Remote work is a paradise for slackers,
if you are a Dumb Remote manager.

The worst phase of the pandemic has long been behind us.

We’ve finally got back the freedom to set up our businesses the way we believe is best for us.

Remote work is not mandatory anymore.

Is it still the best option?

One of the most common arguments is that remote employees take advantage of it to work less or not at all.

Remote work is a paradise for those slackers working in Dumb Remote Companies.

Conversely, Remote Work becomes hell for those slackers who work in Smart Remote Companies.

Dumb Remote Vs Smart Remote

Most companies see the main challenge of remote working as setting up the proper working methods and collaboration at a distance.

There is no more common yet significant mistake to becoming Dumb Remote.

The most natural way to ensure results is to perform visual checks on who does the job.

A Dumb Remote manager ensures that a person who has to work works.

Work on what? How?

The important thing is to be there and, above all, to show in the process of doing something.

If someone finishes a task at 5:45 pm and doesn’t have time to start another one before 6 pm, he stays until 6 pm playing Candy Crush.

Who leave on time, ironically, get asked if they’ve taken the day off.

What is it for?

The difference between a Dumb Remote and a Smart Remote company is the results-oriented culture.

A Dumb Remote manager doesn’t monitor the work but the worker.

He constantly asks what they are doing and where they are at.

He ignores some devastating side effects:

• Constant interruptions make others lose concentration and productivity.
• Lack of trust generates demotivation.
• Stress.

A Dumb Remote manager doesn’t watch his team to support
but to show that he’s watching.

A Smart Remote manager, instead, knows it’s useless to oversee the work remotely. Instead, he focuses on tracking the result.

When the focus is on results, the manager’s activity generates positive side effects:

• People feel important
• People feel trusted
• People feel free

How?

Just ask to act in your company’s best interest.

We should not be too optimistic, either.

There are and always will be a small portion of slackers in your team.

But is this something new?
And didn’t this happen even in the office?

Wasn’t Windows solitaire the most used software amongst on-site employees?

There are and will always be a small portion of people who:

• Abuse coffee breaks
• Pretend to think in front of an Excel sheet
• Pretend to be busy
• Isolate themselves to phone an imaginary interlocutor

Should 100% of individuals be sanctioned for the 1% who do not play the game?

Always agree on goals and estimations with who will perform the work.

Propose the goal, ask for an estimation, and discuss it.

Establish regular and scheduled progress points to check if your help is needed.

The only thing that matters is the final result.

It does not matter where or when it was produced.

That’s what makes the difference between a Dumb and a Remote Company.