It's easy to type an e-mail - and wait for a response... but, as we do, it is even better when you can pick up the phone and dial their extension - or better yet, intercom them.  This audio communication is often preferable to video since our work-at-home folks may be in more comfortable clothes... For the brave, video chats are pretty simple to set up too (see ooVoo for example).

Over all, the most important thing to do is to encourage real-time communication with remote workers. It also helps if you can get your remote workers into the office for regular weekly meetings to touch base and catch up! Keep them engaged by talking to them regularly!

Do Happy, Satisfied Employees make for Happy Satisfied Customers?  We Hope So!

The Alfred P. Sloan Awards for Business Excellence in Workplace Flexibility are part of the national When Work Works project, an ongoing initiative of Families and Work Institute in partnership with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Institute for a Competitive Workforce and the Twiga Foundation, with funding from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.  

The selection process is rigorous. First, employers’ flexibility programs and practices are measured against national norms from Families and Work Institute’s National Study of Employers. Employees are then surveyed confidentially on their access to flexible work options, the supportiveness of the culture and on nationally tested measures of workplace effectiveness.

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