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Making
Telecommuting Work For Your Business
By Monte Enbysk
Reprinted with permission from the Microsoft Small Business
Center
 Telecommuting has gotten a bad rap. Some say that
employees can't be serious about their careers if they'd
rather work from home. Others insist that work groups fall
apart if team members aren't physically in the office.
But the bad rap may
not hold: The International Telework Association & Council (ITAC)
reports that the number of workers who telecommute at least
some of the time (the preferred term today for many is the
less-U.S.-centric "telework") tops 23 million, a number that
continues to grow.
While telecommuting
is not for everyone, there is no question in my mind that in
today's Internet Age, most workers expect to be able to do
it at least part of each week or month. So, as a
small-business owner who seeks to recruit and retain good
employees, you'd do well to be flexible enough to allow
telecommuting whenever possible.
Even if you prefer
your staffers not do it full-time, it should be an option
for circumstances such as these:
• An employee with
a minor illness, such as a cold, would be better off working
at home.
• A deadline is pressing and the employee can be
more productive working at home.
• Weather, traffic
conditions or personal appointments make it smart for an
employee to work at home for a day or more.
• An employee
with a disability is better served by being able to work
from home.
You'll find
advocacy groups such as the International Telework
Association & Council (www.telecommute.org) pointing out
these benefits: reduced absenteeism, increased productivity,
better work/life balance, potential savings in real-estate
costs, and reduced costs for recruiting and retaining
workers. I would argue that the last benefit is the most
critical -- workers today want this option and the
empowerment that goes with it.
And you want to
attract and keep good workers, no doubt. So here are seven
tips for developing a telecommuting program for your
business.
1.Establish
guidelines for when (and how long) telecommuting is
acceptable. These guidelines should be based on your
business, your comfort level and your employees' needs, yet
must be general enough to withstand changes in your
workforce. For example, you may decide that an employee can
work from home to stay with an ill child or spouse, but you
may not want an employee to work from home to take care of
young children. (Advocacy groups such as ITAC discourage
allowing long-term babysitting as a reason to telecommute.
They recommend that an employee with a temporary daycare
problem work a different shift that day, or request time
off.)
Similarly, you'll
need to decide how many employees can telecommute at one
time, and whether it is feasible to have full-time
telecommuters. Also, you'll need to oversee or assign a
manager for your telecommuting program, to maintain
integrity and accountability.
2.Have ways of
making sure expectations are met. If you allow your
employees to telecommute several days a week, you'll need to
assign tasks and chart how progress can be measured and
evaluated on a daily basis. You'll also want to use e-mail
or scheduled phone conversations, to ensure not only that
the task or project is completed but also that the work is
meeting expectations.
3.Trust your
workers by focusing on the results, not the process. You
can't have an employee telecommute, and then spend each hour
worrying about whether he is actually working. "Within
limits," says Gil Gordon, a New Jersey-based author of two
books and a newsletter on telecommuting. "It's much more
important that the telecommuter got that budget revision to
you at 8 a.m. Wednesday, than it is to worry about whether
he or she was watching TV at 3 p.m. on Tuesday."
4.Don't cut corners
on technology. You can't have workers telecommuting with
substandard computer equipment that will limit their output
and effectiveness. Even if your budget is tight (and whose
isn't?), you need to take some responsibility for the PC
workstation and other equipment they need at home, such as
assisting with the purchase of a modem or printer. (For more
information on how mobile technology can benefit your
business, download our free mobility guide.)
5.Don't cut corners
on ergonomics. After some past controversy, the federal
Occupational Health and Safety Administration clarified its
standards, saying it won't inspect home offices and won't
hold employers liable for telecommuters' home offices.
However, employers are required to keep records of
telecommuter injuries suffered at home, and could be found
liable in employee damage claims. Gordon recommends a
proactive approach. Employers should be aware of the
conditions of their employees' home offices, having
telecommuters bring in photos, if possible. If the
employee's job involves "high-volume keyboarding," Gordon
adds that the employer should consider providing an
ergonomically-correct chair as well as a workstation --
since you would provide those items at your workplace.
6.Provide access to
a company intranet or extranet. An intranet is an internal
company Web site; an extranet is an extension of the
internal site to selected outsiders such as partners and
vendors. Your telecommuters need access to internal
documents and their own company e-mail to do their jobs.
Also, if the telecommuter is involved in a team project,
make sure there are project checklists available so he or
she can mark tasks as completed. (For more information on
Microsoft's Windows SharePoint Services solution, see this
page.)
7.Make the most of
face-to-face contact. Even if you allow employees to
telecommute as often as they wish, you need to have periodic
"face" time with them. Many veteran telecommuters today
choose to work at least one day a week in the office. Key
meetings and company events should be scheduled to allow
them to be there in person. (Microsoft Office Live Meeting
makes it easy to accommodate telecommuters; for details, see
this page.) Yet telecommuters must also be flexible enough
to leave home when necessary for unscheduled meetings. It's
a delicate balance: The telecommuter needs to feel that he
or she is not missing out on what's going on at the office.
And those at the office need to feel that the telecommuter
is "pulling his weight." | 