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Return to Article: Telework Is a Tool

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  Some supervisors would be more supportive of telework except for the bureaucratic hurdles in setting an employee up to do so. The requirements to provide the computer, pay for the links, do a safety inspection of the home office and such are cost-prohibitive. Regional telework offices may help alleviate some of these concerns.

  Stephanie Hoehne Posted January 10, 2008 9:16 AM
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  I had a supervisor who objected to the compressed schedule until it benefitted her, than she was all for it. Surprise! I work in the DC area and I telecommute one day every two weeks and it saves me approximately 3 hours of commute time for just that one day. Believe me being stuck on I-95 South in the summertime is no picnic.

  Ann Posted January 3, 2008 9:19 AM
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  As a manager I was always against teleworking because I believed that my project managers needed to meet face to face with their product delivery teams and be available during working hours. However, I switched jobs (I didn't want to be a supervisor under NSPS) and now I myself telework. I work Thursdays and Fridays from my condo on the coast. It works out fine and I am more productive getting my job done when I don't have the "confusion" of the office surrounding me.

  Gadwall Posted November 29, 2007 8:42 AM
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  I agree with KC. Most federal managers don't grasp the concept of teleworking and their management concepts are outdated. We have too many dinosaurs managing the federal workforce. Anything new is met with resistance, such as the CWS or AWS years ago. Note to DSW - does DSW stand for Designer Show Wharehouse? Is this where you work? I work with numerous "trusted and reliable" performers in the federal goverment. Maybe you need to talk to more federal employees outside of your agency. It's obvious that your experience is lacking.

  DDC Posted November 26, 2007 11:10 AM
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  I think that the most important message to federal employees is that telework is not an entitlement. Management (not me) has a responsibility to ensure that the mission is accomplished in an efficient manner. We are stewards of the tax dollar - we management, and we employees. Not everyone is able to fully function off-site for a variety of reasons. Job skill and demonstrated ability to work with little or no supervision is important. There are also issues that need to be overcome such as the fact that in the absence of a teleworker, management typically grabs the closest knowledgeable person to handle a critical action, not the teleworker. Teleworkers enjoy the savings of commuting to the office to include gasoline and wear and tear on their vehicles. They save on clothing - especially those who telecommute three days per week. Some save on child care expenses, eldercare, doggie day care, etc., because they are able to tend to a child, parent or pet while teleworking. Noone observes teleworker's actual start and finish times or lunch breaks because they are out of sight. If the federal government is going to fully embrace telework, federal agencies need to give serious consideration to establishing some off-set for the dedicated, high performing staff that shows up every day and conforms to regulatory guidelines governing time and attendance reporting, work schedules and lunch breaks. Otherwise, get rid of the majority of federal offices, save on high rent and building maintenance, and let everyone telework. By the way, I fully enjoyed about 1 1/2 years teleworking one day per week until the mission required that I work on-site full time. I new that I needed to be here. Management did not have to direct that I change my schedule. But, I put the mission of my organization as top priority during duty hours. The government owes me nothing but equal pay for an honest days work.

  tje Posted November 26, 2007 8:37 AM
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  Your article is right on point in that federal managers and employees don't grasp the concept of teleworking - even your comments exemplify this. If someone is sick they should stay home and be sick. The purpose of teleworking isn't to try to get people to work when they are ill. It's a tool to take advantage of technology to get the most productive work out of employees and provide ways to ensure they accomplish more and find satisfaction in their work. As opposed to some I think most federal workers have more work than they can complete at any given time. I don't believe they are fundamentally lazy. I think until federal managers can begin to think beyond outdated management concepts they will never fully realize the potential of their workforce or what government service to the citizens could be. You get what you expect. If you expect poor performers and children at work, that's what you'll get. If you want more, they will need a less narrow minded view and one that embraces the world as it exists today.

  KC Posted November 26, 2007 8:22 AM
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  TR hit the nail on the head - Fed managers need to do a better job of MANAGING. We should not have employees with idle time. We should not have employees who do not have a clue how to complete their assignment. We should not have employees who take their time answering emails and phone messages. Those people should be documented and forced out.

  Until our supervisors and managers learn how to deal efficiently with deadwood, telework will not succeed. The deadwood will be jealous and complain when they are not allowed to telework.

  If you can't trust your employee to work from home, it is a sign you need to get rid of him/her!

