meets with clients at his place of business,
rarely or never working from his own office or home.
A team member who works from home, a coffee shop, library, or
wherever she chooses.
A person with coworkers in various other locations.
A leader in the corporate office who manages employees across the
globe.
Further complicating the meaning of virtual employee, definitions vary by
frequency. Some virtual workers are considered remote employees because they
