Mick Hager column: Figure out if employees are suited to telecommute By Mick Hager
As an organization you might be considering allowing some of your most trusted and competent employees the privilege of telecommuting. So what are the key issues for allowing workers to telecommute?
First of all, your most important issue is not whether they have a proper space at home in which to work. Here are some things to think about:
Has the employee completely mastered the job and has he demonstrated a high level of trustworthiness? I'll say it again, "Slackers need not apply."
Do you have clear work standards that are observable and measurable? In other words, how will you hold the employee accountable for getting the work done?
How will you guarantee the employee is available when needed? Consider making certain days of the week "commute days" where the employee is physically on site. Also consider core hours that they must be available by phone or messaging.
From an employer perspective, the most important issue is that the employee gets the job done effectively. So what are the issues for good employees who are thinking about telecommuting?
Maytag Man Syndrome: Prepare to be lonely. Telecommuting is not for people who have a need to socialize at work.
Self-discipline: If you're a highly motivated go-getter who needs little direction or pushing to get the job done you have what it takes to telecommute. If you find yourself anything short of being highly organized and able to stick to it and "Git-R-Done" then forget it—telecommuting isn't for you.
Distractions: Absolutely critical to your success will be your ability to get rid of distractions so that you remain focused on your work. Kids, dogs, TV's, visitors, personal phone calls all have to go.
The bottom line: Telecommuting isn't fun and games. It's about having the discipline to get the job done in an environment lacking structure.
Next time: The benefits of telecommuting for employers/employees.
INTERNET LAW - TELECOMMUTING AND UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFIT CLAIMS
Staff Attorneys, IBLS Editorial Board Maxine Allen v. Commissioner of Labor established a New York State precedent regarding the eligibility of telecommuters to receive unemployment benefits. The case concerned Maxine Allen, a telecommuter who worked for a Long Island employer from her home office in Florida. The labor case eventually reached New York's Court of Appeals which ruled that the location of the telecommuting worker is the key determinative factor regarding a worker's eligibility to receive unemployment benefits in the state to which the worker applied, as opposed to the location of the employer. In 2003, the New York Court of Appeals held that physical presence governs eligibility for unemployment insurance benefits, as opposed to the location of the employer's offices.
The case involved Maxine Allen, an employee of Reuters America Inc. She had worked for the company for less than a year in Long Island when her husband's position was transferred to Florida. At that point, she came to an agreement with her employer that she would work from her home office in Florida, and the employer was to supply the necessary equipment and access to the corporation's mainframe computer in New York.
This telecommuting agreement was in force from July 1997 until March 1999, at which point the agreement was terminated. Although Allen was offered to relocate back to New York, she declined on account of her husband's position in Florida. When Allen sought to claim unemployment benefit in Florida, her application was denied on the basis that she voluntarily left her job without good cause. The Florida Department of Labor and Employment Security advised Allen that she would qualify for benefits in New York.
NY Unemployment Insurance Appeal Board held that Allen was ineligible for benefits in New York because her work performance took place in Florida. The case was finally determined by New York's Court of Appeals. The Court of Appeals held that an individual's physical presence is the localization determining factor when interpreting and applying subsection 511 of the Labor Law Code to interstate telecommuters. Since Allen was regularly present in Florida, she was held to be localized there. The claimant was held to be ineligible for New York unemployment insurance benefits.
On what basis did the Court of Appeals reach its decision? The court based its decision on a four-pronged test for determining the applicability of New York labor law: (1) localization; (2) location of base of operations; (3) source of directions or control; and (4) employee's residence.
How was Allen's employment as a telecommuter classified in terms of its localization by New York's Court of Appeals? Allen argued that to claim employment benefits, she was not required to have physical presence in New York because her entire services were performed on Reuter's mainframe computer which was located in New York. Applying the above-mentioned test, the New York's Court of Appeals rejected Allen's argument holding that Allen's residence outside of New York precluded her from receiving unemployment benefits in New York.
What are the ramifications of this holding? According to statistics published by the International Telework Association and Council, approximately 28 million Americans telecommute. This ruling sets a clear precedent (which is only binding in New York) that telecommuters should seek unemployment benefits from the state where they physically work as opposed to the state where their employer is located. In addition, it is advisable for telecommuters to negotiate with their employers to determine, in advance, the state in which their employment is situated, thus avoiding future disputes.
Posted By admin On August 23, 2008 @ 1:55 am In Uncategorized | No Comments
TELECOMMUTING AGREEMENT
The following constitutes an agreement between [Your Business] and [Employee].
[Employee] agrees to participate in the telecommuting program and to adhere to the applicable guidelines and policies. [Your Business] concurs with the employee's participation and agrees to adhere to the applicable guidelines and policies.
Terms and conditions. The telecommuting agreement is subject to the following terms and conditions:
Duration. This agreement will be valid for a period of [specify term] beginning on [start date] and ending on [end date]. At the end of that time, both parties will participate in a review which can result in the reactivation of the agreement.
Work hours. Employee's work hours and work location are specified in the Attachment at the end of this agreement.
Pay and attendance. All pay, leave and travel entitlement will be based on the employee's primary business location. Employee's time and attendance will be recorded as performing official duties at the primary business location.
Leave. Employees must obtain approval before taking leave in accordance with established office procedures. By signing this form, employee agrees to follow established procedures for requesting and obtaining approval of leave.
Overtime. The employee will continue to work in pay status while working at the home office. An employee who works overtime that has been ordered and approved in advance will be compensated in accordance with applicable law and rules. The employee understands that [Your Business] will not accept the results of unapproved overtime work and will act vigorously to discourage it.
By signing this agreement, the employee agrees that failing to obtain proper approval for overtime work may result in removal from the telecommuting program or other appropriate action.
Business owned equipment. In order to effectively perform their assigned tasks, employees may use [Your Business] equipment at the telecommuting location with the approval of [Your Business]. The equipment must be protected against damage and unauthorized use. [Your Business] owned equipment will be serviced and maintained by [Your Business]. Any equipment provided by the employee will be at no cost to [Your Business], and will be maintained by the employee.
Inspection. The telecommuting location will be inspected periodically to ensure that proper maintenance of [Your Business] equipment is performed, and that safety standards are met. Notice must be given to the employee at least 24 hours in advance of the inspection, which must occur during normal working hours.
Liability. [Your Business] will not be liable for damages to the employees' property that result from participation in the telecommuting program.
Reimbursement. [Your Business] will not be responsible for operating costs, home maintenance, or any other incidental cost (e.g., utilities) whatsoever, associated with the use of the employee's residence. The employee does not relinquish any entitlement to reimbursement for authorized expenses incurred while conducting business for [Your Business].
Workers' Compensation. The employee is covered under the Workers' Compensation Law if injured in the course of performing official duties at the telecommuting location.
Work assignments. The employee will meet with [designate contact person] to receive assignments and to review completed work as necessary or appropriate. The employee will complete all assigned work according to work procedures mutually agreed upon by the employee and [the contact person] according to guidelines and standards stated in the employee's performance plan.
Employee evaluation. The evaluation of the employee's job performance will be based on norms or other criteria derived from past performance and occupational standards consistent with these guidelines. For those assignments without precedent or without standards, regular and required progress reporting by the employee will be used to rate job performance and establish standards. The employee's most recent performance appraisal must indicate fully achieved standards.
