With technology the way it is today, why isn't there more telework?

[Anonymous]

Roosters need to rule the roost. What else would managers do all day?

[Anonymous]

Depends on the firm and the degree to which its adopted.

My company has high end speaker phones, mics and videoconference capabilities - even down to the ability to call a room from your laptop. It doesn't always work, but the technology is there for it to.

We give everyone a laptop and a cell. We don't monitor data usage or call time. We lock the shit out of the laptops and force VPN. We use instant messenger.

But most of all, culturally we support it. Reward results not face time. On my team I have :

4 direct reports in another city
Each of those 4 manages a team of 10 some of which are not co-located
My boss is in another city - not the one my directs are in, nor he one my directs directs are in

Solution? You learn how to work as a team remotely.

[Anonymous]

I think it's the dinosaur culture vs the new tech culture. Most high tech co. allow some degree of wfh. They have team members scattered all over, so video conferencing is normal for them. The older companies, lead by older people, can't seem to deal remote workers.

RE: yahoo. She implemented this because of her experience at Google.. they valued collaboration. But, even Google allows people to work remotely through vpn. IDK, maybe it's just product engineers that can't wfh.

Agree with a PP... it's about results, not about how many hours you clock in. I've been in high tech for 20yrs. None of my managers care about how many hours I'm at my desk. They only care if I'm getting results, on time, and our customers are happy, which they usually are.

[Anonymous]

Although I love my telework time, my colleagues and are more productive when we're in the office. There's more brainstorming, more collaborating, and overall a more professional feel.

I think what people are missing is that this is very industry specific. Not to mention job specific. I work at a nonprofit. When I'm doing budget spreadsheets or filling out a grant report, being at home is fine. When we are brainstorming how to approach a new funder or working on our analytics, being together is best. It's not one-size-fits-all.

[Anonymous]

Meetings. It's much easier to have some conversations and work some things out in person. That said, I do think a balance is nice. I work from home every Friday and I love it. I think two a days a week would be perfect. Three days in the office and two at home seems about right. The one drawback is that it's a bit lonely at home. It's weird, but I do like seeing people at my office, even though I could do 80% of my job from home.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:i think people are social animals and don't really want to spend their days alone

This. I don't mind telecommuting every once in a while but long term its not for me.

[Anonymous]

I have a couple of colleagues who have moved towards lots of teleworking and most of them have in actuality taken second jobs that they are working at when they are supposed to be at work for our company. Of course that says more about our broke economy where the middle class gets shafted and no one ever gets a raise than it does about anything else. But I think is probably more common than you realize, that the teleworkers are actually working two jobs simultaneously.

[Anonymous]

My boss makes us all rotate our flex and telework days so that we aren't teleworking at the same time. Which is horrible. We all wish we could be in the office at the same time so that we could collaborate more, but only 1-2 of us are in at the same time. Boss thinks it's the best plan ever though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My boss makes us all rotate our flex and telework days so that we aren't teleworking at the same time. Which is horrible. We all wish we could be in the office at the same time so that we could collaborate more, but only 1-2 of us are in at the same time. Boss thinks it's the best plan ever though.

Very odd. That is the reverse of what we do. We all have to be in the office on one day a week. It makes planning meetings easier.

[Anonymous]

I don't want to telework! I keep my work and my home separate. And I certainly don't want a laptop and work phone and thus the expectation that I am available anytime anywhere at the whim of anyone.

[Anonymous]

A majority of my work is too sensitive to take home.

[Anonymous]

People still Internet browse, shop online, take many breaks, long lunches, job search, read newspapers, make personal appointments, do personal research for making appointments, and sleep at their desks at their jobs in the office.
Yes they physically are there but not actually accomplishing anything.
People will work if they are motivated to work if they are at home or at an office.
I do know people at my govt job that have personal stuff going on during the day but they still get their work done and do it well.
It also depends on ability. I think managers may sense some people work the telework to their advantage but they know they are smart, capable, and cheap and there because of the telework so they allow flexibility.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Depends on the firm and the degree to which its adopted.

My company has high end speaker phones, mics and videoconference capabilities - even down to the ability to call a room from your laptop. It doesn't always work, but the technology is there for it to.

We give everyone a laptop and a cell. We don't monitor data usage or call time. We lock the shit out of the laptops and force VPN. We use instant messenger.

But most of all, culturally we support it. Reward results not face time. On my team I have :

4 direct reports in another city
Each of those 4 manages a team of 10 some of which are not co-located
My boss is in another city - not the one my directs are in, nor he one my directs directs are in

Solution? You learn how to work as a team remotely.

We do this too at my agency. Having someone call into meetings just is not effective. And documents get passed around the table, discussed, kibitzed on.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have 2-5 meetings a day. So much harder to do over the phone than in person.

I disagree. Most people in my office work from home. I have at minimum 2-3 meetings a day. With webinar services and teleconference services, virtual meetings are pretty easy.

[Anonymous]

I'm not seeing this trend. My company (huge, global firm) is very virtual and my team is all over.

That said, the DC area team do work from home only a few days a week (not every day), but still. Feel like the world is moving to more telework. I also think some cities are going to be where people cluster for jobs. finance in NYC, policy etc. in DC. But it's nice that not everyone is commuting in every day.