Enriching Our Work From a Distance

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The Last Word
Issue #09198 - January 2016 | Page #45
By Joe Kannapell

This time of year, when most job changes occur, we need to especially engage our remote employees. We must nurture, retain and recruit more of these people who don’t have an office, but have become the backbone of many companies. Truss designers, bookkeepers, and IT people increasingly work very effectively at home. While technology is the great enabler of this trend, it is no substitute for face-to-face interaction.

As we begin a new year, having just spent more time with our families, we may feel more anxious about our jobs. We realize that our ability to provide for our families depends in large part on our relationship with our bosses and coworkers. To those of us fortunate few, our company has been part of our lives longer than the family we live with.

Having been outside of an office for 30+ years, here is what I work hard to be:

  1. Pro-active. My job is to find out, and not wait for someone to tell me.
  2. Grateful. Express gratitude for orders received, work done, and opportunities received.
  3. Contributor. Doing more than asked. Adding something more than what is required.
  4. Rewarding. Paying compliments at times least expected, not just when something is done for me.
  5. Personal. Set aside time to be personally with your boss and those who report to you.
  6. Nurturing. Discussing how to improve on shortcomings.

The hardest, least practiced, but most long-lasting attribute is the final one; nurturing. This is criticism with a purpose. I remember the very few times in my career that someone nurtured me after I made a serious mistake at work. But I remember even more vividly when I was fired or demoted. After my bruised ego recovered somewhat, I was usually able to understand, and eventually accept, or even thank my boss for helping me improve.

To test your application of the above attributes, ask yourself the following questions:

  1. Do you always speak of your employer in the first person using the pronouns “I” or “we”, never “they”?
  2. Do you say “I’ll find out” when you don’t know the answer to a question instead of passing the buck.
  3. Do you ever accuse someone as being a poor communicator, when you should have known to ask?
  4. Did you go out of your way to resolve a problem or conflict, rather than just reacting?
  5. Do you ask your boss and the people who report to you, “How am I doing?”

Managing just yourself, or a group of people, is a challenging task. But this New Year will be better if we all make a conscious effort to practice at it.

Next Month:

The importance of measuring our work

You're reading an article from the January 2016 issue.

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