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The Workforce of the Future:
How to Manage Remotely, Effectively
Associate Professor TAN Hwee Hoon
Lee Kong Chian School of Business, Singapore Management University
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Challenges?
For Employees…
How do you manage?
MULTIPLE ROLES
FOCUS
ACCESS TO INFORMATION
SOCIAL ISOLATION
2
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Challenges?
For Employers/Organization - WFH, WFA, Telecommuting …
Manage by outcomes?
TIME vs SPACE
Face Time
Where are U?
Seeing the unseen
8-5?
Work hours?
3
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The Foundation - TRUST
Our assumption of our employees?
Face Time
Where are U?
Shirking or Proactive?
8-5?
Our assessment
of our
employees?
Work
hours?
Are they trustworthy?
4
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Mindsets – Effort Versus Outcomes
Performance Management
• Expectations
• Goals
• Resources
Face
Time
• Support
Where are U?
Our assumption of our employees?
Shirking or Proactive?
Experimentation
8-5?
•Work
Trial
and
error
Our assessment
of our
employees?
hours?
Ability?
• Small in scale
Integrity?
• Allow for failure!
Benevolence?
5
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Strategies
1.
2.
3.
4.
Check-ins vs. Continuous Monitoring
Creating Structure – Rules of Engagement
Redesign Jobs/Tasks and Interdependence
Care for well-being - Social Interaction,
Encouragement, Support
5. Communicate, communicate and
communicate
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Findings – Microsoft study
Microsoft analysed data on its newly remote workforce (July 2020)
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• When driven by employees, entrenched norms can change quickly

Rise of 30 min meetings – 22% more meetings of 30 minutes or less, and 11% fewer meetings
of more than one hour
• Managers get soaked, but they also carry the life preservers – Manager one-on-one can help
contain longer WFH hours

Senior managers collaborating 8+ more hours per week; but also enabling employee resilience
– by helping them prioritizing and protecting employees’ time!

“My manager increased the frequency of one-on-ones. They have been a great way to stay
aligned and, especially at the beginning, navigate the shift effectively.”
• Human connection matters a lot, and people find a way to get it

Virtual social meetings (with themes) – ‘pyjamas day’, ‘meet my pet’

Virtual meetings increased by 10% in a month
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SMU Classification: Restricted
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