Records. The employee will apply approved safeguards to protect [Your Business] records from unauthorized disclosure or damage. Work done at the telecommuting location is considered [Your Business] business. All records, papers, computer files, and correspondence must be safeguarded for their return to the primary business location.
Curtailment of the agreement. [Specify whether the employee may continue working for your business if the employee no longer wishes to telecommute. Also specify the circumstances under which the telecommuting agreement will be terminated by your business (e.g., if continued participation fails to satisfy business needs) and the consequences of that termination on the worker's continued employment.]
Performance location. The employee agrees to limit performance of assigned duties to the primary business location or to the approved home location. Failure to comply with this provision may result in termination of the telecommuting agreement and/or other appropriate disciplinary action.
Employers find mutual benefit in hiring older workers
Brian Morton
Canwest News Service
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
CREDIT: Glenn Baglo, Canwest News Service
Fiona Barry works from her Vancouver-area home office. Her company, Metasoft, has won an award for its efforts at hiring people over 50.
VANCOUVER - Fiona Barry sees absolutely no reason to quit her full-time job with Metasoft Systems Inc. and settle into the "golden" years of retirement.
After all, Ms. Barry -- who was hired by the Vancouver-based firm nine years ago at 58 -- has the best of both worlds. She not only earns a full-time salary, but rises early most mornings and takes a short walk to her home office, where she works as a sales account manager and takes in a lovely view from her office window.
But Ms. Barry is lucky to work for a company that, along with several other Canadian companies, has been singled out for being a top employer of people over 50.
She is also part of a growing wave of employees whose employers are making special efforts to both accommodate existing and new staff members aged 50 and over. Companies are offering such progressive options as home offices, flexible hours and compressed work weeks -- arrangements that are particularly appealing to older workers.
In Ms. Barry's case, she works four of five days each week from home, largely setting her own hours so she can spend more time with her husband and family, including helping out with her young grandson when the need arises.
"This is wonderful, this is a great company to work for," Ms. Barry said in an interview. "They recognize older people's skills, no question about it. And a home office is very important to me. It makes it much easier for me to plan my day so that I'm not restricted to nine to five. This is absolutely a huge advantage. Not having to commute gives me extra time for everything. And I've got an office with a view.
"I'm taking this six months at a time, but I plan on working here as long as I'm successful with them." Metasoft, a high-tech software company that provides funding information and services for the non-profit sector, recently received a Best Employer Award for 50-plus Canadians from the Workplace Institute, a Toronto-based consulting and research firm specializing in the mature workforce.
According to a news release, criteria for the awards are excellence in the areas of hiring, training, career development, health care, employee and family benefits, retirement policy, pensions and pre- and post-retirement support systems.
The average age of all staff is about 40 at Metasoft, which provides an online database of over 100,000 funders for non-profits in Canada, the United States and Britain.
In 2003, Metasoft initiated its work-from-home program, an initiative that has resulted in 18 per cent of its 81 workers working from home full-time and another six per cent part-time.
The reduced amount of time spent commuting, and the ability to work flexible hours, equates to more quality time with family, other interests and hobbies, the company says.
"We introduced (telecommuting options) three years ago and it's been an overwhelming success. It's a great retention strategy. It also provides savings for both the company and employee. In many cases, they work better.," Metasoft president and CEO Trevor Skillen said in an interview.
Employees may apply for an unpaid leave of absence at any time, allowing for extra vacations -- something that is often appreciated by the mature worker who (like Ms. Barry) has a retired partner, or young family living at a distance.
"We find mature workers bring a lot of talent and expertise to the table," said Mr. Skillen. "You get a lot of accumulated expertise, focused energy."
Mr. Skillen said his company now has five employees over 65, including Bill Barratt, their manager of grant development services, who was hired at 66 and just turned 70. "He gave me a five-year plan last week. He's not planning on leaving."
Mr. Skillen said two of their top three sales people are over 60 and that they're committed and passionate about their work. "I can't think of any downsides. I really don't know why (other) companies aren't focused on this end of the market."
Most of Mr. Skillen's staff -- including those over 50 -- work full-time, he added, although the company is considering job-sharing as an option.
According to Metasoft, 27 per cent of their employees are over 50 (compared to 16.9 per cent on average in Canada).
Mr. Skillen said their older workers also provide a great balance for their younger employees, who bring curiosity and innovation to the company.
Older workers, however, often face unique challenges, such as retraining in the information technology field, he added. Two of Metasoft's top sales representatives, both over 50, didn't know how to turn on a computer when they started.
Ms. Barry, who previously worked in the hospitality industry, understands that. "I went in for an interview and they were very good at accepting me and teaching me computer skills. People over 55 have to get their computer skills up to scratch."
Ms. Barry feels a lot of companies are "missing the boat bigtime" by not hiring more older workers. "If more companies offered people over 55 the choice to work from home and then send them on a computer course, they'd get a lot of good people. Plus, the turnover is small."
Barbara Jaworski, president of the Workplace Institute, said in an interview that Canadian companies are starting to look at older workers as a valid option because of the looming talent shortage.
TOM WALSH Job-creation breaks OK'd today; may supply 6,800 positions
BY TOM WALSH • FREE PRESS COLUMNIST • August 19, 2008
Twenty new business locations or expansion projects that promise to create more than 6,800 jobs in Michigan are expected to be granted tax incentives today by the Michigan Economic Growth Authority. Advertisement
Gov. Jennifer Granholm said today's batch of MEGA projects marks the second straight record month of job-creation projects using an expanded toolbox of incentives designed to diversify Michigan's economy away from its historic reliance on the automobile industry.
Six of the 20 projects are in Wayne and Oakland counties, ranging from an expansion by Troy-based staffing firm Kelly Services that is expected to create 572 jobs, to a new Van Buren Township facility for Ricardo Inc., a high-tech outfit involved in emissions and battery testing. The 45 new jobs at Ricardo are expected to pay an average of $84,000 a year.
A flurry of job-creating expansions and other activity for two months does not constitute a full-blown rebound for Michigan's still-troubled economy. But Granholm does see it as a response to more robust incentives for attracting business in advanced energy, military and other growing sectors. "And we've had a more aggressive outreach by the Michigan Economic Development Corp. to attract different kinds of businesses," she said in an interview Monday.
Here are details of the six projects in Wayne and Oakland counties expected to win MEGA board approval today:
• Testec Inc., a manufacturer of equipment for the aviation industry, plans to move from Livonia to larger quarters in Wixom, investing $5.3 million and creating 27 jobs. The company considered locations in Virginia, Texas and North Carolina.
• Kelly Services is adding 400 jobs to its Kelly Connect operation, which provides call center staffers working from home. Utah was the chief competitor for the Kelly Connect expansion. In addition, the firm is investing $7.8 million to consolidate other operations in a nearby Troy building, adding 172 more jobs.
• Danotek Motion Technologies of Plymouth Township is adding 141 jobs in an expansion.
• Redico Holdings is investing $68 million and creating 206 jobs, and will be awarded a brownfield tax credit to redevelop the site of the former Montgomery Ward store in Dearborn with a mixed-use project that will include medical offices, retail and residential units.
• Ricardo Inc. of Van Buren Township already has a new battery-testing development under way, and is now considering a rolling chassis dynamometer facility for emissions testing. The Van Buren Township site is competing with two German locations of parent firm Ricardo plc for the $12.3-million expansion.
