Operations management is a multifaceted phrase that can alter based on industry, company, geography, and several other factors, but no matter the specifics, every company felt the impact of COVID-19 in operations management one way or another—one of the biggest being the shift to remote work. The sudden transition has caused leaders at all levels to showcase composure, strategic thinking, and adaptability in navigating the evolving workplace situation in the short-term while also understanding the long-term consequences of what this might mean from an operations standpoint.
Is a remote workforce the future?
According to a Future Workforce Pulse Report by Upwork, the world’s largest work marketplace, there is an expectation that that by 2025, 36.2 million Americans will be working remotely, an 87% percent increase from pre-pandemic levels. And, based on the statistics reported by FlexJobs, it makes sense, as remote work yields increased job satisfaction, retention, productivity, and cost optimization when implemented effectively.
However, without the proper people, processes, and technology, remote work can amplify the already abundant challenges that come with coordinating global and cross-functional stakeholders to marshal resources and drive projects to completion in time-sensitive environments. More than ever, strategic leadership is needed to champion change and build a new workplace culture. This can be especially difficult when considering a recent study by Harvard Business Reviews which shows at least 40% of supervisors express low confidence in their ability to manage remote workers. This is in addition to 38% expressing the belief that remote workers underperform despite evidence to the contrary.
So, the question becomes: what is the best way to manage operations remotely? Regardless of the environment, whether it be overseeing a large corporation or directing military facility and equipment operations, these five focus points will help drive more effective operations management in remote environments: Communication and Collaboration, Culture Building, Digital Transformation, Reporting and Tracking, and Change Management.
Communication & Collaboration
Effective and consistent communication is undoubtedly the single most vital element for operations teams, so it becomes critical that managers establish the cadences and practices to maintain a solid flow of information both vertically and horizontally. Moreover, communication isn’t just about maintaining alignment—it’s about building trust and relationships. The natural result of remote operations management is that there are less interpersonal interactions and opportunities to reach out on a daily basis, but this doesn’t mean that communication has to be limited or strained.
“It’s so important to establish good habits around listening, especially as leaders,” says Dion Anglin, an operational excellence expert and director at one of the world’s largest designers, manufacturers, and distributors of engines and power generation products. “Listening helps teams find middle ground and an understanding around what needs to get accomplished. Only when great communication structures are in place can great leaders give people the opportunity to lead in their own capacities, too.”
By utilizing a variety of platforms and integration tools, communication can be as effective as ever, while also allowing for more flexibility during day-to-day operations. Effective communication tools such as Slack, Skype, Microsoft Teams, Google Meets, and Hangouts are but a handful of many tools that allow for needed interactions and video conferencing while also serving as a way for managers to keep an eye on their team’s performance.
Of course, as communication dynamics change, so should management expectations, and a successful manager needs to understand the difference between checking in and micromanaging. This might cause some natural hesitation, but progress requires trust from all sides.
Culture Building
This trust is one of the cornerstones of remote operations management, and letting go of the reins will not only yield more productive partnerships with your teams but can also help transition the culture more seamlessly. This is because more than technology or any other facet of a major transformation, a remote operations transition requires a shift in mentality.
This may be one the best areas where an understanding of military operations can help build an established culture for any type of operations. Despite misconceptions about the rigidity and disciplinarian structure of military hierarchies and professions, it’s better to understand how the overall military framework can help govern operations in other sectors. Some focal points that translate from military operations to corporate are that daily habits build culture, complacency gives the advantage to the competition, nothing is beneath anyone, and trust is preeminent.
Unpacking this a bit further, it’s best to consider work culture a reflection of shared values and common practices within a community, one that shares the same mission. This is why part of setting the expectations for your personnel is not just driving forward, but prioritizing communication, trust building, and empowerment so that each member of the team gains a stake in the growth of the company, and understands the why and the how. Building this community and celebrating the team’s contributions while sustaining a consistent, shared operational standard at all levels is how an outfit can not only scale its operations, but do so successfully and with intention.
Digital Transformation
For many organizations, COVID-19 accelerated the rate at which they adopted technology, but that doesn’t mean they embraced it. While a majority of companies had digitization strategies in place prior to the pandemic, the global lockdown forced companies to be quick on their feet with little time for implementation. However, now nearing two years into the pandemic, it is clear that technology as a foundation of remote operations management is here to stay. Returning to the people, processes, and technology framework discussed earlier, it is important to note that technology cannot overcompensate for a lack of focus or investment in people and processes. But, building a dynamic relationship between the three can ultimately enhance the overall effectiveness of operations at every level.
Where technology becomes critical in a remote work environment for management is in streamlining manual processes to create efficiencies, maintaining communication channels to stay aligned, and enhancing tracking efforts to achieve strategic priorities and deliver projects on time. Fortunately, due to innovations in technology, there are a multitude of IT solutions that can support your operations for each function: Communication and Collaboration (Slack and Google Drive), Project Management (JIRA, Monday, Asana, Trello), and Scheduling and Tracking (Toggl and StatusHero).
By embracing the many and varied features of these tools, companies can create technologically agile operations that introduce more streamlined structures while sustaining the collaborative capabilities a team needs to deliver on its goals.
Reporting & Tracking
These tools are also critical to not just basic functions, but to helping your team meet performance expectations and creating more data-driven cadences that inform talent development and retention practices. As discussed, when building a culture, reinforcing daily habits is a unique challenge to growth but an essential element. One of the areas this becomes most critical when managing remote operations is in daily task management, report generation, and KPI monitoring.
While the tools presented can help with these responsibilities, this is another area where communication is key in setting not just the goals, but the expectation of what needs visibility, how frequently, and what the larger mission of the operation or project is. By establishing this framework and requisite cadences, you can enhance your insights into productivity metrics, ultimately leveraging this data to inform the strategic planning and decision-making process in the future. Again, this comes with empowering and trusting employees, but also allows for new opportunities to develop and coach talent. By creating reportable and clear metrics you can set goals at the individual level and provide objectives for your personnel to strive toward, motivating excellence and improvement along the way with continued mentorship and people leadership.
As before, when utilized correctly, technology is more than the tools and IT solutions that allow the business to operate effectively – it is a complement to the relationship an operation has with its people and its processes.
Change Management
This is the final component, and arguably the most important. Any organization undergoing a massive transformation in either the private sector or the military will encounter its fair share of bumps and bruises along the way, it will encounter resistance, and it will encounter unforeseen issues it will have to adapt to on the fly. How one manages operational change can differ, but it’s good to once again consider the military view of how to do this with success: build an elite team, encourage personnel at all levels to leave their comfort zone, know your mission, define success, demand professionalism, and build loyalty from both ends.
Of course, change takes time, it takes convincing, and it may take multiple iterations, but if you can build a mission-driven team committed to the end goal, and one whose trust is established, then even remotely operations management becomes a much smoother function. This is applicable through all facets discussed prior, whether regarding implementing new technologies, creating communication channels, or developing talent. From that point, as the change starts to become the standard, you can invest in building more remote capabilities that drive the organization in new, exciting directions.
Ultimately, when it comes to remote operations in the private sector or in the defense and military industry, there will be plenty of differences that are sprung from the specifics, but these five lessons can serve as a steadfast foundation to build remote operations and cultures that are designed not just for success, but for the future.