Sounding Off
What GovLoop members had to say about managing teleworkers:
- “I believe that telecommuting can work. But I have also seen abuses … where the person is to be available to employees to answer inquiries. I personally have sent messages when they are available and haven ‘t received a response for 1 hour and 52 minutes, and it ‘s not their lunch hour.” —Tricia, a human resources manager with the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality
- “In this age of ‘instant’ communication — BlackBerry, IM, texting, tweeting — some very unrealistic and ultimately unsustainable expectations have been set in terms of responsiveness. Until that mindset changes, there will continue to be resistance to teleworking. As many have pointed out, just because someone [is] in their seat in their cubicle where they can be seen doesn’t mean they are being productive.” — Lisa Rosser, a military hiring expert
- “How many people have seen these and other behaviors in the work place?
- Monday morning: hour(s)-long discussions of Sunday’s NFL games;
- Friday: hour(s)-long discussions of the weekend’s upcoming activities;
- any day of the week: ad hoc discussions of the latest news or fad (politics, celebrity gossip, American Idol, etc.); “Joe Camel” taking 15-minute smoke breaks every hour; “Bobbie Cell Phone” incessantly talking to his kids, wife, girlfriend or stockbroker; “Freddie Flash Game” trying to beat some stranger’s score in Zuma, Mafia Wars or (gag) FarmVille for hours on end.
Those behaviors, and many more, are tolerated daily because the people are ‘in the office’ where they can ‘be seen.’ ” — Bob King, former analyst for the Army’s Combined Arms Doctrine Directorate
- “Performance is the number one way to find out if your team is getting any work accomplished. … In many offices, managers and employees work in different states, so how does the manager know if the employee ever comes to work? The answer: by performance. A good manager knows what their team is doing even if they cannot see their team.” — HP’s Christina Morrison