• Plymouth-based Aisin Technical Center of America plans to create 82 jobs with an $8.6-million expansion. Like other Japanese-owned auto companies and suppliers, Aisin located and expanded its research and development activities in the Detroit area. Its new jobs are expected to pay an average of more than $66,000 a year.
Granholm said the 20 projects are spread across the state, including some in Ann Arbor and a $59-million investment by Eberspacher North America of Brighton, a German-owned firm that makes exhaust products to improve vehicle emissions. That ENA project is to create 105 jobs and retain 171 others. She would not provide further specifics.
In July, the MEGA board approved incentives for projects expected to create 3,382 direct new jobs and 3,635 spinoff jobs in those communities. The August projects approved today are expected to create 6,853 direct jobs and 2,642 spinoff jobs.
Contact TOM WALSH at 313-223-4430 or twalsh@freepress.com.
In my half-dozen years as a telecommuter, I've found widely varying managerial attitudes toward the practice. I go to great pains to tell my current manager when I'll be out running errands at lunch time, information I don't feel compelled to share when I work at the office. Though I suspect she doesn't give a hoot — and she's said as much — I find the disclosure habit a hard one to break because a former manager wanted me to check in frequently if I worked at home.
To be fair, no one at my previous job used instant messaging, which makes it much easier to stay in essentially constant contact with co-workers whether or not you're in the same building. But that former boss also had a tendency to micro-manage. Several of us papered our work spaces in Dilbert cartoons in a lame and mild form of protest; he either didn't notice or (more likely) didn't care.
With hefty fuel prices leading to an increased interest in telecommuting, more managers will need to come to terms with any mixed feelings they have about it. In the positive column for employers: reduced real-estate costs, a more flexible workforce, improved disaster-recovery capabilities, and happier and hopefully more productive employees.
Inthe negative column: security concerns, possible negative impacts on coworker relationships, and a lingering suspicion that some employees may indulge a daytime TV habit instead of working.
Indeed, the latter concern is relevant. Check out what our self-described "crotchety manager" Ken Hardin wrote about telecommuting earlier this summer:
… telecommuting is not for everybody. If it were, companies would not be recoiling from it, despite workers' and staffing companies' contentions that telecommuting makes everybody more productive. Companies like productivity. As much as I like telecommuting for my teams, I can't do it myself, beyond an hour or so in the evening just to catch up. The great joys/banes of my existence – my TV and my fridge – are at my house. I have to get away.
In my experience, folks who have trouble staying on task at home generally realize it (like Ken) and just report to the office where they can focus. But that may not be possible for everyone. Some companies prefer to hire home-based contact center agents, and freelancers generally work from home (unless they have access to a shared workspace).
No worries. According to Wall Street Journal columnist Sue Shellenbarger, companies are "stepping up electronic monitoring and oversight of tens of thousands of home-based independent contractors," utilizing technologies that count computer keystrokes, collect screen shots and sometimes snap photos of workers at their keyboards.
One such system at oDesk.com, a professional network of 90,000 computer programmers, network admins, graphic designers, writers and others, takes random snapshots of workers' computer screens six times an hour, records keystrokes and mouse clicks and can produce optional photos of freelancers at work. Workers see a small icon at the bottom of their screens each time a screen shot is taken. Clients can log into the system and see whether contractors are working, what they're doing and how long it's taking them. Says the company's CEO:
You can't play Blackjack. You can't watch YouTube. Why? Because I'm watching you work.
Not surprisingly, some folks find this kind of system a little too Orwellian for their tastes. Peter Weddle, a consultant, author and researcher on employment Web sites, tells Shellenbarger that work-at-home professionals "don't need someone looking over their shoulders."
The column also mentions Arise.com, a company that routes calls to its 8,000 home-based agents constantly and suggests the workers schedule a half-hour off the clock for bathroom breaks a few times throughout the day. Working Solutions uses sophisticated speech analytics technology to detect barking dogs, wailing babies and other unwelcome background noise on its home-based agents' calls.
Many companies reject keystroke monitoring, screen shots and photos as too intrusive for keeping tabs on their own home-based workers, writes Shellenbarger. But as more employees stay home, use of electronic monitoring technologies may become more common. And, Shellenbarger writes, "the home office, long regarded as a calmer place to work, may evolve into just another office, fraught with the same constraints as a corporate cubicle."
Perhaps the best advice, again from crotchety Ken Hardin, is to establish expectations up-front with telecommuting employees. His rule of thumb: Assuming they have the same responsibilities, a telecommuting employee's schedule should be no more flexible than an in-office's employee's schedule.
( Telecommuters should be given a tasks that must be delivered within a certain time constraints. Telecommuting is about productivity and the ability to perform, not about where, when, and how many keystrokes it took to complete the assigned task. )
There are going to be a lot of things on the plate of whomever is elected president in November: Iraq, Afghanistan, energy, terrorism, climate change, national economic revitalization … the list could just go on forever.
But we're not going to let that stop us from adding one more thing for either President McCain or President Obama to tackle next January: a national broadband policy.
Wiring all of America for access to the Internet at true broadband speeds, we would argue, is as important now as bringing electricity to rural America was for President Franklin Roosevelt in the 1930s.
When FDR became president in 1933 in the grip of the Great Depression, great swaths of the nation were still stuck in the 19th century from a technological perspective. While the nation's cities had electricity, America's rural heartland, for the most part, didn't. Much of rural America was poor; some areas such as Appalachia and the Tennessee River Valley were mired in bone-grinding poverty.
The electric power companies had wired the nation's cities and urban areas, where the work could be done quickly and inexpensively. But when it came to bring electricity to the heartland, their refrain was a familiar one: It's too expensive … the capital investment is too high and the possible return is too low … it will cost us too much money, money we have but don't want to give up.
FDR's advisers realized that, at that thinking, the vast majority of America would take decades to modernize, with potentially catastrophic social consequences. They knew that affordable electricity had to come to rural America, so on May 11, 1935, the Rural Electrification Administration was born with the sole mission of electrifying the whole of rural America.
The rest, as the tired cliché goes, is history.
Today, affordable broadband Internet access is as crucial to 21st century economic development as affordable electricity was in the 1930s. Unbelievably, the federal government — the level at which policy of such scope is formulated — has no vision or plan for making true broadband Internet accessible across the country.
That has to change.
According to a study done by the Communications Workers of America's Speedmatters.org project, America ranks far behind nations such as Japan, South Korea and France for the average speed at which the Internet is accessed. According to the report, the average download speed in the United States in 2008 is 2.34 megabits per second, up from 1.97 last year.
And where did our competitors rank? Japan has a median download rate of 63.6 mbps, South Korea, 49.5 mbps and France, 17 mpbs.
Even more troubling was the statistic that dial-up — yes, dial-up, folks — is how 15 percent of Americans still get online, either by choice because broadband is too expensive or because it's their only option.
Affordable broadband access would bring a multitude of benefits to rural America: renewed economic vigor, enhanced educational opportunities through distance learning programs, social networking, commerce … it's endless.
Global commerce is moving online at breakneck speeds. In the not-too-distant future, a company will hire employees and not expect them to live where the job is; telecommuting is on the radar screens of national policymakers and corporate chieftans, but only where affordable broadband is available. ( Does that mean people in the United States will be able to apply for a positions in Brazil, Russia, India and China etc.? Where individuals not just organizations will need to be globally competitive. The citizens of the United States need to get busy, and not just putting fiber in the ground).
