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telework and the federal attorney
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Anonymous
I could give a fig about telework, but, I have to chime in because you are a massive dumbass. How can you criticize another person's writing skills when you seem to be bordering on illiterate yourself? WTF does "cannot possible a typo..." mean? Also, "proofread" is one word. Finally, your fourth and fifth sentences read like complete stilted shit and sound like you are writing for a Victorian-era newspaper while wearing an ill-fitting corset. Gosh, don't you proofread what you write? |
Anonymous
| Is there a full moon tonight? |
Anonymous
Research shows that things like telecommuting don't hurt productivity overall so if someone is abusing it, they are probably finding other ways to slack off in the workforce. There is an entire body of studies around "presenteeism" which is when an employee is there at work but not present. Things like poor health, obesity, etc. are linked to poor presenteeism. Many employers are measuring productivity now. Telecommuting and flex time has not been shown to be a hindrance for the majority of companies. Personally, I would rather my employees have some balance in their lives and if that means letting them have an easier, less stressful day, works for me. My husband's boss and department have the attitude that as long as you get your work done, you can do it anytime, anywhere. Works great for them - he's been there 15 years, it would be stunningly obvious if he wasn't getting his work done. It's worked out great, and they are widely known as one of the top places to work in the country. Telecommuting is only increasing and isn't going anywhere; and with the government setting targets for different departments, it's probably only a matter of time until her agency has to adapt since it doesn't sound like security is a legit concern. |
Anonymous
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My agency allows it but I am convinced those people are doing very little work. My colleague throws in laundry, gets drycleaning, picks up the kids, makes dinner....and justifies it by saying that you take breaks at work toom when you chit chat at the cooler, etc. I think she probably does just enough work to get by. She teleworks one day per week, as do some others.
I think it's career suicide though. The supervisors allow it because they have to (we are unionized) but i don't think they like it. |
Anonymous
really? obese people are less productive? |
Anonymous
I could give a fig about telework, but, I have to chime in because you are a massive dumbass. How can you criticize another person's writing skills when you seem to be bordering on illiterate yourself? WTF does "cannot possible a typo..." mean? Also, "proofread" is one word. Finally, your fourth and fifth sentences read like complete stilted shit and sound like you are writing for a Victorian-era newspaper while wearing an ill-fitting corset. Gosh, don't you proofread what you write? Touche. I, however, am not an overpaid government attorney looking for an easy way out of coming to work in an office because I want to "work at home," where she is probably runing errands, and doing absolutely no work. I'm a taxpayer and I think government employees should come to work in their respective office. |
Anonymous
Well, it's not that "obese people are less productive" as a blanket statement - it's more that obesity is closely correlated with health risks like diabetes, hypertension, sleep apnea, arthritis, asthma and so on, and poor health is correlated with increased sick days and not being as present because the person is not feeling well. But it doesn't mean that all obese people are less productive, certainly. |
Anonymous
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Private sector attorney who's against allowing telework chiming in.
Of course it's a "light" day, or people wouldn't want to do it. Just how do you measure my productivity? Based on how many queries I respond to? How many hours I "work"? My workload varies greatly from day to day and there's no precise quantitative measure, other than responsiveness, that one could use. And my responsiveness on any given day may be limited for many reasons other than slacking off. "Working" at home is just an excuse to slack. |
Anonymous
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PP, I'm not quite sure how your middle paragraph fits in with your position against telework. Are you saying that productivity is not a valid measure of performance? Do you suggest an alternative? Is there some other better measure of performance that requires me to sit at a desk in a particular location?
For what it is worth, I would like to telework on day per week and I do not anticipate doing any less work or being any less responsive during my work day. I do however, expect to have a "light day" because I would save 1.5 hours of commuting time that I could spend doing other things. That is the primary benefit of telework in my opinion. |
Anonymous
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"I do however, expect to have a "light day" because I would save 1.5 hours of commuting time that I could spend doing other things. That is the primary benefit of telework in my opinion. "
Ditto. Plus the 1 hour grooming time. |
Anonymous
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10:15, if you telework now, how does your supervisor measure your productivity?
I totally get the saved commute time, but if one teleworks, does that mean one doesn't brush teeth, shower or wash one's hair? That's gross to contemplate. |
Anonymous
| In my federal office, performance is evaluated on a productivity standard, i.e., how many cases you complete during the performance year; however, I realize that many attorney positions do not lend themselves to such a standard. In my office, attorneys can telework up to 3 days per week, which I do. If I wasn't being productive or my productivity fell, it would be immediately noticeable in the monthly production print outs and also noticeable at year end as a large part of our overall performance rating is based strictly on our case productivity. Those standards do not allow for slacking. Moreover, we must maintain a specific overall performance rating year to year to continue to telework. I am extraordinarily grateful for my telework options, as are each of the attorneys in my office, and there is no way I'm going to screw it up by being less productive. |
Anonymous
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10:15 here. I don't telework now, which is why I said I would "like to telework." That being said, I'll answer your questions the best I can.
My supervisor measures my productivity by: 1) number of cases opened and closed; 2) the time it takes to open and close a case; 3) the quality of the work product, based on her assessment and the results they achieve; and 4) input from colleagues and clients about my efforts and helpfulness. I'm pretty sure that most federal attorneys are at least theoretically evaluated against a very specific "performance plan" that is loosely summarized in the four factors above. If I were able to telework one day a week I would not shower on that day. I would not wash my hair, style my hair, or apply make-up. I would brush my teeth, brush my hair and wash my face. I'm thinking 30 minutes of saved "grooming time." |
Anonymous
Why wouldn't you measure the productivity of someone teleworking in the same way? The idea that someone needs to be present in an office to be productive is outmoded. And if you can't manage your staff remotely in this age of technology (i.e., if you need to hover over them to make sure they're working) you're a bad manager, or you need new staff. Or maybe it's that YOU can't focus enough to be productive unless you're at an office, so you think that is the case with everyone else? |
Anonymous
| I guess you can tell I'm neither a litigator nor a federal attorney. My job is to respond to queries regarding legal matters under my jurisdiction. I do have larger projects, but their completion depends on a whole host of factors out of my control, so you couldn't evaluate my productivity that way. In my job, productivity is availability, including for spontaneous meetings in the hallway. |