MANAGING
FOR SUCCESS

BY GARY M. STERN

FOR INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY

Posted 10/26/2007

Computers and digital lines are driving more workers off of crowded highways and into home offices — so they can telecommute.

But how do managers oversee employees they can't see?

Tutor.com, an online tutoring company with 1,800 off-site tutors scattered around the U.S., came up with an answer.

The New York City-based firm pairs tutors with students in the fourth through 12th grades. It devised a technology that allows managers, dubbed mentors, to review these online study sessions. There also is a feedback system so students and parents can rate their tutors. Moreover, the tech enables Tutor.com to schedule the right number of algebra and physics tutors at 8 p.m., for example, on any given night to teach pupils.

This is no small feat, because 99% of Tutor.com's employees function off-site and all students link with tutors via PCs. Success hinges on how the company's far-flung tutors perform, so its oversight tech has to work. The fact that it does work provides a model for other firms trying to manage remote staffs.

The firm's proprietary tech consists of two sets of software: one for reporting and one for managing its mentoring system. The reporting system provides easy access to reports on ratings and students and tutor comments. The mentoring part provides mentors and managers with access to a tutor's sessions for review.

How does Tutor.com use quality controls to ensure that each tutor is operating effectively?

"That is the $64,000 question," said George Cigale, the founder and CEO of Tutor.com, which launched in 2000 and has a staff of 55 people in Lower Manhattan.

He says customer feedback plays a big role. At Tutor.com, students or their parents rate each session on a 1 (lowest) to 5 (highest) scale, providing feedback for each tutor. Tutors who get the highest ratings are retained, while the lowest rates are dismissed.

Cigale thinks more schools should use the approach. "Our entire education system is based on the satisfaction of the customer," he said, "but the customer is never asked for feedback on their experience."

Tutor.com's 130 remote mentors review about one-quarter of all sessions. Mentors are guided by 10 critical objectives, including tutors' accuracy of content, ability to keep a positive outlook, and not providing answers to students, since they must learn material on their own.

"Mentors are there for quality control and support," said Joan Rooney, a Tutor.com vice president who also works remotely herself from Boston. "When you have a remote work force, you need to maintain connectivity and communication."

Use Instant Messaging

Most communication between mentor and tutor is done through instant messaging. Mentors learn to read between the lines in instant messaging.

"I can't see their physical reaction, but I have not found that to be a problem," Rooney said.

Tutors are trained carefully to provide feedback to students online. They are taught to summarize what students are doing well and to focus on only one or two areas for improvement.

Rooney holds a weekly staff conference call with her nine mentor coordinators. "We discuss every single project, share information and use that session as problem-solving," she said.

Many tutors and managers are Gen X and Gen Y members in their 20s and 30s. Most were raised in a world where instant messaging is as common as the telephone. "To most 20-year-olds, technology is how they communicate," Rooney said.

The company's 1,800 tutors are made up of undergrads and grad students, current and retired teachers, professionals in other fields and many stay-at-home moms. Tutors make $11 to $14 an hour or more if they become senior mentors.

Despite the feedback sessions and continual communication, retaining tutors poses problems. Since many tutors are undergrads and grad students, they move on to full-time jobs. The annual attrition rate of tutors is 20% to 30% a year.

What does it take to keep staff? Rooney says the key is giving them enough hours, new challenges and letting them become senior mentors to earn more money. To stir esprit de corps, mentors get a monthly newsletter and are selected as tutor and mentor of the month.

The bulk of the students that Tutor.com serves are in the sixth to ninth grades. Seventy percent come for math and science aid.

In the past, Tutor.com's business model depended on libraries paying a monthly fee of several thousand to a few hundred thousand dollars annually for the service, depending on their size. Students with library cards obtained tutoring at no cost.

But after six years, the firm began to reach out to individual students and parents who wanted to use the service when libraries were closed.

So far, the firm's ability to manage employees remotely is paying off. Tutor.com generated about $10 million in revenue last year, Cigale says.

Managing a remote staff poses many tricky issues, says Colleen Garton, co-author of "Managing Without Walls: Maximize Success With Virtual, Global and Cross-Cultural Teams."

"Being able to evaluate someone remotely can be quite difficult, because you're evaluating them based on what you hear more than what you see," Garton said. Moreover, managers have to walk a fine line of staying involved with employees, eschewing a laissez-faire attitude and yet not micromanaging them.

Even if the manager communicates with staff by telephone, the manager is losing "80% of nonverbal communication on the phone," Garton said. Managers therefore must train themselves to be alert to verbal cues, such as tonal changes in the voice and long and short pauses, and to read the subtext of each conversation.

Remote Managing 101

Garton has some tips for managers on overseeing remote staff.

Don't just talk about work. In managing remotely, many managers don't want to waste time; they get right down to business and overlook building rapport. Asking how your weekend was or how your favorite sports team did is just as important when managing remotely as it is face-to-face.

If a manager needs to offer constructive performance feedback, don't postpone it. Too many managers defer giving feedback on the phone or online and then just let it go.

When managing remotely, focus on active listening. Ask probing questions. If a manager has given constructive feedback, he should ask what the employee thinks about it — since he can't see his facial expressions and body language.

Garton says more industries will try managing remote staffs. "If managed right," she said, "working off-site offers better work-life balance, greater flexibility, an ability for employees to choose where they want to live, and even cuts down on commuting time."

Updated! — Fear Not, Be Bullish By Fisher Investments
Global equities moved nicely higher in the second quarter. As we forecast in January, stocks are well on their way to a good or perhaps great year. We expect the bull market run will continue in the back half of the year.  Full Story

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