There are a myriad of means by which the federal government could bring a vision of national access to affordable broadband to reality: public/private partnerships, tax incentives for Internet providers to invest in the needed infrastructure in rural areas, public investment in new technologies.
America needs broadband access at speeds comparable to the rest of the developed world. It needs to be affordable, and it needs to be universal.
It's as much a matter of national security as energy policy or winning the war on terrorism.
By CATHERINE TSAI, The Associated Press 2008-08-16 00:35:37.0 Current rank: # 2,822 of 4,439
DENVER -
The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in Colorado inched up to 5.2 percent in July, the highest the jobless rate has been since June 2005, state labor officials said Friday.
The rate is essentially unchanged from 5.1 percent in June but up from 3.8 percent in July 2007.
The national unemployment rate was 5.7 percent in July 2008.
Colorado Department of Labor and Employment Executive Director Donald Mares said a scarcity of jobs in construction, trade and other sectors that might hire young people in the summer contributed to the rise.
About 144,100 residents were unsuccessfully looking for work in July, up by nearly 41,000 from a year ago, the labor department said.
Meanwhile, first-time unemployment claims are up 14 percent this year through July from the same period last year.
"It's not nearly the notch up we had in '01, '02, '03, but it's a blip upward to be sure," said Joe Winter, senior economist with the department. There were roughly 30,000 unemployment claims in July, while there was a peak of about 56,000 by mid-2002, Winter said.
Telluride resident Michael Mowery, 39, said he recently filed for unemployment benefits after getting laid off Aug. 4 as a telecommuting software developer. He said he learned of the dismissal the day after returning from a business trip to Hungary where he essentially trained his replacements. ( What was he thinking? An expert in the field (and I use that term loosely) and he had to go to Hungary????? Hello....)
"I saw it coming," Mowery said. "Every team had cuts. Our team hadn't had cuts."
He said he aims to freelance to replace the $82,000 salary he earned that helped him pay his share of the $2,300 rent he splits with his partner.
"Telluride has appetizers that start at $10," he said. "The standard of living in Telluride is just expensive. That's the cost of paradise."
Colorado's jobless rate was still lower than the national rate in July, in part because Colorado has been helped by natural gas exploration on the Western Slope and solid employment in professional and business services, Winter said.
"We are being affected by the same doldrums you see in the national economy, but Colorado is not being beat up quite as much as the nation as a whole," Winter said. "We're slowing down as the rest of the country is slowing down, but not to the same degree."
Staff Photo by Tim Barber Lori Holcomb, a customer service specialist for Unum, works in her office at home in Soddy-Daisy.
Ms. Holcomb, 32, is one of about 270 Chattanooga-based Unum Group employees who work from their homes.
A customer service specialist with Unum since 2000, she helped launch the "teleworker" programin 2003 and has been fielding calls from a computer workstation in her Soddy-Daisy bedroom ever since.
"Since I started working from home, my productivity increased 20 percent," Ms. Holcomb said. "I don't have the interruptions that I do in the office."
Marie Clements, vice president of Human Resource Strategies for Unum, said Ms. Holcomb's increased productivity is typical of those who work from their residences.
"We're seeing a 10 to 20 percent increase in productivity from our teleworkers," Ms. Clements said. "On top of that, we see that those employees also have an increased loyalty to the company."
John Sorrow, president of Cigna Healthcare for the Mid-South region, said technology has enabled about 300 of the insurer's 2,000 Chattanooga employees to work remotely.
By the numbers
840 million - gallons of gas saved annually in the U.S. by people working from home.
60 - percent of the U.S. work force that reported in a poll that telecommuting, at least part-time, is "the ideal work situation."
7.4 - percent of U.S. employees that worked from home in 1994.
17.3 - percent of U.S. employees that worked from home in 2004.
Sources: Environmental Leader, Hudson Employment Index and the Bureau of Labor Statistics
"As long as technology improves, it really allows us to provide something our work force has been asking for — a greater work-life balance," Mr. Sorrow said.
Allowing employees to work from home makes them happier and more productive, officials said, which is why Cigna's at-home workers increased from about 5 percent of Cigna's local work force to about 15 percent in the last two years.
"It's a growing trend," Mr. Sorrow said. "For the employees that work at home, it improves their employee satisfaction. It also improves their productivity, so it is a win-win situation."
Amanda Carmichael, a Unum spokeswoman, said about 600 Unum employees work from home. About 45 percent of those workers are based out of the company's local office.
Scott Wilson, a spokesman for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Tennessee, said the company studied other telecommuting programs before launching its own and learned that AT&T saves about $100 million a year from increased productivity from telecommuters.
"Our employees are excited about the possibility of enhancing our current program because, besides alleviating the strain of high gas prices and reducing auto wear and tear, telecommuting can give employees more of another precious resource — time," he said.
Mr. Wilson said Blue Cross Blue Shield will expand its work-at-home program when employees move into the Cameron Hill location next year.
Ms. Holcomb said she often works in her pajamas with her Chocolate lab, Isabelle, lying faithfully by her side.
"There are a lot of advantages to working from home," she said, listing spending more time with her family, saving gas money and being home to care for her two sons as the major benefits.
More than a nerdy novelty, video chat gives you face time with family, friends, colleagues and customers -- with or without a PC
Zack Stern
August 15, 2008(PC World) Chat is cheap. Videoconferencing, on the other hand, gives your online conversations a more personal feeling. For telecommuting, keeping in touch with clients, calling home from a business trip or just checking in with out-of-state relatives, you're never more than a smile away if you have a webcam and some free software.
I'll explain how to get started, and I'll also offer some helpful tips for getting the most out of your video chats.
Pick a camera
Although you obviously can't do videoconferencing without a camera, what sort of camera you use doesn't actually matter much. Since your Internet connection will likely throttle the performance of any videoconference, a high-resolution camera can actually be a waste of money. Nevertheless, keeping in mind some important differences between camera models can help you find the best hardware for your setup.
Resolution and frame rate allow for the clearest distinctions between models. Ideally, pick a camera that captures natively at 640-by-480 resolution or better, with a speed of 30 frames per second.
Some webcams record at high-definition resolutions, but you'll rarely be able to transmit such dense images through a home Internet connection. Office networks are sometimes fast enough to take advantage of a bigger picture, but most IT professionals would probably frown on employees hogging their network bandwidth for HD video chats.
Most important: Be wary of any camera that advertises a resolution higher than that its sensor. Such models attempt to make an image look sharper through a software trick called interpolation, but their images often look worse than those from a noninterpolating camera -- especially over a slow connection.
Many webcams include built-in microphones that do an excellent job of picking up your voice from a few feet away. Built-in mics aren't always the best choice for all situations, though. In a busy office, for instance, ambient noise can be so loud that even a high-quality noise-canceling microphone can't cut through the chatter.
Built-in microphones also tend to produce echo effects as they pick up the voices coming out of your nearby speakers. So if you want to ensure that your voice gets through clearly, consider investing in a good headset microphone that will isolate your voice and deliver incoming audio directly to your ears.
Although it may seem like a petty consideration, you should pick a webcam that looks appealing to you. It will probably be sitting directly in front of you whenever you're at your desk, so choose one you won't mind looking at all the time.
