GPWA Times Magazine - Issue 4 - April 2008

Remote Control | GPWA TIMES 45 Claire Leighton Affiliate Manager – Affiliate Club What are the main benefits of working remotely? The main benefit of working remotely is saving time on the traveling to the office, and there- fore I get some time to enjoy life.The extra two hours a day give me more time for myself, and also give me extra working time, which is handy when dealing with people in different parts of the world. What are the cons of working remotely? I really like the freedom of working from home; however, sometimes you do feel a little isolated and lonely without having face-to-face contact.The team speaks every few hours at least, so you are always in regular contact with people and never feel bored.But not seeing a friendly face for 10 hours a day sometimes can get you down. What kind of traits do you think are necessary to be an effective remote worker? To work from home you really have to be disciplined with your time management and moti- vation.You also need to be comfortable with your own company for many hours a day.Some people need regular face-to-face contact to thrive throughout the day.Fortunately, our team is self-sufficient and has a great support system. Howmany times a day to you communicate with your manager? We use Skype on many occasions throughout the day.This ensures we are all updated with everything that occurs with Affiliate Club and our brands.Different days bring up differ- ent tasks, suggestions and questions.All of these things mean different working patterns throughout the day and, therefore, the amount of times you need to communicate. What is your typical day like? I typically work at least eight hours a day.The day varies from 7 a.m.to 8 p.m.depending on what is happening with the schedule and whom you are dealing with that particular day. If you are dealing with U.S.affiliates, for example, you may have to work later in the day.This is no different than if we were based in an office.The nice thing about working from home is if you need to visit the doctor or have another kind of appointment, you can do that within an hour rather than having to take a few hours off from work. Would it be difficult for you to go back to being in the office on a daily basis now after this experience? Yes. I think I would like the face-to-face interaction, but I like the freedom I have to work to my own daily schedule and manage my own time. In your mind, what traits are important in a good manager of remote workers? John is a very good leader of our remote team.He is in regular contact with all us as far as providing all of the information we need to do our job to the maximum.He also has enough trust in us to do our jobs effectively that he doesn’t need to manage us as directly as some of the other managers would in an office environment. throughout the world in Sweden, the U.K., Czech Republic, Gibraltar, Cu- raçao and Spain. We work different hours in different time zones. We rep- resent a varied mix of nationalities and generations and rarely have the benefit of seeing each other face-to- face. But despite all of that, we are a team; a team that is powered by the ability of each individual to be result-driven, self-sufficient and possessing an ex- traordinary work ethic. And we ac- complish our daily tasks without hav- ing someone stand over our shoulder. The requirements for working effec- tively as a remote worker are obvious. First, you must have certain techno- logical tools at your disposal (com- puter, Blackberry, IM, fax, scanner). We typically train our people through Skype and when we meet at confer- ences. After that we usually have a pretty good idea as to whether or not a person is going to be a good fit for what we’re trying to accomplish. The biggest challenge for me as a manager of remote workers is that I am constantly trying to create a strong feeling of being part of a team, even though we hardly ever meet un- der the same roof. I am always cog- nizant of keeping everybody in the loop and keeping the team upbeat and positive. It’s not easy to do that solely through IM and e-mail, but we have managed to make it work on a consistent basis. I try to set specific goals for each em- ployee, and the progress of those stat- ed goals is reported back to me on a weekly basis. Daily goals are discussed and we all try to make sure that they are achieved. Basically, it all comes down to trust. With the freedom that we offer our employees comes a huge responsibil- ity on their part. Every member of our team knows what is expected of him or her. And like any company, it is incumbent upon me to take the nec- essary action if an individual’s ex- pected results aren’t up to standard. Fortunately, I was given the oppor- tunity to recruit my first choices for each position and, given their track records, I knew going in that I had little to worry about. My team has rewarded me for my trust and confi- dence in them and the results to this point have exceeded my expectations. I’m confident that they will only im- prove as we go forward. I was quite lucky to pick what I think is the best group of managers in the industry. And for that I am very grateful.