Frequently asked questions when employers are investigating telework as a work option.

1     What is the goal of a telework pilot?

2     How should teleworkers be selected?

3     How is the productivity of the teleworker measured?

4     How long should the pilot or trial period be?

5     Who should participate on the telework task force?

6     Should management level employees be considered for telework?

7     Do teleworkers and telework managers need training?

8     Is the "team" concept altered when implementing telework?

9     How will co-workers adapt to a teleworker who is not always in the office?

10   How can I get senior management to buy into/accept telework as a work option?

11   How can I help managers overcome fears of telework?

12   Why is participation in the roll-out of telework less than anticipated usage?

1. What is the goal of a telework pilot?
There are two schools of thought on a telework pilot. One, is to prove or disprove that telework is a viable work option. The second is to take a trial run to investigate if the current telework policy and guidelines are adequate to support a rollout to larger number of teleworkers.

Telework may not be a viable work option for SOME employees; however, it has been proven time and time again that telework is here to stay. A pilot telework program should facilitate two-way, on-going communication about policy and guidelines. It should also look at the implementation on a small scale to learn what to avoid with a large-scale telework rollout strategy.

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2. How should teleworkers be selected?
Many organizations struggle with, "Who is the right candidate for telework?" It is usually at this point that an elaborate set of criteria is developed and the flexibility of telework is immediately in danger. Gathering a task force to brainstorm on critical questions potential teleworkers need to answer may be a more flexible approach. The teleworkers should have a list of questions to answer, to justify why he/she is the candidate of choice. Much like an interviewee must sell on why they should "get the job", so should a teleworker justify why they are the right candidate. Questions such as:

• What in your performance history makes you an ideal teleworker?
• What are your professional strengths?
• What are your professional weaknesses?
• Describe how your productivity would be measured?

The employee will come up with the answers as a base and then managers can begin negotiations with the telework candidates of choice. Self- selection also avoids the subjective vs., objective selection process. Everyone can answer the questions, but only the best candidates get the telework positions based on the questions answered.

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3. How is the productivity of the teleworker measured?
It is redundant to answer a question with a question. But, in this case, it does prove a point. How is the performance or productivity measured now? The answer all too often is, "Well, I can see them working." Managers need to understand sight is not a measure for productivity. In many cases, the employee is very aware, at a detail level, how to measure their productivity. Thus one option is to have the employee make a draft of how their productivity will be measured. Then the manager can begin working with the employee on how performance will be measured. For more details, ITAC members can go the bulletin board section of the members-only web site where they can review a presentation from the 2004 conference on “Performance Management in the Virtual Workplace.”

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4. How long should the pilot or trial period be?
Remember, the pilot or trial period is to test the set of policies and guidelines developed by the organization; this is not to prove or disprove telework. The pilot should be long enough to incorporate different business scenarios and test the technical support issues. Usually a 6-month trial period is sufficient. During the 6 months there should be regular weekly or bi-weekly meetings to gather feedback on the telework set-up. Frequent meetings will facilitate two-way, ongoing communication and adjustments to the policy and guidelines can then be made quickly.

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5. Who should participate on the telework task force?
Implementing telework requires forming strong partnerships with many areas on the organization. The task force should be no fewer than 8-10 people, but no larger than 15 people. A well-rounded task force should include individuals from the following:

• Information Technology
• Human Resources
• Legal
• Space/Facilities Planning
• Senior Management
• Line Supervisor
• Potential Telecommuters

Individuals from these areas of the organization will-provide a well-rounded forum for discussion about telework policy and guideline development.

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6. Should management level employees be considered for telework?
Everyone in the organization should have equal access to writing a telework proposal. This does not mean that everyone is a teleworker. Management level employees should answer the same questions as other potential teleworkers. The question "How will daily issues be resolved?" will prompt the manager to outline issues with employees that need their assistance on a daily basis. Again, the employee (in this case the manager) should answer the questions and put together a possible implementation strategy.