Also, consider how the device will mount on your setup. Most attach to the top of your monitor, and some even come with versatile mounts that can hang over the top of a laptop display without falling off. In most cases, you'll want to mount it just above the screen, as close to the center as possible. That way, you'll be more likely to make eye contact (or at least appear to be making eye contact) with the people you talk to.
Naturally, if your computer or monitor came with a webcam built in, you don't need to bother with an external camera.
Choose an application
Your choice in videoconferencing software is a far more important consideration than the type of camera or microphone you use. As of this writing, only a few good video-chat applications are available, and they tend not to communicate with one another. Fortunately, these apps are free, and nothing will prevent you from installing more than one on your PC.
AOL Instant Messenger (AIM) is the most popular instant messaging program around, and it supports video, too. The best part: In North America, at least, it's nearly ubiquitous, so everyone you know probably already has an AIM username. If they happen to have webcams, you can hold video chats with them.
IChat, Apple Inc.'s take on AIM, now does videoconferencing using the built-in webcam that comes with every new Macintosh. If you have Mac users in your AIM buddy list, this is what they'll be using. It even allows Mac users and PC users to chat together.
Microsoft Windows Live Messenger is a free download for Windows users, and it supports videoconferences. It's more popular in Europe than in North America, so it can be a good choice for transcontinental face time.
Skype Technologies SA, which has won international acclaim for its free voice-calling service, now offers one of the best video-chat interfaces around. And because it works on Mac OS and Linux, it's a great choice for cross-platform conversations.
Yahoo Instant Messenger handles videoconferencing too, but at this writing, the feature was not supported in the Vista version of the software.
In addition to the free consumer-targeted offerings, several business conferencing services support video as well. The popular Cisco WebEx service provides videoconferencing features to small-business customers, while the more specialized SightSpeed has a more specifically video-oriented conferencing service that includes a host of other file-sharing and collaboration features.
Set it all up
Your first step into the world of videoconferencing -- if your computer didn't come with a built-in camera -- is to set up your webcam. Nearly all webcams are USB devices, so setup is generally very easy. In most cases, however, you should install the driver software before plugging in the camera, to ensure that your drivers function properly. In the case of most Logitech QuickCams, for instance, you will be prompted to plug in the camera at a specific point during the installation.
After installing the webcam driver and plugging in the camera, you're only halfway finished. Your next step is to test the camera's microphone or install a separate mic and test it. If you're using a camera with a built-in mic, you can control the audio settings via the software that came with the webcam. If, on the other hand, you're using a standard headset plugged into your PC's audio jacks, you should use the Sound control panel in Windows to select, configure and test your microphone.
A few more points to consider before you get started: If you're telecommuting from home, pants may be optional, but a shirt isn't. Wear a solid color if possible, but especially avoid thin lines and patterns that can look jumbled on screen. Slow Internet connections will only worsen the appearance of an already complicated shirt pattern.
And you'll look your best under lots of natural light. Ideally, position yourself near a bright window or other warmly lit source. Avoid having bright lights directly behind you, because they might confuse the camera's exposure meter.
Cross-platform video chat with AIM
Unlike e-mail, videoconferencing lacks a single standard that lets all clients talk to one another. And because of complexities in video-chat protocols and video codec licensing issues, third-party open-source IM apps such as Pidgin still don't support video chat at all.
So for the most part, you can forget about chatting face to face with friends who use a different chat program than you do, with one notable exception: AIM can connect you to Mac users for whom Apple's iChat is the default video app.
To initiate an AIM videoconference from a PC, launch AIM and right-click the name of an online buddy. Choose Video... and then click Send to invite that buddy to a video chat. If your buddy is using iChat on a Mac, he or she will be prompted to click Accept to begin the conversation.
To initiate a videoconference from a Mac, click the movie-camera icon next to a buddy's name. When prompted on their PC, that person should click Accept. If you don't see a movie-camera icon beside a person's name, that buddy doesn't have a camera activated on their computer.
Create browser-based videoconferences and video mail with TokBox
I like the reliability of running a chat-and-video program on a computer, but browser-based tools can be ideal on a borrowed PC. TokBox creates videoconferences through Firefox or Internet Explorer, and it can even invite people who haven't signed up with any service to participate. AIM and Windows Live Messenger fans can sign in with those accounts, too, for regular chatting and for video calls to their contacts.
To start a videoconference, sign in to TokBox, and click Conference on the left side of the page. When a small Adobe Flash box prompts you for permission to use your webcam, click Allow. (Since Flash is doing the heavy lifting, you should make sure that your version is current to avoid compatibility problems.)
Then just send the conference link to your contacts. The link recipients don't even have to log in; they can just load up the browser page and click Allow to join the conference.
TokBox also lets you create recorded video messages that you can send to family members, colleagues and friends. In the main TokBox page after logging in, just click Video Mail. Click Record Message, enter an e-mail address, add a text message below if you want to, and click Send. The recipient will get an e-mail with a private link back to your video file, which is hosted on TokBox's Web site.
Share documents and desktops
In a videoconference, you could aim a camera at a whiteboard to show off written meeting notes, but you can just as easily pass around digital files instead. In most chat clients, you can drag a file to the chat window to send it, or right-click a contact's name and choose the option to send a file.
Desktop sharing takes collaboration further, permitting a remote person to view or control a computer. Essentially, you set up a virtual network computing (VNC) connection. Such an arrangement works well for troubleshooting a parent's distant laptop, but it's also appropriate for showing a PowerPoint or Excel presentation to a group.
Desktop-sharing support varies greatly on different video and chat clients. For instance, it isn't available on the standard AIM client for PCs, but it is included in the more business-oriented AIM Pro. I like the pro version better than the consumer AIM anyway, because it's almost ad-free.
Just right-click an AIM Pro buddy, and choose New Desktop Share. Click Continue, and the remote computer can see your desktop. (Bear in mind that your buddy will also need to be running AIM Pro to receive your file.)
On a Mac with OS X 10.5 and iChat, click a buddy, and then click the icon in the bottom right to offer your screen to the remote contact or to ask to control his computer. When you're in control, the remote computer replaces your main screen, but a small representation of your own system lets you toggle between the views. Click the X button to end the remote-control session.
Google Docs is another collaboration favorite that works independently of your videoconferencing software. You run your chat software as you normally would and log into this service at the same time. Open one of your documents, and click the Share tab on the right. You can then invite others to collaborate or to view the document, and they can alter it or look at it at the same time.
Use a videophone; skip the PC
For permanent videoconference setups, consider avoiding the PC altogether. Dedicated videophone devices can be great for always-ready office installations. Unfortunately, such stand-alone devices tend to work only with their own kind, so usually you'll need to buy at least two of the same device if you want to talk to anyone. As fate would have it, though, some manufacturers now offer PC-based software that can connect webcam users to dedicated videophones.
D-Link Corp. offers a couple of business-oriented hardware products, the i2eye Broadband Videophone DVC-1000 and the i2eye Broadband Desktop Videophone DVC-2000. While the DVC-1000 is designed to sit atop a television set in a conference room, the DVC-2000 consists of a camera and a screen built into a desktop telephone.
The Packet8 Tango, on the other hand, is a device that connects to your PC, phone and Internet source. It has a built-in wireless router that helps free up some space in a home office. Regrettably, it can talk only to other Packet8 videophones.
