telework and the federal attorney

[Anonymous]

11:38, like many people in the DC area, I put my 8 or 9 hours in at the office and then work on the baseball field, in line at the carwash, etc. I certainly know how to get things done outside the office, but it's nowhere near the state of "flow" I achieve at work when there's no laundry, etc. to distract me.

If you have an attorney job without spontaneous meetings, and you don't counsel senior managers as part of your job duties, then I guess you can work anywhere there's a computer and phone line. That doesn't describe what I do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: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.

I have friends, both govt. attoreys, when she teleworks, she is having a ped/manicure, long lunches, playing tennis, sleeping, and might, and this is doubtful, spend 30 minutes faking some kind of telework; her husband, on the other hand, plays computer games all day long. Don't tell me how much work govt. attorney's do at home. Ha!

[Anonymous]

"spend 30 minutes faking some kind of telework; her husband, on the other hand, plays computer games all day long. Don't tell me how much work govt. attorney's do at home. Ha! "

The above also frequently occurs in the office.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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.

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?

There are a few people who have the singular focus necessary to work at home on a regular basis. The vast majority of people (me included) just don't pay the same attention to work when they are at home. A PP cites studies that say otherwise, but I'm relying on my experience and that of the many lawyers that I know. In my 8 years of practicing law I can think of ONE person who regularly puts in as much work from home as they do in the office, and she is a very unusual personality. In any case, there is much to be gained by coming into the office--a sense of teamwork, shared learning by bouncing ideas off of other employees, and a general understanding of what your colleagues are doing. I don't doubt that there are benefits to telework in terms of the environment and traffic congestion, but from a pure productivity standpoint I'll take my employees in my office any day.

[Anonymous]

On the other hand, I have friends who telework and religiously put in for 15 mins. of leave if they leave the house for non-work reasons.

Most people I know who telework find that their productivity goes up because it's easier to manage your time/work without as many interruptions from silly phone calls/hallway conversations/etc. Now if every phone call and hallway conversation you have is critical and urgent, then I agree it might not work for you.

[Anonymous]

P.S. just to add-- I agree that it wouldn't be ideal to have everyone teleworking all the time, but one day a week can be very helpful.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:P.S. just to add-- I agree that it wouldn't be ideal to have everyone teleworking all the time, but one day a week can be very helpful.[/quote

For whom? A few hundred, or thousand, cars off the road every day will notmake a dent in the air pollution of this area. You get paid to word and you work at an office if you are a govt. employee. Private, that is their business, unless they have a govt. contract, then it is my tax dollars coming into play.

[Anonymous]

Private sector attorney here; I work mostly (~80%) from home. I do not supervise people; have 20 years' experience; and do transactional work for clients who are located all over the country. I work via phone, computer, and IM.

Even if I were in the office, it would not be much different since (a) my clients are all over; and (b) my colleagues likewise work mostly from home so there is no guarantee of in-office chatting, etc. when I go in.

I bill hours to clients, so my productivity is monitored and there has never been an issue with it.

I do save about 1.5-2 hours/day in commuting time and probably about 30 minutes in grooming time (as I don't blow-dry my hair, put on business clothing and jewelry; or put on makeup when I work from home). I do walk the dog at lunchtime (~30 min) and put in the occasional load of laundry or transfer it to the dryer. I greet my middle schooler when he arrives home from school, and I play with the dog when I need a quick break.

I don't fold laundry, make meals, or do any other household tasks that require any significant time on my telework days.

I hope never to go back to 5 days in an office again.

[Anonymous]

The way I see it there are two main arguments against breastfeeding. The first is that certain jobs can not be done well from a remote location. The second is that people will choose not to work from a remote location.

IMO, the first argument is inherently true. Certain jobs are just not conducive to telework, such as file clerks, receptionists and security guards, as well as many supervisory positions.

The second argument is the one that doesn't hold much water for me. If people want to slack, they are going to slack no matter where they are sitting. I'm not saying that people don't do personal stuff while supposedly working from home. I'm just saying that those emplyoees were going to find a way to waste time in the office as well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The way I see it there are two main arguments against breastfeeding. The first is that certain jobs can not be done well from a remote location. The second is that people will choose not to work from a remote location.

IMO, the first argument is inherently true. Certain jobs are just not conducive to telework, such as file clerks, receptionists and security guards, as well as many supervisory positions.

The second argument is the one that doesn't hold much water for me. If people want to slack, they are going to slack no matter where they are sitting. I'm not saying that people don't do personal stuff while supposedly working from home. I'm just saying that those emplyoees were going to find a way to waste time in the office as well.

Hee hee hee. Sleep deprived new mom, perhaps?

[Anonymous]

PP here. That is hilarious.

It is particularly hilarious because I am the OP of this post who made the original error sparking discussion about my competency.

I guess I just added fuel to that fire!

[Anonymous]

12:33, how long did your work for your current employer before you began teleworking?

Do you feel you understand your organization's politics well? Are you one of the "favorites" in the department, or can you not tell from home who's in the inner circle?

Do you ever feel isolated from your company's mission by teleworking 80% of the time?

Do you have a physical office location at your company?

[Anonymous]

It's intriguing to me that there are so many folks who are anti-work at home. Their posts reek of a significant lack of trust in others. I'm no Mary Poppins and I can't say I always assume the best about others, but these posters are really negative and don't seem to have opinions based on fact. Or perhaps they are projecting about what they do on the occasions that they "work" from home. I also wonder if people have heard of a few bad apples who took advantage of work at home and that has tainted it for some.

I work from home most of the time. My work is quite quantifiable (number of cases opened and closed, etc.) and we have regular quality controls (both my supervisors and a group dedicated to quality pulls random cases and review them). The quality controls are part of our performance reviews and occur regardless of whether you work at home. Quality and production have only improved with work at home.

[Anonymous]

12:13, forgive my naivete, never having been a fed govt employee, but how could an employee get away with playing computer games all day long in the office? Don't clients and supervisors just pop in at odd times? Aren't computer games inaccessible from fed govt computers?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: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.

When I was with a big firm, the partner I worked for always billed for any time he "thought" about a case. So if he was in the convertible listening to the radio but the client was on his mind, it was okay to bill the time. Is that considered telework? Also, my spouse's firm does not allow telework, except that it's fine to work from home in the middle of the night if an emergency comes up. Is that considered telework? Please enlighten us on when productivity that does not take place in your cubicle is telework (bad) and when it is something else (good).