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Part Three in a series.

Telecommuting saves money, time and the environment; reduces traffic; increases productivity; and maintains business continuity.

Those are significant benefits for both the employee and the employer. But not everyone is allowed to telecommute. Not every company has a telecommuting program. And I can see why.

Starting a telecommuting effort is probably the most complex issue in the telecommuting process. Every situation is different, and every company or management team has its own culture, fears and prejudices. Your management may be open to new ideas, or they may stifle anything that is new or out of the norm.

That said, this article will not try to identify every area of possible concern. Instead, it will give you an overview of what it might take to start a telecommuting effort at your company and what you need to accomplish at home to start telecommuting.

Fundamental ingredients


The fundamental management and employee ingredients to a successful telecommuting program can be summed up in three verbs: trust, communicate and quantify. Without these, any telecommuting effort is doomed to fail.

Management must be able to trust their telecommuting employees, and, conversely, the telecommuting employees should trust their manager. That includes trusting the employees to work even when they are not in the office and trusting management to fairly represent the telecommuting employees when it comes to work and raises.

Management and the telecommuter must communicate effectively and often — not every minute or every hour, but regularly. Part of that communication needs to include feedback from both sides. If telecommuting is not working, then both may agree to fold the telecommuter back into the “normal” office environment.

Before starting to telecommute, management and the telecommuter must agree to the specific goals and deadlines to be met. These can be any well-defined, easily measurable goals or tasks, such as the number of sales per week, new clients per month or design deadlines. The manager and telecommuter can adjust these goals and should regularly monitor and measure progress.

Qualities of the telecommuter’s manager
We have touched on the qualities of a good telecommuter but have not yet listed what would make a good manager of a telecommuter. Simply put, the manager should possess many, if not all, of the following traits:

The manager should be comfortable managing by results, not by the physical presence of the employee. He or she should be organized and able to set reasonable deadlines for goals and tasks, be a good communicator, be trustworthy, want telecommuting to succeed and be flexible and willing to make adjustments if needed.

The manager should not be a micromanager and should not demand that the telecommuter be in constant contact or on I.M. (instant messaging) all the time. He or she mustn’t expect perfection.

A manager who says, “They are not working unless I see the whites of their eyes,” would not make a good telecommuter manager, unless the topic is videoconferencing. By the way, that came from a conversation I had with someone in line at the movie theater in Tracy.

Formal or informal


The telecommuting effort can be formal or informal. Either way, it is a good idea for the manager and the telecommuter to sit down together and generate a written agreement of what is expected. This document will list the number of days to be spent telecommuting, what resources are available for equipment, and what deadlines, goals and other productivity measures each expects.

This document should be mutually agreeable to both, and both should agree to terminate telecommuting should it come to that. In no instance should a statement like this be part of the agreement: “The company can terminate the telecommuting for no reason.” There has to be a reason.

Both manager and telecommuter should agree to the terms and sign the agreement.

If the company is formally starting a telecommuting effort, a “telecommuting administrator” should be assigned. This person would be responsible for planning the breadth and depth of the telecommuting effort.

Some of the tasks should include but are not limited to the following:


• Evangelizing the idea of telecommuting within the company.


• Developing telecommuting guidelines, agreements and training materials.


• Recruiting the help of human resources and the technology department.


• Recruiting and training supervisors and telecommuters.


• Monitoring progress and results.


• Providing timely information via a blog, newsletters or e-mail.

Training is very important for both the manager and telecommuter. Each needs to understand what tasks are involved and what the “dos and don’ts” are to make the experience the best it can be.

Preparing to telecommute


As the telecommuter, you are in a position to prove that telecommuting is of benefit to everyone, not just you. That means you should work extra hard to meet the goals and deadlines you and your manager put down on paper before you started, and you should strive, on your telecommuting days, to remain in close contact with your boss and your colleagues.

What do you need to do at home to prepare?


You should have a designated work location where you can spend eight or more hours per day. This location should include an ergonomically correct chair and desk, a computer with the firewall turned on, office productivity tools (document, spreadsheet, e-mail, instant messaging), antivirus software, a phone line and telephone (or a cell phone), sufficient lighting, office supplies and an Internet connection.

You need to inform family members and friends that you are at work when you are at this location and that you are not to be disturbed when you are there.

It is important to maintain a set schedule as if you were physically commuting to work. Get up at the same time every day, and get ready the same way. Take a shower, get dressed (though, if you normally wear a tie to work, you can probably be more casual on telecommute days) and “commute” to your work location.

The only difference is that now your commute takes a second (about 5,400 times shorter than a typical 90-minute commute).

Avoid the temptation to work too hard. Take breaks (this is my problem — constant sitting without a break), take lunch and quit at a reasonable time or quitting point. Turn off the computer, straighten up your desk and “commute” back over the threshold to the family. Watch out for heavy traffic, such as 2-year-olds running back and forth and the family dog on the floor.

When you are working at home, avoid the temptation to eat too much. Many new telecommuters tend to gain weight. But do feel free to take the kids to school, pick them up and run an errand or two during the day.

Remember, stick to your goals, meet your deadlines and stay in contact, and everyone will be happy.
If you become lonely, seek out other telecommuters in Tracy and meet for lunch. Or go to work virtually with videoconferencing (that’s Part Five in this series).

Part Four of this series will introduce the basic technology needed to telecommute.

Mike Pihlman lives in Tracy and has two blogs — one called YeOldeTechy and the other, TracyReaderDad. He can be reached at mike@telbitconsulting.com or www.telbitconsulting.com.