Game consoles also make great video-chatting systems, especially if you already have the game hardware. You'll just need to add a camera from Microsoft Corp. or Sony Corp. The former offers the Xbox 360 Live Vision Camera, and the latter sells the PlayStation Eye for the PlayStation 3. As with most other non-PC video-chat products, these allow you to converse only with people who are using the same system.
Improve network performance for videoconferencing
Videoconferencing requires a steady stream of data to maintain presentable video frame rates. A higher-speed connection can produce smoother frame rates and sharper details, but your network and firewalls might slow the process down. If you're apprehensive about adjusting security settings, skip these tips unless you're having connection problems.
If you're running a software firewall on your PC, it could be the cause of any video-chat connection problems you may experience. Here's how to allow your conferencing software to get onto the Internet in Windows Vista's built-in Firewall. (This process varies slightly with different security software.)
In the Security control panel, open Windows Firewall. Click Allow a program through Windows Firewall. Click Continue and then select Add program. Choose the videoconferencing software, and click OK.
Your hardware router may also slow down or block traffic. In that situation, to improve access, you'll want to identify which computer is using which protocol. Once you do, the router will know where to send video packets, which will prevent it from blocking your chat connections.
To do so, access your router's settings, likely through an administration Web page at its internal IP address, such as "192.168.1.1." Look for port-forwarding options, likely under an advanced-settings tab. If it's available, choose the name of your chat or videoconference software, and enter the local IP address of that computer into the appropriate field in your router's interface.
If you don't see a preset option for your chat software, manually enter alongside that IP address the port numbers that the software uses. Those numbers are frequently available in the software documentation. (This table offers lots of helpful details.)
Other networks on the same channel can also interfere with your wireless router. Use a program such as NetStumbler to see which channels are in use nearby, and pick a different option in your router's setup interface.
I am a big fan of case studies. Even the most overtly promotional ones generally offer enough valuable tips on how companies handle real-life business situations to make them worthwhile.
I recently found an especially well-done case study in CIO.com on how one company, New Jersey software provider Chorus, shuttered two offices and sent all 35 of its employees and full-time consultants to work at home, a move the CEO says should save Chorus $400,000 a year.
This article caught my eye, as I've written several recent posts on telecommuting myself, and IT Business Edge recently published several interesting interviews on the topic.
My only (minor) criticism is that it's a long piece. But CIO.com deals with that by dividing it into three logical installments, each packed with plenty of real-world advice from Chorus executives.
The first piece focuses on technology challenges and how Chorus dealt with them. There were a few early glitches with the company's VoIP system, including how to set it up so that employees in Texas and New Jersey could call each other using four-digit access codes, but IT staffers were able to solve them fairly easily. The coolest tip: Chorus established a dedicated extension for each of four"hunt" groups so employees can quickly and easily reach other employees from different business areas.
The second article focuses on creating policies for the newly virtual company. Some highlights: All employees must have a dedicated area at home specifically devoted to work activities. Chorus provides all needed gear, up to and including items such as paper shredders. All employees are required to use instant messaging. The article also relates how Chorus provides effective remote tech support.
The final installment discusses how Chorus dealt with the transition to a virtual environment. Key takeaways: Chorus issues a daily compilation of all of the projects, both internal and external, that different teams are working on. Some teams conduct daily meetings, by phone or WebEx. Managers communicate regularly with team members and discuss some non-business topics to maintain camaraderie.
Everyone Works at Home at Chorus, Part One
– Meridith Levinson, CIO
July 15, 2008 Rick Boyd used to spend $500 a month on gas and tolls commuting 48 miles a day between his home in Westchester County, N.Y., and his office in Hasbrouck Heights, N.J. Now Boyd doesn't commute any more because his company, Chorus, which provides clinical, practice management and financial software for health care providers, has gone virtual.
Chorus closed its Hasbrouck Heights headquarters in early June and its other office, in Stafford, Texas (outside of Houston), in early July. Now all of the company's 35 employees and full-time consultants work at home, and for the most part, they love it. Chorus CIO Rick Boyd Chorus CIO Rick Boyd says existing technology made it easy for his company to go virtual.
Boyd, who is Chorus's CIO, says the company decided to close its offices to save money and spare employees the hassle and rising cost of commuting and because it had the necessary technology to support such a move. President and CEO A.J. Schreiber says Chorus can continue to serve customers while simultaneously saving $400,000 a year simply by closing its 15,000 square feet of office space. Sure, breaking leases and telecom contracts is costing the company money, but the long-term savings far outweigh those short-term costs, says Schreiber. "We wouldn't have done this if it would have had a negative impact on our ability to serve customers," he adds. Chorus CEO A.J. Schreiber Chorus CEO A.J. Schreiber made the decision to go virtual.
In making the bold move to close its offices and go virtual, Chorus demonstrates the positive bottom-line results that stem from applying workplace flexibility as a business strategy, says Cali Williams Yost, president and founder of consultancy Work+Life Fit. "Flexibility is a strategy for managing your business," she says. "It helps you recruit and retain talent and manage resources like real estate. There are more and more companies realizing you don't need to be in the same place every minute of every day." RELATED STORIES Everyone Works at Home at Chorus, Part 2 Everyone Works at Home at Chorus, Part 3
Chorus's transformation into a virtual company staffed with telecommuters hasn't been flawless, but none of the hurdles the company has encountered at this point have proven insurmountable. Through research, planning and some trial-and-error, the company addressed many of the cultural challenges associated with telecommuting and managing virtual workforces. MORE ON TELECOMMUTING How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Telecommuting 7 Things the CIO Needs to Know about Telecommuting Telecommuters Need to Develop Special Skills Adventures in Extreme Telecommuting
Chorus established work policies designed to maintain employee productivity and customer service levels. The company is using technology to make workloads more transparent for managers, to transfer knowledge among staff, provide training and to enable them to collaborate. The IT department, whose members also works at home, also figured out efficient ways to provide remote tech support. Here, Boyd and other Chorus employees share the challenges they've experienced and the lessons they've learned thus far in the course of their company's transformation.
The first lesson is that you need the right infrastructure to support a virtual, telecommuting set of employees. The Infrastructure and Equipment to Support Telecommuting
Marvin Luz had serious concerns about Chorus becoming a virtual company. The vice president of client services thought the transition was going to be a lot of work, and he wondered how the company would get through it.
"I was a little apprehensive," says Luz. "There's something to be said for being in an office and the security blanket of having your coworkers right next to you if you have questions."
Foremost on the client services exec's mind was Chorus's ability to meet its customers' needs with a staff of telecommuters. The company had to figure out how customer support calls would be routed to agents at their homes and in such a way that clients wouldn't know that the agent to whom they were speaking was working from home.
Chorus already had in place much of the telecommunications infrastructure it would need to support telecommuters, including a firewall and VPN. In 2007, CIO Boyd deployed a voice over IP (VoIP) solution from Cisco that included Cisco's IP Communicator and a high-end router in the company's New Jersey data center, which remains in operation, with staff visiting as needed. He also added a Windows Active Directory server (Chorus already had two in its office outside Houston) and two T1 lines to the New Jersey data center. Boyd says all of this technology made it easier for Chorus to go virtual. (For more on the technologies necessary to communicate telecommuters see, "How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Telecommuting.")
