How do you verify remote or field employees are actually working when you can't see them?

[ShahrozS]

Running into this with my own team. Someone's supposedly on-site or working remote, and I have no real way to confirm it beyond their word and a timesheet. Feels like I'm either trusting blindly or being paranoid, no middle ground.


Curious how other small business owners handle this. Do you use any kind of tracking, rely purely on trust, or something else entirely? What's actually worked for you without making people feel watched?

 

[PetraAnn]

Are you seeing work get done? Then you have your answer.

 

[bartosimpsonio]

Deliveries

I couldn't care less if they work 15 minutes a week if they deliver what I need

 

[newcat00]

as long they working their role and delivering what they paid for why being paranoid ? not delivering is the problem

 

[Stavro]

If you're paying someone to stand at the front door greeting people, I'm sure tracking would be useful.

Since I'm paying for actual work to be done, I care about output, not babysitting. If the client has a problem, tracking a contractor's GPS and phone time isn't going to fix anything.

 

[ShahrozS]

Are you seeing work get done? Then you have your answer.

Fair point for most roles. Gets trickier with client-facing or field work where "results" aren't visible day-to-day until it's too late.

as long they working their role and delivering what they paid for why being paranoid ? not delivering is the problem

Not paranoia so much as needing proof for clients/payroll, not just my own peace of mind. Output alone doesn't always answer "were they actually there.

 

[Venusaur]

If you are like that with your employees, I don't want to be your girlfriend bro

If a good work is being done on time, everything else doesn't matter

 

[ShahrozS]

If you're paying someone to stand at the front door greeting people, I'm sure tracking would be useful.

Since I'm paying for actual work to be done, I care about output, not babysitting. If the client has a problem, tracking a contractor's GPS and phone time isn't going to fix anything.

That's actually closer to my case, on-site presence itself is part of what's being paid for and billed to a client. Output-only logic works great for remote knowledge work, less so when location is literally part of the deliverable.

 

[PetraAnn]

Fair point for most roles. Gets trickier with client-facing or field work where "results" aren't visible day-to-day until it's too late.


Not paranoia so much as needing proof for clients/payroll, not just my own peace of mind. Output alone doesn't always answer "were they actually there.

1.) use multi quote instead of making multiple replies. You'll end up earning yourself a warning for post count spam.

2.) same with clients. if you do regular check-ins and they're happy with the results/deliveries then the employee is doing their work. I would assume you'd have regular check-ins with the client and/or the employee. Maybe milestones or points where they're sharing progress? If not, that's on you.

 

[ShahrozS]

If you are like that with your employees, I don't want to be your girlfriend bro

If a good work is being done on time, everything else doesn't matter

Ha, fair enough. To be clear it's not about micromanaging, more about having proof when a client or payroll needs it, not judging how someone spends their day.

 

[ShahrozS]

1.) use multi quote instead of making multiple replies. You'll end up earning yourself a warning for post count spam.

2.) same with clients. if you do regular check-ins and they're happy with the results/deliveries then the employee is doing their work. I would assume you'd have regular check-ins with the client and/or the employee. Maybe milestones or points where they're sharing progress? If not, that's on you.

Fair on both counts, good call on quoting instead of stacking replies, noted for future posts.


And yeah, that's fair too. Regular check-ins/milestones with the client would solve most of this. Guess my actual question is more about scaling that past a handful of people, at 5-10 people manual check-ins work, but it gets messy fast once a team's fully remote/field-based and check-ins alone don't scale well.

 

[Stavro]

That's actually closer to my case, on-site presence itself is part of what's being paid for and billed to a client. Output-only logic works great for remote knowledge work, less so when location is literally part of the deliverable.

I'm in a repair niche, so the only metric that matters to me is 'is the repair finished properly'. If they take a break for lunch or spend time on their phone, chances are they're frustrated and need a break, or maybe they're stuck and need to look up the problem.

 

[ShahrozS]

I'm in a repair niche, so the only metric that matters to me is 'is the repair finished properly'. If they take a break for lunch or spend time on their phone, chances are they're frustrated and need a break, or maybe they're stuck and need to look up the problem.

I agree. If the repair is done right, that's what matters.


My case is a little different because clients are paying for on site service, so being able to verify attendance is part of the job. I'm not interested in tracking every break, just having an accurate record of who was where and when.

 

[Powerful Tiger Ads]

Running into this with my own team. Someone's supposedly on-site or working remote, and I have no real way to confirm it beyond their word and a timesheet. Feels like I'm either trusting blindly or being paranoid, no middle ground.


Curious how other small business owners handle this. Do you use any kind of tracking, rely purely on trust, or something else entirely? What's actually worked for you without making people feel watched?

If you don’t trust your employees and have to constantly monitor every step they take, it might be better to do the work yourself.

A little more trust can go a long way. You can give them more responsibility and regularly check their results instead of watching every process.

 

[1SEOWarrior]

If you understand the job then you know whether it is done or not. Experienced person can understand how much time and effort needed to complete a task.

 

[johnyow416]

Use upwork.com
they have time and activity tracking software.

 

[Oubastet]

honestly i mostly rely on trust + clear deliverables, and i only ask for proof when something doesn’t add up.

 

[ShahrozS]

honestly i mostly rely on trust + clear deliverables, and i only ask for proof when something doesn’t add up.

I think that's a fair approach. Trust is important, especially when your team has proven they're reliable. My concern is mainly those situations where a client asks for details weeks later and nobody remembers exactly what happened. Having a record can save a lot of back and forth.

 

[ShahrozS]

If you understand the job then you know whether it is done or not. Experienced person can understand how much time and effort needed to complete a task.

That's true when the outcome is all that matters. In my case, clients are paying for on site service as well, so knowing when someone arrived and left is part of the record, not just whether the work was completed.

 

[ShahrozS]

If you don’t trust your employees and have to constantly monitor every step they take, it might be better to do the work yourself.

A little more trust can go a long way. You can give them more responsibility and regularly check their results instead of watching every process.

I agree that trust is important, and I don't think constant monitoring creates a healthy workplace. My point is more about having accurate records when clients, payroll, or billing depend on them. For me, it's not about watching every step, it's about avoiding disputes later with clear information.