Publication Date: September 6, 1996

Related article - The Costs of a Virtual Office System

Making Telecommuting Work for Your Organization

By Sue Mellen

Telecommuting. It is one of the buzz words of the '90s. Right up there with the Internet, the Web and cyber-everything. It’s coming up more and more often in your weekly management meetings, as supervisors wonder aloud whether the possible benefits outweigh the risks of snapping those thin but critical threads that hold your company together. What will happen to your corporate identity – all those characteristics that make you strong and dynamic – if your work force is spread across the countryside?

Telecommuting experts Tom Cross and Marlo Kosanovich say that with 30 million Americans now telecommuting, the trend is here to stay, and that most companies can make it work for them.

Building a Foundation on Trust and Communication

"The real key to making it work is trust. That's certainly true on the management side of the coin. You have to ask yourself, 'Do I really trust the people who work for me enough to let go and let them work at home without wondering if they’ll really produce?' And on the employee's side of the coin the question is, 'Do I trust my company to give me the tools and support I need to do my job from home?' " says Cross, a lecturer and consultant on technology issues and chairman of Cross Market Management Co. in Boulder, Colo.

At seminars on telecommuting, Cross puts managers and employees into separate groups as a means of measuring the managerial trust quotient and thus an organization's readiness to leap into a telecommuting program.

"After I’ve separated the groups, I ask the managers if they trust their employees. Then I tell them that if they don't, they should fire them right now before setting up a remote system. You have to build a telecommuting system on a firm foundation of trust, or there’s no way it can work," he says.

A lack of trust in the remote worker can be reflected in something as simple as a manager's reaction to an unanswered phone call, Cross says. "When you get voice mail at the office, you assume people are on another call or at a meeting. But if remote workers fail to pick up their phones, you're apt to decide they're watching Oprah or lying on the beach. It’s important to get rid of those preconceptions. I like to point out to people that, after all, Bill Clinton is a telecommuter. He works out of his house."

Cross points out that the best place to start in your organization – logically enough – is with the workers who really want to turn in their car keys and transit passes and those managers who want to give telecommuting a whirl in their departments. These are the people who will get behind the program and make it a success.

Kosanovich, a research analyst with the IT market assessment and consulting firm META Group, says the route to successful telecommuting is through regular, deliberate communication. She points out that when a worker leaves the office environment, those important "serendipitous" communication opportunities disappear.

"The boss isn't sticking his head into your office anymore asking how you're coming on the latest project. So both sides really have to make a conscious attempt to keep lines wide open, both as a mean of keeping projects on track and making the telecommuter feel a part of the organization," she says.

Both Cross and Kosanovich advise that companies create regular opportunities for telecommuters to meet, confer and otherwise hobnob with fellow workers back at the ranch. Many companies plan quarterly luncheons or wine and cheese receptions to keep remote workers wrapped firmly in the corporate security blanket, while others maintain "help lines" to get telecommuters immediate answers to important questions. In almost all cases, teleconferencing systems have proven invaluable in helping telecommuters "attend" important meetings and new product announcements.

But Cross points out that every company has to determine what tools and organizational systems will work best for them. "There is no such thing as a Telecommuting Department, so, for most companies, it is a learn-as-you-go proposition," Cross says.

He adds, however, that help is available through management schools at local colleges and universities and from consulting groups.

The Real Benefits of Remote Work

The payback to your company in increased productivity, reduced building and facilities costs, and improved employee morale may make it worth the time and trouble it takes to fire up a telecommuting program.

Statistics show that, at year’s end, an average commuter has spent a total of 21 days on the road. According to Cross, that’s just about the amount of uninterrupted time an average worker has to actually perform his or her job throughout the year. He points out that non-productive meetings, constantly ringing phones and "drive-byes" (those assaults on your concentration when someone stops by your desk for a chat) make it all but impossible to concentrate in a busy office environment. Some data shows that a good telecommuter can accomplish between two and 10 times the amount of work of an average office-bound employee.

The most obvious benefit of a telecommuting program is its ability to reduce the need for bricks and mortar as a company grows and expands. Data show that a telecommuting program can reduce from 10 to 30 percent the space a company requires. In a dramatic example, IBM was able to move a 750-person department into a space 20 percent the size of the previous facility after instituting a telecommuting program. Statistics also show that a company need supply only one desk for every eight telecommuters.

Kosanovich adds that telecommuting opens up the employment market to whole groups of people who might otherwise have been out of a company’s reach. Workers who live in far-flung geographical locales or have small children can now come under the company umbrella.

Avoiding the Pitfalls

According to Kosanovich, there are a few important "don'ts" to remember as you set up your telecommuting system.

• Don’t choose a new and untried or temporary worker. Go with a known commodity.
  
• Don’t send managers off to the provinces. They really need to be on site as resources for office-based workers.
  
• Don’t – at least in most cases – send whole departments out on their own. Such a move would make team-building virtually impossible.
  
• Don’t let additional work fall on the shoulders of on-site employees. Instead, set up processes for getting work and messages to the remote worker. Cross adds, "With telecommuting, the work goes to the worker rather than the worker going to the work."

Cross and Kosanovich say that a little open-mindedness and pre-planning will help you and your company reap the benefits of the telecommuting revolution. Whenever you doubt the system's possible virtues, keep in mind that the United States is run by a telecommuter.

Sue Mellen writes from Tyngsboro, Mass.

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Tom Cross has authored more than a dozen books on subjects related to emerging technologies and their effects on the way we work. He teaches Trends in Information Technology–Forecasting the Future at the University of Colorado and at the University of Denver.

He and Marlo Kosanovich were featured speakers at DCI’s Network World Unplugged.

Related article - The Costs of a Virtual Office System

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