In preparation for the company's transformation, Boyd and his seven-person staff deployed the IP Communicators on every employee's laptop. Employees use the IP Communicators to make and receive phone calls.
The IT department ran into trouble when it first began deploying the IP Communicators on everyone's laptops. Because it was new technology for the company, Boyd and his staff weren't sure how to set it up at first. They were also just coming up to speed on the voice over IP system. Boyd says the first few deployments of the IP Communicators were very difficult, but once he and his staff got more comfortable with the technology, it went more smoothly. (They had help from Dynamic Strategies, a New Jersey-based VoIP services provider.) It took Chorus about three weeks to get all the IP Communicators on everyone's computers, he says.
To ensure the quality of the phone connections, Boyd and his staff had to give some employees higher-end routers than typical home routers that dedicate a certain amount of bandwidth to employees' Internet phones, says Boyd.
Most employees already had cell phones, but Chorus put together a policy and expense guidelines for all employees so that they could get BlackBerrys or Windows Mobile-compatible devices to use as a back up in the event their IP Communicator goes down. (Chorus also supports the new 3G iPhone.)
In addition, Boyd and team created "hunt" groups for each of the support groups: customer support, infrastructure support, application development and business analysts. So if customer support needs an infrastructure employee to help with a major client issue, the customer support employee dials the extension for the infrastructure team's hunt group and that number rings out to the entire group and whoever is available can answer the call. Testing the Work at Home Arrangement and Technology
Before employees began working from home, Chorus tested the telecommuting set-up with Customer Support Account Manager Jairis Galvez. She worked at home two Fridays in a row, and all of the vice presidents called into her queue to make sure they could hear her, that she could hear them and that there wasn't static on the line.
Another technical issue Chorus's IT department had to address was how far-flung employees would make internal phone calls now that they're distributed. When Chorus maintained two offices, employees in Texas and New Jersey could dial four-digit phone numbers to reach each other across the country. The company found that the four-digit dialing didn't work when each party was logged into the VPN from their home offices. The firewall (PIX 506) was not capable of allowing a VPN to VPN data transfer so the call would connect but neither party could hear the other. They had to dial 10-digit numbers to reach each other. Boyd discovered that the company's firewall needed to be upgraded to enable the four-digit dialing so he installed a new Cisco 515 firewall in late June. Now every employee is just a four-digit dial away.
New Work Policies for a Virtual Company
Chorus developed work-at-home policies for telecommuters designed to maintain their productivity and the quality of service they provide to internal and external customers. RELATED STORIES Everyone Works at Home at Chorus, Part 1 Everyone Works at Home at Chorus Part 3 Hospital Pilots Flexible Work Arrangements in IT 7 Things the CIO Needs to Know about Telecommuting Telecommuters Need to Develop Special Skills
One aspect of the policy pertains to employees' work at home environment. Every employee needs to have a separate space in their home that they can use for work—ideally a separate room in their house or apartment with a door that they can close to separate themselves from their kids, pets, spouses or roommates. Employees also need to have a desk where they can work, even if it's just a folding table. The company doesn't want people working in front of the TV in their living rooms with their notebook computers on their laps or coffee tables.
Another aspect of the policy outlines the work equipment Chorus will provide to employees. In short, the company provides employees with all the computing and telecommunications equipment they need to do their jobs, such as laptops, monitors, keyboards, headsets and Internet service. Client services reps get paper shredders since they have to destroy certain documents to comply with HIPAA regulations. In one case where an employee needed a chair, the company gave the employee a chair from one of its about-to-be-closed offices. Employees pay for basic office supplies like paper, ink and toner cartridges, pens and Post-It notes out-of-pocket and submit expense reports for those items for reimbursement. (For more on the equipment and expenses companies should cover for their telecommuting employees see, Out of Pocket: Financial Questions for Telecommuters and Managers.)
Chorus also set up a policy on work hours. Employees have to be at their desks in their home offices during normal business hours. They can't opt to work odd hours. All employees have to use instant messaging (IM) applications, and they have to put their phone numbers and their IM handle in the global address list on company's Microsoft Exchange Server. (Read about the flexible work policies at healthcare provider CareGroup and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts.)
In addition to the general work policies at Chorus, Marvin Luz, vice president of client services, says his group had specific, common-sense rules it had to follow. For example, they can't have TVs or stereos on in the background. Nor can they eat while on the phone with customers. These rules are meant to send the message that even though employees work from the casual confines of their homes, they must maintain a certain level of professional decorum while on the clock.
Every employee had to agree to and sign off on all of these policies. Existing policies, such as those pertaining to computer and internet usage, remained in place. How to Provide Remote Tech Support
One question that lingered in Chorus employees' minds through this transition was how the company was going to provide tech support. What if a virus infected someone's computer or an application crashed? After all, even though the company maintains a data center in New Jersey, its IT staff also works from home and visits it on an as-needed basis. It's not like a help desk staffer can walk over to someone's desk to troubleshoot and fix problems.
The processes the IT group put in place to resolve technical support issues remotely aren't much different from the measures they took when an employee was working at a client's office and needed help from an IT staffer in New Jersey or Texas.
For example, if an employee is having a software problem—if they get an error message or they can't connect to a particular drive—Aron Schneider, who works in Boyd's IT department, says IT simply takes control of their computer using remote desktop software like iTivity or by setting up a WebEx meeting. Boyd says Chorus uses WebEx extensively to shadow clients and remote workers when troubleshooting and as a teaching and collaboration tool. "If there is something we are trying to resolve or accomplish (loading Citrix at a client site, for example), the team will get on the WebEx and we will talk through the activity. This is a good way of keeping contact and providing training and knowledge transfer," he says.
If an employee's hard drive crashes, the IT staff replaces it with a loaner laptop it has preconfigured with all the basic software apps the employee needs to function. "If they're close enough where I can drive it out to them, I can make a swap," says Schneider. "If they're on site with a client or in New Jersey, we FedEx it to them, and they send their laptop to us."
Schneider couldn't say how having to wait to get a replacement laptop would impact employees' productivity because at that point he said no one had needed a replacement computer. Boyd said most employees would still be able to check e-mail on their home computers and use their cell phones to make calls, but he is aware that having to wait for a replacement laptop could temporarily impair the customer support team. To speed software downloads in the event IT needs to get a fully configured replacement computer to an employee, Boyd is looking for a software-based WAN accelerator.
Boyd says that he hasn't received any complaints from managers about poor tech support now that everyone in IT is working from home. "I gauge most of what I do by the number of complaints I get as head of IT, and I haven't had a lot of issues other than, 'It's really tough for me as a developer to move a big file.'"
The CIO adds that all of the development, testing and quality assurance is done through a corporate Citrix farm using a Microsoft SQL backend.
Chorus's experience shows that providing remote desktop support is not impossible. It just involves some planning and workarounds.
Adjustments to Telecommuting Include Periodic Meetups, Daily Conference Calls MORE STORIES ON TELECOMMUTING 7 Things the CIO Needs to Know about Telecommuting Hospital Pilots Flexible Work Arrangements for IT Department Telecommuters Need to Develop Special Skills Flexible Work: Lots of Talk, Little Action
Although most employees were delighted to start telecommuting, adjusting to the new lifestyle took more time for employees in Marvin Luz's client services department. The vice president of client services says his staff began e-mailing him to ask if they were ever going to go back into the office two weeks after they all began telecommuting. They missed the social contact, he says.