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7. Do teleworkers and telework managers need training?
Telework is about change. Many times training can facilitate a smooth transition for teleworkers that are changing the location of their work either part-time or full time. Some of the training issues include:

• Time management
• Communication with co-workers and customers
• Home office set-up
• Social contact with co-workers
• Workflow
• Project reporting

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8. Is the "team" concept altered when implementing telework?
The industrial age "team" model was supported by sporting analogies. For example, a football team was in a huddle, or the baseball team had a game plan. In the sporting analogies all the players are together all the time in order to win the game. Telework lends itself to a different model of a team. The analogy to an orchestra or medical team is more appropriate. Edward Demming introduced the orchestra as a team because each player needs to practice and periodically be brought together to make sure the music is in tune. Telework teams, when managed as orchestras or a medical team, are productive because their expectations and roles on the team are viewed as a shifted paradigm.

Further, computer and communications technologies have advanced to ensure more timely communication and interaction with and among teleworkers. An excellent review of the benefits and capabilities for many of these technologies can be found in Chapter 3 of ITAC’s 2005 research report, “Exploring Telework as a Business Continuity Strategy: A Guide to Getting Started.” This 120+ page report is available for free as a PDF download from the ITAC site.

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9. How will co-workers adapt to a teleworker who is not always in the office?
Co-workers generally accept a person’s absence from the office if the reason is a meeting, a vacation, illness, etc. However, if telework schedules are not properly communicated, co-workers can become frustrated when a teleworker is not in the office. Managers should add a 15-minute agenda item to their staff meetings to discuss and prepare co-workers for a teleworkers schedule. The 15 minutes can be used to gather co-worker feedback on the arrangement. Co-workers should be aware of how to contact the teleworker in the case of a business emergency. The teleworker should post his/her schedule at the office and have it on their voicemail and e-mail. And again, employing the latest technology will reduce co-worker concerns that one or more of their colleagues is out of the office.

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10. How can I get senior management to buy into/accept telework as a work option?
There are two keys to success when selling telework to the top. The first is establishing telework as a critical business issue. One company in Tennessee closed its facilities for 5 days due to bad weather conditions. The telework champion took that opportunity to document the rather high 6 figure financial impact of the closings and demonstrated how telework could help save money moving forward. In other words, find the hot button of senior management and push it. The second is forming partnerships with other areas of the organization to create a multi-dimensional team approach to telework. This way telework won't be viewed as another program; it will be viewed as a cross-organization business objective.

For more detail discussion on selling senior management, please go to the webinar, "Making the Business Case for Telework: Tips to Persuade Senior Management to Start, Grow or Maintain Your Telework Program".

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11. How can I help managers overcome fears of telework?
Managers are dealing with constant change. Telework can sometimes cause managers to be overwhelmed with trust and control issues. These fears of telework are perfectly understandable due to the management shifts that a company with a telework program. Managers that have training in information age management, instead of industrial age management, usually adapt quicker to managing teleworkers. Identifying the management concern, "I can't see you therefore you aren't working" as a performance measurement is the first step in changing the management style. Again ITAC members can go to the members only web site for the 2004 conference presentation on performance management for virtual workers.

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12. Why is participation in the roll-out of telework less than anticipated usage?
Many times employee surveys on telework participation will yield a high interest level for an upcoming rollout strategy. Employees are usually very interested in telework but once asked to participate they can become resistant because of fear of career sabotage. This fear can be manifested in thoughts about:

1. Not receiving high profile assignments
2. Not viewed as highly committed to the organization
3. Out of sight out of mind for promotions
4. Questioning performance that is not seen

This resistance can be overcome by incorporating the performance evaluation process with the telework rollout strategy. Further, an employee’s immediate supervisor who demonstrates a commitment to and comfort with their employees’ teleworking can help overcome this resistance and related fear as well.

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Originally created for ITAC by Sandra Sullivan, a Human Resources consultant based in Southington, Connecticut, these FAQs have been updated by the ITAC leadership.