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- Be clear about expected levels of performance. Make sure your employees understand their job responsibilities thoroughly. As appropriate, before authorizing participation in the various Worklife Programs, provide training, mentoring, and/or job shadowing on skills an employee needs in a non-traditional work situation—or to prepare to function in one. Training might include courses in communication, time management, teamwork, and customer service.
- Support employee efforts to be accountable and work independently. When appropriate, consider having your employee prepare status reports on a regular basis that indicate job responsibilities and deadlines, changes, issues, and proposed remedies. Encourage employee initiative. Help employees develop their skills at managing themselves and their projects.
- Promote your employees’ empowerment. Look for ways to capitalize on their creativity and enthusiasm.
- Consider how employee performance and morale may improve from a work situation that better reflects their personal needs and/or professional interests, yet meets the needs of the organization.
- Promote techniques that foster good relationships with peers and customers. Take steps to ensure effective collaboration, especially between the employees that are operating in a non-traditional work situation and those who work in the office every day. Provide onsite staff with contact information for teleworkers, and encourage them to call if they have questions or need information. Have employees in a non-traditional work situation explain how they will keep involved and up to date with team projects.
- Provide training to all members of the office that authorizes participation in Worklife-type Programs. This includes: preparing staff to perform “back-up” roles and providing mentoring, job shadowing, and/or cross-training to back-ups.
- Support employees who want to work in non-traditional work situations but who might not be fully qualified. Help employees identify their learning objectives for a task or the professional capability they are trying to acquire. Work with them to determine the support they need (e.g., more guidance from you on how to perform the skill, more frequent feedback during critical learning phases, formal training).