"You have to understand the dynamics of a person who is in customer service," says Luz. "They're very social creatures, and being in an office fills that social need we have."
Luz decided to bring his staff back into the Houston office two days week. "We did that for three weeks," he says. Then his group went down to one day in the office a week for a few weeks. Now they're all back to working from home five days a week, and they all feel much more comfortable with the arrangement having gone through that transition period, says Luz.
Luz believes his staff had trouble adjusting to the new lifestyle because they couldn't get into a routine at home. Once they settled into a rhythm, the change became much easier. (For information on the skills telecommuters need to develop to effectively work remotely, see, Telecommuters Need to Develop Special Skills.) Luz plans to organize get-togethers for his group every quarter so that they can meet socially. CEO A.J. Schreiber is also planning quarterly, in-person outings for New Jersey and Texas staffers so that employees can maintain personal connections.
Luz notes that if he were to go through this transition again, he wouldn't have his staff go "cold turkey" from cubicle life at first. He would have started with a transition period. Some employees outside of client services were also wary of telecommuting. As much as Aron Schneider was excited to work from home, the IT staffer was concerned he'd be distracted by his TV and the contents of his fridge, and that he'd be bored without any co-workers around.
Schneider quickly realized he didn't have to worry. His home office is far enough away from both the TV and refrigerator. Some days he doesn't eat lunch until two or three in the afternoon because he's so busy, he says.
As for the social contact, he communicates regularly with his team. The IT department has a conference call every day, and Schneider keeps in touch with individual co-workers over the phone and via e-mail. "If I need to get in touch with any of the DBAs, they are readily available," he says. "I really don't see that anything has changed working from home other than proximity."
How Managers Learned to Love IM
Many companies resist flexible work arrangements that involve telecommuting because their managers don't know how to manage staff who work remotely and because they don't like the idea of not being able to see the people they manage. (See also Telecommuting Gets a Bad Rap.)
Indeed, the adjustment to telecommuting may be hardest on managers since they're the ones who need to fundamentally change the way they do their work of managing. But those companies that don't allow telecommuting because they believe it's harder to measure employees' productivity when they telecommute are making a weak excuse, says Luz.
"In today's companies where you are so wired and connected, giving the excuse that you can't measure someone's productivity doesn't fly with me," he says. "In a call center environment like my group, there are so many tools to measure productivity."
Specifically, the dashboard that's part of Chorus's Cisco call center system shows Luz when his call center workers are logged in, when they're on a call, when they're on break, the duration of their calls, whether they answered calls that went to their extension, the number of calls they took each hour and whether calls were abandoned. The VP can even listen in on calls, interrupt calls and record them.
Luz also uses Salesforce.com as the client services group's case management system for tracking customers' problems. Through the dashboard on Salesforce.com, Luz can see every account manager's queue and the number of cases they've opened and closed. He says his staff has been "more productive from home than we ever dreamed they would be."
CEO Schreiber concurs. He says the client services group's key performance indicators have been "stellar" and that the company as a whole is more productive.
The IT group uses Salesforce.com, too. (In fact, the entire company uses the system). Boyd says Salesforce.com gives him a "right now" view of what is happening in his department, but since the software isn't geared toward an IT shop, he can't see what his team has done two days ago, a week ago or last month. To get visibility into his staff's workloads, the CIO holds a daily, hour-long meeting to review and coordinate everyone's activities.
Boyd also uses an instant messaging (IM) system to keep tabs on his IT staff. "Since you don't see someone walk in the door every day, when you see them become active on IM, you know they're up and ready for business," he says. Boyd realizes that employees can log into IM, or any system for that matter, and then walk away from their computer, so he pings members of his staff every once in a while to keep them honest.
Not that he needs to keep his employees on their toes. Boyd says his staff's productivity—as measured by the number of cases they close—has increased dramatically since they began working at home. Everyone is working longer hours because they don't have to commute.
"I'll start answering e-mail at six in the morning, and I don't get up from my desk, with the exception of getting something to eat, until six in the evening," says Boyd, who adds that he often gets work-related instant messages from his staff even at 8 P.M.
IM goes a long way toward helping the entire company stay connected. Employees and managers alike use it to discuss work issues and to chat informally. Sometimes IM can be a pain, says Boyd, such as when he gets four simultaneous pings when he's on the phone or trying to concentrate, but overall, he thinks its an excellent replacement for the water cooler and for yelling over the cubicle wall.
Clearly, productivity and its measurement is not the problem for Chorus. The soft side of management, however, is more difficult and requires more effort.
Luz says he has to make a concerted effort to reach out to employees and see how they're faring. "I call them each individually throughout the week to chat with them about how things are going, how their families are doing. You need that type of social interaction with employees," he says, adding that this type of interaction was easier in the office. "I also need to make sure that I have them reach out to each other. I have been calling them and saying, 'Have you talked with the senior account manager?'"
In addition to the informal phone calls, Luz conducts formal group WebEx meetings twice a week to make sure everyone has everything they need.
Both Luz and Boyd say the experiences of working from home and managing a staff of telecommuters have improved their management and communication skills.
"I'm not sure I'd say it made me a better manager per se, but it has made me a better communicator," says Boyd. How Chorus Keeps Everyone in the Loop
Since Chorus employees began telecommuting in June 2008, the provider of practice management systems for community health centers has established a series of meetings and communications designed to align employees around top business priorities and keep everyone on the same page. Here's a list of what Chorus does:
1. Daily morning executive team meetings. The vice presidents and CEO have a conference call every day to discuss high priority items, issues and projects such as technical work, systems implementations, customer support, client implementations, development and quality assurance. As a team, they affirm what needs to be done that day, the following day, the next week and longer term.
2. Daily morning reports. This report goes out to the entire company every day and compiles all of the internal and client projects that each team inside the company is working on. The daily morning report gives non-executive staff visibility into high and lower-priority activity inside the company and let's each group see how their work fits into each project.
3. Daily infrastructure team call. CIO Rick Boyd and his DBAs, application support team and IT infrastructure support team review the items that came up during the morning executive team meeting to ensure that everyone in IT has what they need to meet the daily and weekly objectives.
--M. Levinson
Next: Lessons Learned and Keys to Success Lessons from a Virtual Company, and Keys to Success
In spite of the few challenges Chorus has encountered, its transformation into a virtual company has proceeded so smoothly that its customers don't even know the company has closed its offices and all employees are working from home. (Of course, that cat's out of the bag now.)
"As someone from customer service, I measure success based on whether our clients have noticed anything," says Luz. "Our clients haven't felt any interruption or noticed something is different in the way we're handling things. That tells me this process is working extremely well."
Even if your company is not planning to close all of its offices, it can still learn a great deal from Chorus's experience about how to support and manage telecommuters—the number one lesson being that it isn't all that difficult. The keys to success, as Chorus's experience shows, are proper equipment and technology, careful planning as to how employees will provide tech support and customer support, workload transparency, trial runs in telecommuting, help establishing a routine for working from home, and the occasional in-person meeting to keep everyone together and their spirits up.
All of that effort at Chorus has led to productivity and service improvements—not to mention the annual cost savings.
"We've been able to quantify that we are more productive now than when we had physical offices," says Boyd. "Our number of open cases has reduced dramatically and the time it takes to resolve them has been reduced dramatically. It truly has been a byproduct of going 100 percent virtual."
