U.S. Office of Personnel Management - Ensuring the Federal Government has an effective civilian workforce

In today’s Government workforce, more and more people are taking advantage of flexible work options such as telework. With this increase, employees may be “virtual” a large percentage of their time. A virtual workforce creates unique management challenges , not the least of which is effectively managing a mixed workforce of teleworkers, and on-site workers. This seminar will help supervisors and managers develop strategies for managing in this new reality.

Through activities, group discussions, and application planning, you will understand how your attitudes and beliefs about telework and virtual work affect how you manage your workgroup. You will learn the difference between managing the completely virtual worker, the teleworkers and in-office workers, which job types are well-suited for telework and which are not. You will discover tips on how to effectively communicate with your employees and how to determine if working from an alternative location is appropriate for them. Finally, you will uncover techniques on setting realistic expectations, and creating policies and procedures that will drive the behavior and achieve the results you are looking for.

• Understand how to manage your own and others’ attitudes about teleworkers and virtual workers
•  Describe the aspects of a job that make it appropriate for telework or virtual work
• Establish expectations, policies, and procedures for a mixed workgroup
• Identify strategies for working effectively with a dispersed team
• Promote powerful communication methods, including meeting tools
• Create specific tactics for making the strategies work in your own teams

• Accountability
• Flexibility
• Conflict Management
• Oral Communication