Inherited team that never meets in person through choice

[Daisythedonkey]

Hope someone can help. Recently been promoted to manage the team I have worked in for 4 years. I’ve worked my way up and did a large part of my boss’s job anyway so no problem being the boss and running the department so to speak.

However, boss was quite slack when it came to HR and pandered to the team (IMO). There is nothing medical or other personal issues that have led to the set up now (seen files etc.). Essentially I have a team member who lives 200 miles away who was employed during the pandemic and another who comes into the office one day a week, if that. A third who lives locally and can be in the office whenever. Prepandemic, everyone was in the office all the time and, if I’m honest, things were a lot smoother. There is zero team spirit now and very little informal communication. Office based team member misses sense of community and friendship, understandably really. It’s tedious rocking up to speak to no one all day!

I want to make everyone attend the office at least two set days/week. I don’t think this is too much to ask. Any advice/hints/tips?

@@Daisythedonkey DH company said they need to come in at least 2-3 days a week or they can change their contract to remote working and get paid less

If she needs advice from the internet, she needs a lot of training on bare basics from her manager. Companies have been doing this widely, for three years now. Point out where I said Op is rubbish?

I WFH and my company easily sees productivity levels for employees, if forced to go to an office, it’d be immediate handing in my notice, within seconds.

I'm in a team with 2 members around that distance away. We meet in the office 1 day every 2 weeks. Some of us go into the office 2 days a week, some 1 day. Regardless of location, we have teams meeting at 10 and 4 every day. Each person talks about what they are doing/have done that day and we discuss other work matters and general chit chat. It would be very clear to everyone if someone wasn't working.

Here:

”Being incapable of figuring out how to make the team be productive, not knowing how to train people remotely, etc. are are very, very basic things. Do better, before pissing off the staff. “

HTH.

This is helpful advice.

Are you crazy ? You expect someone who lives 200 miles away to attend office 2 times a week . Are you paying for the traveling ? If the previous person in your position told them they could you cannot simply say “ sorry I changed my mind “ unless you are trying to get them fired on purpose ?
I honestly don’t see this “ need to work in person “ half of my own team works in then office and half from home full time , some 400 miles away . I do no t see an issue at all . We stop get on great and work is getting done .

"I want them to want to come to work/enjoy work."

by forcing them to travel 800 miles a week that they currently don't have to??
you're delusional.

@DeliciousViolets - that sounds like the kind of thing I’m going to instigate. Thank you.

@CitizenofMoronia - not sure where you got the 800 miles from?!

Thanks for the ideas and constructive comments everyone. Seems to have touched a nerve with some. Like I’ve said a few times now, I haven’t done any of this, or changed anything at all really. Wanted to gauge opinion. You’ve given some food for thought and I’ll consider all options (and legalities) carefully.

Urgh. Don’t be that person.

Trainee solicitors with firms that are regulated were trained remotely. I don't know what you do but it's highly unlikely that it's simply not possible to train someone anywhere but in an office.

To do a job they are supposed to be doing but doing but don't.

@Daisythedonkey 800 miles is assuming that your colleague drives 200 miles in and 200 miles home twice a week.

We still train some or partially remotely too ( same profession ) . I do team meetings with all of my team once or if something comes up twice at week and I’m in constant contact with all of my team including trainees .
I think the trick is good management and a good team leader .

Is this your first role managing people?

The reason i ask is that you are at risk of making one of the big mistakes of new people manages which is to want to stamp your mark all over the team and end up alienating and pissing them off.

You need to look at what you have which sounds like an established team who have been working together for at least 2 years.

You have one person in that team who you have concerns about productivity. That should be dealt with on a 1:1 basis, you need to first observe their performance,then discuss the gaps with them and the strengths in their work, set realistic goals which should be evidenced and supported by you with training if there are areas where they haven't been adequately supported. If they do not improve then you should move to your company formal performance management process.

For new starters you need to define what skills they need to develop, what activities they need to do and document a training plan. That should include the method of training, what can be done remotely, what needs to be delivered face to face, who can deliver it, what materials do you need.

For team morale/team working it is absolutely possible to build this in a remote environment but you need to put the effort in and think logically about it.

Daily morning stand ups by Teams can work but only if you actually have something to talk about for 15 mins every morning, otherwise you're just adding a time drain for the sake of adding it and it will be resented.

Who said anything about targets not being reached ?

There's an interesting IFS webinar on working from home. Short version - you need to switch from input based (is Sam at his desk? Is Sam typing or staring into space?) to output based (has Sam delivered the product on time) management.

A person has been working remotely for some time.

They were essentially hired, remotely.

Working in the office on a regular basis would not be a reasonable expectation as the company has essentially allowed their home, to become their normal place of work. This is effectively an amendment to the contract that has been agreed by custom and practice.

If you unilaterally decide to change that by insisting that they come in two days a week, you're effectively dismissing them because you're making it impossible for them to do their job.

That's employment tribunal territory.

You do know that staff will have childcare set up? Caring responsibilities worked out?

I've booked and paid for childcare for the next few months and, I'm arranging care for a relative. How do you know that your remote employee doesn't have stuff like that? Have you actually sat down and talked to them like a human being?

We did that ten years ago.

Do people still think like that?

OP, is the remote worker actually underperforming, or is this more about you needing to control and micromanage them, and feeling insecure because you can't?

Some people are particularly fast, efficient workers, and get though tasks quickly. Maybe that's your remote worker, so he/she is able to relax a little each day, or step away from their screen. Heck, maybe they're spending some time exercising, tidying or cooking for their families! If this is someone who knows the ropes and gets things done, why oh why would you piss them off and make your own life harder, just because of your own ego.

(Folks like that generally learn to hide their efficiency. Being good at your work ---> getting punished with more work. I'm not here to work myself into the ground for an employer, I'll do my tasks and no more.)

I personally never have a shit how much someone was online- just that they turned the work in.

You need to trust your team if you want them to trust you.

"""It’s not a case of remote not working, it’s a case of you assuming the cause is the remote working whereas it just sounds like your team are slack (which you were part of)"""

This

You are spot on and that’s has always been my approach to my team . I honestly do not care that jonh doesn’t sis laundry , feeds the baby and goes shopping during work time , as long as gold are reached qnd clients are happy . That’s all I care about

I was hired during the pandemic as a remote worker, I live two hours away from the office. If my boss tried insisting I came into the office, I'd be taking legal advice as my contract reflects my remote role. The onus is on you to improve communication and maybe implement a monthly meeting, this works well for our team.

Coffee hour in teams?
Monthly meetings with themes?

Op in terms of this does each team member have clear KPIs? I’d be looking to address this and have reasonable deadlines implemented. You could easily have a team gant chart to track activities and easily see what’s going on for the month.

Personally I’m not a fan of daily meetings - they seem a bit of a waste of time but there is no harm in a Monday morning defining the weeks priorities and Friday catch up meeting talking about how it’s gone.

In terms of management and errors you really need clear communication processes of changes, goals and expectations. I would also look at a monthly team building event online and a quarterly meet up. There is lots you can do to drive productivity- presenteeism isn’t often the answer.