  Charleen Posted November 26, 2007 8:02 AM
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  I am a high producer with a serious responsiblity to keep our agencies in office space. All of the information I need to perform my tasks are on web-based programs. My work accomplishments are easily measurable by talking to my agency customers and my portfolio of leases and the actions it takes to keep our occupancies. I commute two hours each way to NYC and can not fathom why there is such resistance allowing members of our organizational employees to telecommute? I suppose the older generation of managers have a mindset and a cultural inbreeding that keeps them from "seeing the light."

  Thomas Bell Posted November 26, 2007 7:59 AM
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  I really like the idea of telework as a tool and the environmental impact it would have is a reason in itself to embrace it. A process for equality might be to rotate individuals quarterly or every six months that way even those w/ demanding jobs like secretaries can experience the opportunity.

  ayesha williams Posted November 19, 2007 1:44 PM
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  Telework works extremely well for those who are suffering from severe health problems and who are undergoing cancer treatments. It also works extremely well for those who have to make long commutes into the office and those who have so much work to do but have so many distractions in the office that they need the quiet of their home to get their work done.

  However, not everyone can telework. The employees who seem to have the most demanding and stressful jobs (secretaries, receptionists, etc.)will never be able to telework.

  Then there are certain employees who don't have enough work to keep them busy all day and yet they get approved to telework. I wonder what those employees are doing to stay busy all day at home if they don't have enough work to keep them busy all day in the office? I'm just saying.

  TR Posted November 19, 2007 10:24 AM
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  Wow, Telework, I never respond to articles on GovExec, but this one I definitely feel my contribution is due.

  My question is how would a government employee telework if their own IT help desk won't help them get setup or try and resolve problems with teleworking?

  In the past, I didn't need any help to telework because the website external mailbox only required my username and password.

  I was actually able to be more productive because I could work when I was sick and check my email when got home from work.

  If an email needed to be answered that same day then I address it immediately. It also allowed me to check for last minute early morning meeting time changes. Private Companies can access their email fine from their personal computer, why can't we?

  Ever since the agency became CAC enabled, I have been unable to telework because I need access to my email in order to communicate with my counterparts and superiors.

  Ok, I requested the CAC reader and installed the agency provided software then encountered a problem; the software did not recoginize the reader. I downloaded the drivers recommended by IT and still it wasn't working.

  I thought ok maybe I could submit an IT help desk ticket for this problem, no good, IT states that they only resolve problems on government computers not my personal computer. They actually chuckled at the request.

  Telework was a good idea, but I guess all the restricted access and excuses for not helping present great barriers for this activity and I don't see telework as tool anymore, but rather as a myth.

  Don't get me wrong, I believe that access should be restricted, but if you need access to your email offsite, you should not have to encounter so many barriers.

  My thinking is that the title of this article should be called "Telework is a Myth".

  Al Matos Posted November 17, 2007 4:01 PM
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  Telework is certainly an exciting opportunity that would help those of us that have joint diseases that are making it increasingly difficult to ambulate long distances. In my case, I was blessed by my mother's side of the family with severe arthritis and at the age of 52 had to have two partial knee replacements. I am now facing a total knee on the right because of this at 57 years old. There are days when I want to just cry with every step that I take because the pain is so intense that the medication does not even touch it. Those are the days I would like to be able to stay at home with my feet up and an ice pack and do my work on my computer for sure. Think how much others with more severe joint problems, diseases, and such would welcome an opportunity to work from home instead of having to make long commutes and ambulate equally long distances between offices, etc.

  Roxanna M. Weaver Posted November 15, 2007 3:25 PM
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  For this to take place at SSA, it appears that the managers have to start trusting themselves first and not treat the employees as children that requires supervision every second. When one works for an agency that provides quality and superior services for the public, one would believe that the employees have some sort of integrety and can perform the work without someone constantly looking over their shoulders expecting them to do wrong.

  Mari'a Lundvall Posted November 15, 2007 9:57 AM
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  We've heard for decades that supervisors do not fulfill their supervisory liability to deal with poor performers...how much worse this would be with a "sweeping telework policy?" Are you kidding? Ridiculous to fathom. Telework should be given to only the trusted and reliable performers and from my experience, those are far and few between. Steinhardt must be writing a paper for grad school or something, or has not been in general government working.

  DSW Posted November 15, 2007 9:27 AM