Telecommuting: Is it for you?

Not ALL managers are the problem, either...

...but if you have a 'problem employee', telecommuting can make it harder to work with the employee. Many managers find it hard to deal with 'poor performance' when they can see the person. If the person is not visible, not perceived as performing well, etc., many managers will just "push them out the door" with mediocre performance reviews, etc. And, at least in my workplace, the acceptance of tools and techniques to monitor the level of REAL work (not some stupid webcam or something) are not keeping up with the use of telecommuting.

And if telecommuting becomes the norm, then rescinding employees' 'right' to telecommute becomes a disciplinary act, with all of the potential for legal implications that involves.

telework

If supervisors and employees determine IN ADVANCE which job activities are best performed in the office vs off-site, and how they will decide if working off-site is "working" many problems can be avoided.

I think the key is to help employees figure out what THEY need to track to see if they are working efficiently, maintaining quality, and communicating effectively. Then supervisors just need to keep asking how they can help employees stay on track.

Still, sometimes it doesn't work - but if employees are involved in developing and tracking success factors, at least everyone will have learned something if either party decides it is best to suspend the telework experiment for that individual.

telework

Martha, you made a great point and I almost rated it "+", but I think you have too much confidence in management. I can't see most managers taking the time to listen to the employee perspective. And how about the supervisors who want the "experiment" to fail so they can show their managers how critical their day-to-day supervision is to the success of their people?