HOW DO YOU MANAGE AN OFF-

SITE TEAM?

Prepared By : Zankhna Desai- AHRM for HR

Leaders, IIM Indore Batch 2021
 BACKGROUND:

This case study presents a problem in communication and conflict between two off- site coworkers Allison Scher and
Penelope Ryan. A series of emails have exposed a difficult situation between two colleagues and also the lack of
experience in managing off site teams.

Company Name : Impressions Corporation

Maggie Pinto : Head of HR

Craig Bedell : Head of the Business-to-Business Division

Allison Scher : Co-worker working off-site on Pnobscott campaign

Penelope Ryan : Co-worker working off-site on Pnobscott campaign

 KEY INSIGHTS

• Penny & Allison are working on Pnobscott Campaign. Penny contradicted Allison in front of Client representative.
When Allison was explaining the timing of the rollout, and Penny jumped in and said, “No, Allison, that’s not right.
We’re using this schedule.” And then she handed the client a printout with a schedule Allison had never even seen,
much less agreed to.
• Penny was taking decisions regarding the Pnobscott account without discussing with Allison and then embarrassed
her in front of the client.
• When Allison voiced her concerns to Penny, she said she had difficulty with her E-mail.
• Allison had been working outside of the office for over a year so she know that it is not that difficult to stay in touch
so she concluded that Penny’s behavior is not about being off-site—it is some kind of personal dispute against her
and other members of the team. Other members of the team who are off-site feel the same way.
• Allison has clearly escalated the issues with Penny to Craig that If this situation is not resolved soon, she will have
to consider alternative employment.
 KEY INSIGHTS

• Penny had lied to a client about why a campaign had come in over budget. She said that Penny had alluded to the
client that it was Allison’s fault.
• Allison was having marital problems but Craig thought that initial issues between both of them must be because of
displaced anger.
• Allison and Penny were part of the group that designed the FrancoLine campaign, the one that received the AdVice
award from the trade association. They were all lovey-dovey during that campaign.
• Allison has clearly stated in her mail to Craig that Penny is not her supervisor but still she behaves as if she were,
causing stress within team and making them feel like they are giving subpar service to the client. And She has also
insinuated, on several occasions, that her performance review and bonus will be affected if she do not obey her
instructions.
• Allison shared in her mail that I (we) am not going to be able to deliver a seamless public-relations campaign to this
client on time. I (we) will not be able to deliver any sort of coherent campaign to them at all if I have to spend
90% of my time defending myself in front of the client and responding to allegations that she makes privately and in
the team’s intranet chat room.
 PROBLEMS :

• Craig has two unhappy off site employees-Penny & Allison .The problem is that these two employees are angered
and aggravated by one another.
• His off-site program emerged due to different situations in the last couple of years, and although it seems to work
fine and is giving satisfactory results, he has lost the connection with the members of the team.
• Craig has relied heavily on alternative forms of communication (email, voicemail) and preconceived beliefs (past
behaviors of Allison) to manage the situation.
• Allison and Penny are not happy about their team performance and collaboration.
• They have attempted to communicate with Craig through several emails but the situation has gotten out of hand.
• It is important to understand that management should not be different when managing in site or out site teams, on
the contrary managing outside team requires the same commitment and more than when in a traditional office
environment.
 PROBLEMS :

• Telecommuting and flextime arrangements of employees take shape without Carige’s guidance, his team is
working without his’s clear direction, and conflicts taken their course without his input
• Electronic communication should never replace face to face interaction. Electronic communications are faster, and
efficient ways to communicate with the team but, it will never allow us to have the insight that is possible to
obtain when looking at each other reactions, body language, facial expressions and tone of voice.
• In this case, it is evident that an organization that allows such a structure must enforce more effective planning and
management skills compared to the conventional workplace.
• Craig’s lack of experience and no managerial structure in place arose this situation and Craig and Maggie have
failed to handle the situation between Allison and Penny.
• The company has no assessment process to determine whether an employee is a suitable candidate for an
alternative work arrangement.
 SOLUTION :

• Off-site team has to be established with the rules of operating, tracking of behaviour, Productivity & Interrelationships, require clear
guidelines on team hierarchy, establishment of formal organizational authority and responsibility.
• When managing off site teams a more “rigorous” approach is needed, because the team is depending in great manner of electronic
communications, and a simple disagreement can escalate unnecessarily.
• Appoint Team Leader based on the skills and experience, not his or her accessibility and makes the choice official at the team meeting.
• Occasional meetings required sharing the opinions & concerns of employees.
• Craig really needs to change his management style- speak openly with employees & meet them in face, speak with them more often and
investigate and ask what was happening between them and with project.
• To avoid allowing small misunderstanding to become major conflagration, resolve to rely on the most effective communication
methods.
 SOLUTION :

• Need to set up a formal review schedule to track the team’s progress on the various projects, all the team members should
participate in this meeting face to face or at least by telephone.
• The problem in this case have less to do with employees working off-site than with Craige’s management style so He need to take
training to become better Business Division Head. He needs better understanding of what going on, needs to develop clear work
process for his employees to follow and needs to improve his relationship & communication skill.
• HR Head –Pinto should plan formal training, should include how to establish and communicate clear, realistic objectives and
expectations; how to define what work is due when; how to give ongoing, clear, and specific feedback to their employees; how to
demonstrate openness and loyalty; and how to mentor workers to be self-starters. For Off-site employees- Training required for
“how to communicate and work effectively away from the office”. And for on-site employees- Training to work effectively in the
new environment.
• Company should offer clear guidelines that explain when people must be “at work” and when they are at liberty to handle personal
affairs.
 CONCLUSION:

When a company has clear policies and guidelines on team hierarchy, a strong training program in place, a
commitment to open & honest communication and rules of operating off-site work arrangements can result in increased
productivity and higher moral for all concerned as being able to work at home part of the time allows them a better
balance between work and home life.