Kermit the Frog Says - Forget the Prius and Start Kicking People Out of the Office...

Readers of my riff last week entitled "Are you working remotely or remotely working?" correctly identified the primary issue with managing teleworkers - if they are out of sight, they can't be out of mind.  Manage performance of the remote assets, and you shouldn't care where they are at any hour of the day.  Even if they are enjoying a long lunch in flip flops at Outback.

Of course, that's the main rub with telecommuting.  Managers should manage performance and not worry about the other stuff - but they're human.  They see someone out in public with shorts on, and the alarm bells go off.  Thus, my take that you play the game and not ruin telecommuting for everyone else.

Of course, the burden isn't simply on the employee.  Managers and companies will come under increasing pressure to get comfortable with telecommuting.

Not because they'll need it to attract talent, although that might end up being part of the deal.

Because like a great management guru once said, it's not easy being green.

If you buy into the fact that the US needs to become more independent and self-sufficient from an energy standpoint, then telecommuting is one of the silver bullets.  Here are the stats on the potential of you doing email in your bathrobe from a new blog called The Telework Journal:

"Telework ExchangeSM, a public-private partnership focused on telework in government, today announced the results of the “Telework Eligibility Profile: Feds Fit the Bill” study.

The study reveals that Feds are telework friendly, based on responses to the Telework Exchange Online Telework Eligibility Gizmo, a quiz-based calculator that helps employees determine telework eligibility. An overwhelming majority – 96 percent – of respondents should be teleworking, yet only 20 percent currently do.

Extrapolating from the Online Telework Eligibility Gizmo participants to the total Federal workforce, the study reveals that if all Federal employees who are eligible to telework full time were to do so, Feds could realize $13.9 billion savings in commuting costs annually and eliminate 21.5 billion pounds of pollutants out of the environment each year."

Now I haven't clicked through to see the study, so if you have a jones for detail, be my guest.  Regardless of the methodology of this study, it's hard to discount the fact that telecommuting holds some strong potential to reduce the corporate carbon footprint.  Think reduced gas usage and smaller real estate needs. 

Don't call me Al Gore - just call me Kermit.  It's not easy being green....

Comments

[Chris Young]

This is a topic that certainly needs more discussion.

One has to wonder... What productivity changes are there as a result of telecommuting? Does more/less get done in a work day/week?

What gains are made when you can get talent globally that you can't get locally?

And... What is the "net effect" of telecommuting when you factor in the savings associated with fuel, wear and tear on vehicles, office space that doesn't need to be heated/maintained?

Our local chamber recently moved into a former insurance claims adjustment building. The insurance company didn't relocate - they now have everyone working from home.