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What is the intent, the object, or aim, of management for instituting telework? What is the intent of
the individual individual employee who requests telework? While these seem simple questions, they have
profound implications for the design of a telework program and for its ultimate success or failure.
One common intent is to allow an employee a quiet day at home to concentrate on difficult
work. Some employees in the Telework Pilot Project commented on how great it was to be able to do this
and how productive they were when they could concentrate without the normal office interruptions and
distractions.
In this scenario, telework is not normal work; it is an exception to normal work. Coworkers will
get the message that the teleworker is working from home in order to work uninterrupted, and will be
reluctant to contact them. Even the manager may feel they are "interrupting" if they call the employee
at home.
This is fine if it is the intent of the manager and employee. How successful it is can be measured by
whether or not it helps the employee accomplish their work; usually it does and usually the employee
is more productive.
The intent of a telework program is very different. Management's goal may be to reduce office space, reduce
energy costs and reduce the organization's carbon footprint. In this scenario, many more employees will
need to telework much more often. In other words, the normal work of the organization will be done from
home just as it is in the office. The message of not interrupting an employee on their telework day is
entirely wrong in this scenario.
To realize management's intent for the program, teleworkers will need to be as connected to the office
as possible. Coworkers will need to know that they are not interrupting the teleworker; that they can
contact them (call or email) just as frequently as if they were in the office. In fact, it is important
for those that telework frequently to make frequent contact with coworkers back at the office in order
to avoid becoming isolated from the team. Without this close connection, mistrust can develop and telework
can fail. Or course, increased telework (either more employees teleworking or employees teleworking more
often) requires more infrastructure and tools.
It is important for those considering or developing a telework program to understand that the intent of
an individual employee, a department, or management may not be the same, may not always be compatible,
and may require different measurements to evaluate success. Policies, infrastructure, tools, and even
subtle messages between managers and employees (or between coworkers) will need to change when telework
transitions from the "exception" to "normal way of doing business".
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