Temporarily shutting down the office when you need to

Telecommuting, telework, virtual teams, working from home, whatever you want to call it, it's an option we're going to be using this week - and at least we are set up for it.

For those of you who don't know it, our office is just a couple of blocks north of the NW boundary of the "G20 Security Zone", but in the dead centre of the "unproductive zone" thanks to what we can see out our floor to ceiling windows (military helicopters!), discussions of traffic flow, rumours swirling from neighboring businesses, and on Monday, Canada Post came down the road and pulled out all of their post boxes. While you may be dealing with workers surreptitiously watching the World Cup, things are definitely unproductive around here without a single "footie" fan among us.

The #G20 hashtag on twitter has been a source of constant topics for fodder (apparently the LCBO is shutting down 7 stores in the area; and the protestors and police are ALREADY clashing and crippling main traffic arteries). I'm not even going to give you my take on the level of stupidity that is holding these things in an urban area (oh look, I just did sort of) and the joy of discovering that the insurance company is looking at this as a "war zone".

We're going to work from home Thursday and Friday - but we may as well be home now for all the work that's getting done here.

Yes, I have a relevant point: Telecommuting

Telecommuting is simple enough with a small firm like ours that is made up of very independent, self-motivated people who work on what are effectively self- contained modules of larger projects. When we started the company (pixcode, of which naturalhealthcare.ca and Wellergize are divisions) we were totally virtual. We were (and still are, actually) members of the Canadian Telework Association (this piece was written in about 2004; go to the beginning for newer testimonials from others). Mark and I were already used to communicating with each other online and picking the best tools and training others to use them was easy for us. So going virtual again - especially for a few days - not an issue.

But what do you do when your organization doesn't trust employees to work at home, doesn't trust the technology, or have the infrastructure in place? Let's address those separately, right after we lay a little groundwork with the current situation.

According to the most recent Stats Canada numbers, the incidence of telework actually dropped between 2000 and 2005, with only 1,322,000 (or 9.8% of the workforce) reporting having worked from home in an official capacity that year. In the US, Gartner Dataquest polls found 25% of the workforce there had telecommuted in 2007, with a projected 27.5% expected in 2009. The Canadian numbers are not surprising in light of articles like "Teleworkers called back to the cubicle" (Globe and Mail, Dec 17, 2007).

Telework is a "greener" option - in that it means that the company can keep a smaller footprint of space and resources dedicated to the smaller number of employees. If 10% of employees are off-site on any given day, then that's ten percent less office space being powered - or even ten percent fewer desks needed - if you use a hotelling model where employees have a mobile file cabinet or drawer and pull it to whatever desk they are using for the day. On the other hand, part of that reduction is simply off-loaded to the employee at home, isn't it? At least in terms of power consumption or

Trusting the Employees

In what is probably my favourite comment on the subject, "75% of managers say they trust their employees, but a third say they'd like to be able to see them, just to be sure." Yeah, OK. I get that you need to have meetings and teams need to see each other, but what would you say to the idea that working from home is a key part of increased work-life balance and even higher productivity? "Given a flexible schedule and the option to telecommute, employees were able to clock 57 hours per week before experiencing such conflict." The article goes on to point out that not all 57 hours has to be telework.

The ability to telecommute efficiently really depends on the personality of the person and the level of control that you (as a manager) are willing to give them. For instance, I can't work from home as my primary base of operations - and not because there are a thousand things to distract me, but rather because I think things like, "I'm just going to check my email," and suddenly it is 4am and I am still working. On the other hand, my brother-in-law works for a corporation in another country goes into his "real office" two or three times a year, and has managed to strike a balance brilliantly for over ten years.

People who work from home as their primary location often report boredom, loneliness, loss of momentum/motivation, so for most, it's a combination of the two that works. And when that isn't possible (i.e. the office isn't set up for them to be in), there are "hotelling" or "hot desk" options either at work-centres that are dedicated to that or often the company makes arrangements with clients or partners that allow their workers to come in a couple of days a week. Other options include "Jellies" or groups of independent workers who congregate to have a work-team atmosphere even as they work on their own separate projects.

On top of this, people who primarily telecommute also tend to get passed over for promotion - either as a result of bias in the company and suspicion that they are not working as "hard" as everyone else, or simply because they are out of sight and out of mind. They also don't get to demonstrate their leadership abilities on a regular basis either - except maybe to the family pet.

Your role as a manager

Are you paying for a job to be done or for man-hours? If you are paying for hours, and you don't have a solid sense of what those hours are to be filled with, then telework isn't going to be an option under your management. On top of that, certain jobs really need to be done from the office. Most administrative work, greeting clients, work that relies on polling multiple coworkers for their input - those all need to be in-house. But is it possible that there are parts of the job description that can be performed off-site? Can those tasks be assembled in such a way that they add up to a day or two that can be worked from home?

You will need to look into the feasibility of having them access requiste files and information from your server - or have their systems set to synch to whatever work they are doing at the office.

Technology & Infrastructure

Many employers note a drop-off in productivity for the first few days of telecommuting - usually thanks to insufficient infrastructure or people not knowing how to use the tools properly. An up front investment in the right tools and training can smooth the transition.

Laptops. Netbooks and even regular laptops are inexpensive these days, plus extremely portable and can be plugged into existing monitors, keyboards, and mice at your employees' homes. They allow company material to remain on company property, and they are also easily locked down by a knowledgeable IT team, so that sensitive materials are not stolen or duplicated. You can have exactly the set of software on them that you want your work to be performed in, without having to purchase additional licensing for home computers. If need be, they can be shared across multiple users with access to information locked down via each person's username and password.

IM. Much in the way that employees have an email address dedicated for work, they should also have an instant messenger account on a company-designated platform for internal communications (and possibly for communicating with clients if that is required). If it makes you feel better, you will also know when they are online and working as well as being able to get hold of them quickly if need be.

VOIP. Many companies are migrating to voice over IP to cut costs (especially long distance charges) but did you realize it has a secondary benefit? I can answer my office phone extension from anywhere that I have an internet connection and either my laptop with my software and headset, or my VOIP phone. There are other software options, but we happen to use Bria in-house. We can also pick up voicemails, call out on our long distance plan, and have clients see our company caller ID when it rings through to them - meaning they never have to know I am sitting at the beach. Just kidding. Oh, my one recommendation is to get a wireless headset (Bluetooth). There's nothing quite like forgetting you are tethered to your computer when you get up to do something else.

There are other technology considerations, but for VPN, RAS, whatever else you might be using, you should have a conversation with your IT department.

Getting it off the ground

As I just mentioned, it all starts with a conversation with management and IT at the table discussing the possibilities and the parameters. Getting buy-in from the top tier may involve making the business case for telecommuting, and determining how it will work with your corporate culture. If it is perceived as a reward that only a few are given, expect resentment, suspicion, and jealousy - but that usually is just a matter of bringing existing issues to the fore. When workers who are regularly seen to work late and put in the extra hours who are your test group, it is usually a much smoother transistion.

Just a few tips from someone who has been on both sides of the table over the years. Now, back to listening to the military helicopters flying overhead and checking twitter for pending traffic snarls.

Posted by: gisela on 2010-06-23 11:26:06

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